Learn to COOK - A Spoonful of Ginger : Irresistible Health-Giving Recipes from Asian Kitchens
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List Price: $30.00
Our Price: $19.80
Your Save: $ 10.20 ( 34% )
Availability: Usually ships in 1 to 3 weeks
Manufacturer: Knopf
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 641.595
EAN: 9780375400360
ISBN: 0375400362
Label: Knopf
Manufacturer: Knopf
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 336
Publication Date: 1999-04-20
Publisher: Knopf
Release Date: 1999-04-20
Studio: Knopf
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Editorial Reviews:
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From Nina Simonds, the best-selling authority on Chinese cooking, here is a groundbreaking cookbook based on the Asian philosophy of food as health-giving. The 200 delectable recipes she offers not only taste superb but also have specific healing properties according to the accumulated wisdom of traditional Chinese medicine.
The emphasis is on what's good for you, not bad for you. It's primarily a question of balance: eating in harmony with the seasons; countering yin, or cooling, foods (spinach, tomatoes, asparagus, lettuce, seafood) with yang, or hot, foods (ginger, garlic, hot peppers, beef) and neutralizers like rice and noodles.
Feeling tired? Ms. Simonds offers a spoonful of ginger in her hearty chicken soup. A cold coming on? Try Cantonese-Style Tofu (to sweat out the cold) in Black Bean Sauce (healing to the lungs and digestion). Your immune system needs building up? Wild mushrooms (a cancer deterrent) are tossed with soba noodles (a stress reliever). Concerned about cholesterol and clogged arteries? Instead of giving up all the foods you love, indulge in Yin-Yang Shrimp with Hawthorn Dipping Sauce.
Whatever your health concerns may be, you will find the right restorative and satisfying recipes. Babies and toddlers have special needs, as do adolescents, pregnant and menopausal women, the aging--and all of these are addressed with specific recommendations. The wealth of information Nina Simonds offers here derives from her extensive research into the evidence amassed over three thousand years by practitioners of Chinese medicine, and from her interviews with leading experts today in food as medicine, who offer their firsthand testimony.
It is all here in this remarkable book. But, above all, it is the range of dishes, from the exotic to the earthy, that will convince you that you can enjoy marvelous food every day--relishing its good taste and knowing it is good for you.
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Awesome, Delicious, Nutritious--it doesn't get better than this!
Comment: After being consistently surprised with the quality of recipes I've made from this cookbook, I felt compelled to throw in my .02 to anyone looking for great, fresh, off-the-hook recipes that not only taste good, but are really good for you. My taste-testers are a tough bunch--two adolescent boys and a hubby that's slowly coming around to eating healthier. I just made the "Vegetarian Roll-Ups" the other night to rave reviews. I've tried the "Vietnamese Chicken Noodle Soup", the "Healthy Hot & Sour Soup," the "Chinese Cinnamon Barley Soup", "Garlic Beef with Broccoli," and the "Roasted Asparagus w/a Sesame Vinaigrette," ALL of which rated an A or better. My response to the reviewers who complained that the recipes were too bland or were only for people who ate "Chung King" garbage is that I absolutely disagree. If you think these are too bland--then just up the aromatics, people! If you want delicious, feel-good, smell-good, invigorating recipes that are nutritious to boot, then get this cookbook. The only downsides are that some of the recipes have a long prep time, and in the "Vegetarian Roll-Ups" recipe it omits what to do w/the tofu. So there are a couple of typos, but the trade-off is SO worth it if you've got the time.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Great cookbook
Comment: I love this cookbook! The blurb on the jacket by Nora Pouillon says it better than I could. "Recipes that not only are full of flavor and taste delicious but most of all are good for us - balanced, energizing, and nurturing. Nina Simonds teaches us about the importance of yin and yang in our diets and show us that food is fundamental to our lives and our health. Food is our daily medicine and Nina's book helps us make this connections again." And not only are the recipes fairly simple and the ingredients easy to find, this cookbook is fun to browse and read.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Beautiful Cookbook
Comment: The book is organized well and has beautiful pictures. Recipes are clear and easy to follow, and so far, have proved to be delicious!
Customer Rating: 
Summary: bland
Comment: I was so excited to try the recipes in this book, and after the first couple was disappointed, but kept trying several more. The ingredients seemed interesting, but the meals were very bland.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Good Asian food that you can manage on a weeknight
Comment: I've had this cookbook for a number of years, and I freely admit that I haven't made every recipe in the book. There are some dishes, however, that have become standbys, such as the saucy ground turkey wrapped in lettuce leaves. (In fact, I just grabbed the book so I could make those lettuce wraps as my contribution to a potluck Halloween party -- everyone says, "This is better than PF Changs!")
It's not that these are the most authentic, knock-your-socks-off recipes. If I'm ready to spend a couple of hours putting together an awesome Asian meal, I'll turn to Barbara Tropp or to The Key To Chinese Cooking. However, the recipes in this book are solidly GOOD, with an underlying sense of healthful eating, and many recipes are vegetarian (or nearly so).
However, what makes this cookbook a winner is that the recipes are straightforward enough to make during the week, after an exhausting day at work (when something to balance your energy sounds most appealing -- doesn't "hot and sour salmon with greens" sound restorative?).
Plus, there's a good chance you have most of the ingredients you need in the house already, and can whip together something more interesting than "maybe I'll just open a can of chili." That's how the book falls open to the recipe for chile chicken with cashews -- I usually have a bag of frozen chicken breasts, a can of water chestnuts, scallions, soy sauce, sesame oil, ginger, cashews... it doesn't ask for a heck of a lot more. A few minutes of rummaging around in the refrigerator, and I have a meal that sounds like I planned it.
Also, the healthy stuff -- yin-yang, and advice about food-based remedies (mussels are good to strengthen the kidneys, for instance) -- is enjoyable and educational.
Nice book. I recommend it.
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