Knack Chinese Cooking : A Step-By-Step Guide to Authentic Dishes Made Easy

For those who have always wanted to prepare Chinese food at home, here is the book they can actually learn Chinese cooking from—full-color, step-by-step photographs fully convey the process and presentation of Chinese cuisine. With 350 photos and 100 main recipes plus 250 variations suited for the contemporary kitchen, Knack Chinese Cooking offers a veritable banquet of authentic recipes from the Eight Great Cuisines of China, as well as dishes from China’s emerging cosmopolitan capitals and from the best Chinatown kitchens. Readers gain a basic knowledge of the equipment, ingredients, and techniques needed to prepare an essential repertoire of Chinese dishes.

Belinda Hulin got a wok as a high school graduation present and she’s been captivated by, and cooking, Asian cuisine ever since. After dining and shopping for exotic victuals in the Chinatown neighborhoods of New York, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Boston, Houston and Vancouver, Hulin finally got to tour mainland China and Hong Kong. Before traveling to Guangdong province to adopt daughter Sophie, Hulin and her husband Jim Crissman sampled Imperial banquet dishes and modern Chinese bistro fare in Beijing, ate snack pancakes at the Great Wall, traditional congee and dim sum in Foshan, world-cuisine delicacies in Hong Kong and a full complement of authentic Cantonese fare in Guangzhou. She had the distinction of being the only new mother to get a chef’s tour of the kitchen at the White Swan Hotel.

Hulin has appeared on radio and television several times during her tenure as food editor and features editor of The Florida Times-Union, and as the first editor of the Jacksonville edition of Skirt! She’s served as an adjunct or visiting lecturer at three universities, has lectured at conferences and writers group meetings and presented a seminar on writing at the International Conference on Teaching and Learning. In support of her cookbooks, Hulin has arranged book signings; donated signed copies of her books to charity auctions and performed a cooking demonstration at the Southern Women’s Show cooking stage. Hulin currently lives in Atlantic Beach, Florida with her husband and daughter.

Kian Lam Kho, a Singapore native who now makes New York City his home, is the author of the food blog RedCook.net. He apprenticed under Chef Josh Capon at the neow defunct restaurant Canteen in SoHo, New York, and prepares meals for private parties as well as exploring all aspects of Chinese cooking. He teaches cooking classes at the Institute of Culinary Education in New York City.

Liesa Cole is the photographer behind several books, including Knack Quick & Easy Cooking (Knack Books) and Seduced by Bacon and Soupfor Everybody (both The Lyons Press).