Land of Plenty: A Treasury of Authentic Sichuan Cooking | Fuchsia Dunlop

Land of Plenty: A Treasury of Authentic Sichuan Cooking | Fuchsia Dunlop | Good book Sichuan food

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Land of Plenty: A ...

	Land of Plenty: A Treasury of Authentic Sichuan Cooking Fuchsia Dunlop W. W. Norton & Company, 2003 - 395 pages average customer review:based on 32 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

The Chinese call the province of Sichuan in southwest China "the land of plenty" and "the place for flavor." Although it is mostly known in the West for its hot-and-spicy dishes, the Chinese love Sichuan food for its inventive use of seasonings and its many styles of preparation. Fuchsia Dunlop immersed herself in Sichuanese cooking and culture for two years, gathering from regional chefs and home cooks a full range of recipes from soups to desserts. She provides glossaries of Sichuan's ingredients and cooking methods, and Chinese characters for and definitions of the twenty-three flavors at the heart of the Sichuanese culinary canon. Equally valuable for novices and experts, Land of Plenty teaches everything from how to wield a cleaver to how to make delicious Kung Pao chicken, offering a unique user-friendly introduction to one of China's richest cuisines. 16 pages of color photographs.

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A Must Own

The Good:
- Authentic recipes (lots of them). Most of the dishes taste pretty good. The first dish I made was Gong Bao Ji Ding and it was delicious.
- Very nicely written. Instructions were clear and easy to follow. Lots of great info and details about the ingredients and cooking method. The author also provides an interesting background for each dish. You can tell Dunlop is passionate about Sichuanese food.
- Great organization (separated by Noodles, Appetizers, Meat, Fish, etc.)
- No MSG

The Bad:
- Lacks pictures. The pictures were great but I wish there were more. I had to use google to compare my results.

Conclusion:
Overall a great book and easily recommended. Despite the lack of pictures, I still have to rate it 5 stars because of the delicious recipes.

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Good book Sichuan food

I have to say that as much I've cooked from this book, I've appreciate much more my neighborhood Sichuan place.

The author has done a great job. I do think there are some small areas where the technique isn't too obvious.

I would recommend reading the introduction and the basics before proceeding to the recipes - offers a good grounding into Sichuan foods and techniques.

A MUST have if you like Sichuan food

I am very impressed by the depth of knowledge the author acquired to write this book and how she carefully shares it with her readers. It is not just a book of recipes. The author did her homework understanding the hows and the whys. I love how she explains the many cooking and cutting methods very clearly, AND she includes the Chinese calligraphy (beautifully done) for each, as well as the Chinese pronunciation. This truly helps 'connect the dots' because English translated menus in Chinese restaurants do not always use the same words so it's very helpful to see it in Chinese and know how to pronounce it too. She goes into details explaining the use of Chinese cooking utensils, how to prepare/oil your wok properly, etc... seriously goes beyond the usual cookbook! THANK YOU!

And of course, from her descriptions of the dishes, I could practically smell the spices and want to sink my teeth into the dishes so badly... This was my first Dunlop book and I am a fan now.

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Fuschia Dunlop rocks!

I was so giddy when I heard about this book on NPR that I immediately went home and ordered the book. I made the Gong Bao chicken tonight and it was just as delicious as I had imagined. I've made "Kung pao" chicken before, but not quite like this!! It tastes incredibly authentic. I also made the flowering chives with smoky bacon and the stir-fried amaranth leaves. Yum yum!! The recipes are so easy to follow.

Such simple combinations of spices and sauces but the dishes turn out so vastly different than chinese dishes I have made in the past.

Terrific attention to detail and Fuschia comes across as very lively and absorbed with the Chinese culture. You can tell she truly loves the people and the food. This book definitely ranks up there with my top 5 cookbooks.

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Surprisingly useful!

I initially bought this cookbook to learn more about Sichuan cuisine, but quickly realized the recipies are extremely practical and easy to follow. They do not require much specialized equipement (unless you consider a wok specialized) and the ingredients can be found at a local Asian market or online. I prepared several bean curd recipes this week. Once I had the ingredients prepped, the actual cook time was only 3 minutes or so (at a very high heat).

In addition to being simple, economical, and fast to prepare, most of the recipes seem fairly healthful (Deep fried foods or pork belly would be obvious exceptions).

If you have never tasted Sichuan pepper, it is definitely worth experiencing. It is not spicy, but it does have a have a fairly big impact on your mouth. That said, even my children (who do not like spicy foods) were able to eat and enjoy the recipies with the Sichuan pepper. Some recipes do have more heat for those who like very spicy food.

I highly recommend this cookbook both for the cultural/historical information and for the recipes.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

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