Land of Fish and Rice: Recipes from the Culinary Heart of China Hardcover – October 18, 2016

Brilliant. Elegant. Beautifully written and detailed but never overbearing. Some of the best basic cooking and ingredient information available very excitedly presented. The traditions and history presented especially concerning jin versus pickling versus fermenting versus brines is heroically inclusive and accurate. The publication of this book is a milestone in the history of food literature, culture and a sweet and tender exhortation not to forget so many beautiful and delicious things need to be treasured and saved now. This is the only gift we intend to give in the coming year - assuming friends, family and colleagues don't already have Katz' The Art of Fermentation, or Hachisu's Preserving the Japanese Way, or Asher's The Art of Natural Cheesemaking - and we hope that it will serve as the foundation of a cultural revolution around Chine Food in the US and around the world. Got a young or new cooking enthusiast in the family? This is the book for them! Thank you, Fuchsia Dunlop. Chef Ken Fornataro, [...]or [email protected]

I mostly cook from Chinese language sources and just wanted to mention that (like all of all of her cookbooks) this book doesn't give up even one little bit of quality just because it's in English. It's as faithful and loving a guide to Jiangnan food as I could ever imagine or hope for. Would give it a hundred stars if I could.Also like her other cookbooks, the recipes are spot on and turn out great results.Just like any cuisine, if you're new to this regional Chinese style then you may need to spend some time learning the techniques and flavors - since high quality examples can be very hard to find in western Chinese restaurants unless you already know what you're looking for.

Growing up, I always ate Jiangnan-style dishes that my mom made daily. This book helps me reconnect with those dishes that I never bothered to learn from my mom when I was younger. Also teaches some dishes that I love that she doesn’t even know how to make! My mom even took a look at the book last time she was over. She assumed it wouldn’t be very good because it was written by a foreigner, but she was pleasantly surprised!The flavors in this book are lighter and more subtle than what most Americans think “Chinese” flavors are. But I’m guessing if you’re thinking about buying this book, you already know that. I sometimes compare Hangzhou cuisine to Japanese cuisine because it values the inherent flavor of fresh and seasonal ingredients instead of covering it up in thick sauces, and the rest of the Jiangnan area is similar too. I have yet to find another better English cookbook for this regional cuisine (though I would totally buy a HangBang-specific cookbook in English if someone writes one!)

I tried Golden Scrambled Eggs with Shrimp today and loved it. The recipe involves a very short list of simple and accessible ingredients that I have cooked with countless of times. Yet, with simple twists in the cooking method, which Fuchsia describes in her exceedingly clear and straightforward style, I was able to turn ordinary materials into something special.I own every book by Fuchsia and have deep respect and appreciation for what she has done to spread the knowledge of Chinese cuisine. I am from China and now live in the United States. I am most proud of the Chinese cuisine which I do not think is well understood and appreciated outside China. I recently visited in China and spent some time in several major book stores checking out Chinese cookbooks. Most of the cookbooks I saw aim for quick and easy recipes; many have step wise pictures. I assume these are helpful books for busy people looking for something easy to follow. However, if you want to learn what the truly amazing Chinese food is like, Fuchsia's books are among the top choices. She really gets it. She is highly skilled at talking about Chinese food concepts and terms that do not have anything equivalent in the English world.I look forward to cooking through this and her other books.

De indruk wordt gewekt dat het boek de binnenlanden van China beslaat, dat is niet zo. Het is maar een mager deel.

Fuchsia Dunlop è da più di quindici anni una autorità indiscussa nel campo della cucina cinese; fin dal suo esordio con la provincia dello Sichuan (Land of Plenty, 2001) si è distinta per lo sforzo di affrontare questo "continente" con approfondimenti su porzioni più ristrette del suo territorio, l'unico modo possibile per non essere superficiali rispetto alla sua ricchezza e alla sua multiformità, spesso inconcepibile per occidentali abituati a classificazioni più rigide e ordinarie (e a giudizi spesso troppo sommari sulla "realtà" cinese).Neanche questa sua ultima fatica tradisce le aspettative; la regione immensa dello Jiangnan, la porzione del delta a sud dello Yangtze, è ricca di corsi d'acqua dolce e arriva fino al mare. Non solo pesci, riso e ortaggi (oltre l'onnipresente maiale) ne caratterizzano la cucina; domina soprattutto un certo gusto per l'armonia degli accostamenti e per il raffinato bilanciamento delle spezie, quasi sconosciuto ad altre regioni.Libro perfetto per cura, grafica e qualità fotografica; da segnalare per gli appassionati il capitolo "Dumplings & Snacks".Se siete veramente interessati alla cucina cinese, la Dunlop è sulla vostra strada.

As usual, great entry into the pantheon of Chinese cooking. Bravo.

I bought this book because my partner was born near Shanghai, and we were looking to recreate some of her favourite recipes. She was delighted with the breadth of nostalgic and familiar dishes - she ended up showing the book to friend also from the region, and they spent a good half hour bubbling and chatting over how fun and interesting it was to see their favourite childhood dishes written down in such a detailed and accessible way.Fuchsia Dunlop has done her research. It's a book that is definitely tailored towards Westerners, and the reason I say that is because it includes methods for some things that would be so ubiquitous to a Shanghai native that they barely warrant being written down, such as methods for plain congee or stir-fried greens - the equivalent would be an English cookbook with recipes for grilled cheese sandwiches or fish and chips. This is far from a criticism - very often it feels like regional cookbooks jump too readily to include only dishes that are exotic, unusual or challenging. The book is enormously accessible to anyone even if they have no background in Chinese cooking, and for that includes some basic building blocks that can you can use as a jumping off point into more unfamiliar territory.That isn't to say that the book doesn't have complex recipes - it runs the full gamut from half hour quick suppers to make-ahead dinner party showstoppers (or 'kung fu' recipes).Everything I've made so far has been delicious and very-well received. I made hong shao rou for a Nanjing native and was told that my dish was 'as good as mum used to make it' - which I think is about the highest form of praise a chef can get.It also includes a lot of detail and history on each dish and the food photography is gorgeous. Highly recommended.

Since I had myself the opportunity to travel in the Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces more than once, I found in Fuchsia's book a more than inspiring source for these regions' cuisine. I especially appreciate her non-eclectic and modern interpretation of classical recipes, enabling to reproduce them in a western kitchen.