The Breath of a Wok: Unlocking the Spirit of Chinese Wok Cooking Through Recipes and Lore

Product Description:


When Grace Young was a child, her father instilled in her a lasting appreciation of wok hay, the highly prized but elusive taste that food achieves when properly stir-fried in a wok. As an adult, Young aspired to create that taste in her own kitchen. Her quest to master wok cooking led her throughout the United States, Hong Kong, and mainland China. Along with award-winning photographer Alan Richardson, Young sought the advice of home cooks, professional chefs, and esteemed culinary teachers like Cecilia Chiang, Florence Lin, and Ken Hom. Their instructions, stories, and recipes, gathered in this richly designed and illustrated volume, offer not only expert lessons in the art of wok cooking, but also capture a beautiful and timeless way of life.

With its emphasis on cooking with all the senses, The Breath of a Wok brings the techniques and flavors of old-world wok cooking into today's kitchen, enabling anyone to stir-fry with wok hay. IACP award-winner Young details the fundamentals of selecting, seasoning, and caring for a wok, as well as the range of the wok's uses; this surprisingly inexpensive utensil serves as the ultimate multipurpose kitchen tool. The 125 recipes are a testament to the versatility of the wok, with stir-fried, smoked, pan-fried, braised, boiled, poached, steamed, and deep-fried dishes that include not only the classics of wok cooking, like Kung Pao Chicken and Moo Shoo Pork, but also unusual dishes like Sizzling Pepper and Salt Shrimp, Three Teacup Chicken, and Scallion and Ginger Lo Mein. Young's elegant prose and Richardson's extraordinary photographs create a unique and unforgettable picture of artisan wok makers in mainland China, street markets in Hong Kong, and a "wok-a-thon" in which Young's family of aunties, uncles, and cousins cooks together in a lively exchange of recipes and stories. A visit with author Amy Tan also becomes a family event when Tan and her sisters prepare New Year's dumplings.Additionally, there are menus for family-style meals and for Chinese New Year festivities, an illustrated glossary, and a source guide to purchasing ingredients, woks, and accessories.

Written with the intimacy of a memoir and the immediacy of a travelogue, this recipe-rich volume is a celebration of cultural and culinary delights.

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Customer Reviews

Rating: - A wonderful book
This is not your usual cooking book.In fact, I'm reading it and loving it for other reasons.The author goes into great detail about the subject of the book: the wok.She manages to fill the pages with such interesting and well presented information, that it's hard to put the book down.She'd done an incredible amount of research for this book.She visited countless cooking establishments and spoke with a large number of respected chefs.I love that she gives credit where credit is due.
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Rating: - Delivers as Promised
This book contains exactly what it proposes in the title.What more can one want?

It has some interesting and fun information on woks, and China itself, that the author discovered on her trip back to her homeland.Well worth the number of pages allotted.

Then, the recipes are interesting, tasty and have visual appeal. I would much rather be cooking one than writing this review!Many are the type which serve 4 as part of a multi-course meal.

If you are ... Read More
Rating: - One of the best books I've read in a long time
Wow, what a treat. This book has everything: history, tradition, characters, techniques, recipes, photos, stories, explanations, science, you name it. As soon as I finished it, I reread it. Loads of tips on how to cook with a wok, and that means doing everything with one. Perhaps what the author does best is explain the regional differences for using a wok throughout Asia. This book makes a great gift, and the recipes are better than most cookbooks.
Rating: - Not as detailed as I had hoped
Although this is a very nice book and it has some well written stories, I was anticipating something with a lot more detail (historical, more pictures, etc.).It was still an enjoyable read.
Rating: - Great list of dishes and history about woks
So many of my favorite Chinese dishes in one book!I am thrilled.
The history about woks and the people are also fascinating.I love the photos of the poeple, it makes the stories come alive.This is so much more than a cookbook.
I love that at the back of the book, she not only list and describe the key Chinese cooking sauces/vinegars/ingredients, but actually have pictures!!This is important because it makes it so much easier to find those bottles and ingredients in the stores that ... Read More