For so many of us, Asian cuisine beckons like a beautiful tropical pool. And yet, the most we ever do is test the water with a tremulous toe or two. But now Corinne Trang, award-winning author of Authentic Vietnamese Cooking, has taken on the prodigious task of being both swimming teacher and siren, lifeguard and fearless mariner, to lure us into the deep water with her Essentials of Asian Cuisine. At 590-plus pages, this is a big book. It is beautifully illustrated, for those who need to see where they are headed, and just as beautifully thought out, for those who want to get where they are going. The destination is the food of Asia, with China as the wellspring. The territory Ms. Trang has mapped includes Indonesia and the Philippines, Thailand and Cambodia, Vietnam, Japan and Korea--as well as greater China. She does not pretend to be definitive--that would take an encyclopedia. Rather, Ms. Trang assures the reader that much of what they know of western cooking applies to the east. She begins with familiarity then builds in self confidence, chapter by chapter, recipe by recipe.
There are detailed sections on the Asian pantry, the basics of tools and techniques, an overview of the working fundamentals of building a dish or a meal. Then the book breaks out into chapters on "Condiments, Stocks and Starter Soups," "Rice, Noodles, Dumplings, and Bread," "Vegetables and Herbs," "Fish and Seafood," "Meat and Poultry," and "Sweets and Drinks." She ends her book with notes about Asian food rituals and sample menus and sources. The recipes are refreshingly short, concise, and to the point. A reader could begin by cooking what is already familiar, then expand into the many delicious alternatives Essentials of Asian Cuisine has to offer. Before you know it you'll be swimming like a natural without a second look back. --Schuyler Ingle
From Library Journal
Though she now lives in New York, food writer and former Saveur magazine editor Trang grew up in Vietnam as well as Paris, and she has traveled widely throughout Asia. In her impressive new cookbook, she explores the "continuities" among the centuries-old Chinese culinary tradition and the cuisines of the rest of Asia, from Japan to Vietnam and Thailand to the Philippines. She starts with a detailed, illustrated pantry section and another on equipment and techniques, followed by an overview of the "fundamentals," the guiding principles of Chinese cooking, along with brief introductions to the foods of the other Asian countries. The following chapters, from "Condiments" to "Rice, Noodles, Dumplings, and Breads" (the longest one and, to a certain extent, the heart of the book) to "Sweets and Drinks," offer more than 250 recipes. Trang's readable and informative headnotes provide provenance and explore the connections among similar dishes found in the various cuisines; she also includes useful tips on using unusual ingredients and suggests substitutions if necessary. The lengthy chapter introductions are equally impressive, serving as mini-encyclopedias in themselves. Authoritative and thoroughly researched, this will be invaluable as both a reference and a cookbook. Highly recommended.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Despite its bulk, Corinne Trang's Essentials of Asian Cuisine offers just that: fundamentals, not exhaustive completeness. She has produced a volume covering the cooking of the Southeast Asian peninsula's nations, China, Japan, and Korea, ignoring India and some other countries whose cuisines are hard to distinguish from those of their larger neighbors. For those unfamiliar with Asian cooking, Trang opens with a discussion of the cuisines' shared cooking techniques and the importance of using all one's senses when preparing a meal. Even sound plays a part by determining a dish's doneness by its bubbling or by the timbre of the steam emanating from a pot. The exhaustive inventory of recipes methodically treats soups, starches, meats, fish, vegetables, and sweet dishes. Her recipes for Chinese dumplings, Philippine lumpia wrappers, and Korean pancakes will attract many a cook. Trang's meat recipes show how the same cut of meat may be differently handled from one nation to the next. A brief list of sources for Asian ingredients and a bibliography aid cooks eager to try out some of these recipes. Mark Knoblauch
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Review
"...Trang organizes...Asian cooking by grouping together similar dishes that highlight the common elements as well as the variations." -- The Cincinnati Enquirer
"An ambitious and largely successful endeavor...Trang does for Asian cuisine what Julia Child did for that of France." -- Northwest Palate Magazine
"Any fan of Asian cooking will savor it as an 'essential' for replicating the great dishes of this historic tradition." -- Grace Young, author, The Wisdom of the Chinese Kitchen
"Asian food is all the rage...Trang brings intimidating [Asian] cuisines home in simple language for the Western cook." -- The Indianapolis Star
"At over 600 pages, the book is overflowing with recipes that are easier than you think." -- Metropolitan Home Magazine
"From a true teacher. This one walks you through the recipes which explode with unusual tastes and textures..." -- William Woys Weaver, Contributing Editor, Gourmet
"Trang acocmplishes this ambitious project with complete sucess. This book has indeed captured the heart and soul of Asian cuisine." -- Nadsa De Monteiro, Executive Chef, The Elephant Walk, Boston
"Trang has the cooking credentials to produce a tome like this one." -- Body & Soul
"Trang shows an instructional bent in explaining ingredients, techniques and how the cuisines evolved." -- The Atlanta Journal and Constitution
Cook's Illustrated Essentials of Asian Cuisine has the beauty of a coffee-table book, the depth of an encyclopedia, and the regional information and landscapes of a travel guide. -- Review
About the Author
Corinne Trang is the award-winning author of Authentic Vietnamese Cooking (1999). She has written for numerous publications, including Organic Style, Saveur, and Food & Wine. She has also been a guest on such radio and television shows as Bloomberg Radio's Executive Dining Guide with Peter Elliot, and TV Food Network's Cooking Live and Martha Stewart Living. Trang has lectured internationally and currently teaches in the Culinary Arts program at Drexel University in Philadelphia. She lives in New York City.
