Land of Fish and Rice
Recipes from the Culinary Heart of China
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- $24.99
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- $24.99
Publisher Description
'Fuchsia Dunlop, our great writer and expert on Chinese gastronomy, has fallen in love with this region and its cuisine – and her book makes us fall in love too' Claudia Roden
'Fuchsia Dunlop's erudite writing infuses each page and her delicious recipes will inspire any serious cook to take up their wok' Ken Hom
The Lower Yangtze region or Jiangnan, with its modern capital Shanghai, has been known since ancient times as a 'Land of Fish and Rice'. For centuries, local cooks have been using the plentiful produce of its lakes, rivers, fields and mountains, combined with delicious seasonings and flavours such as rice vinegar, rich soy sauce, spring onion and ginger, to create a cuisine that is renowned in China for its delicacy and beauty.
Drawing on years of study and exploration, Fuchsia Dunlop explains basic cooking techniques, typical cooking methods and the principal ingredients of the Jiangnan larder. Her recipes are a mixture of simple rustic cooking and rich delicacies – some are famous, some unsung. You'll be inspired to try classic dishes such as Beggar's chicken and sumptuous Dongpo pork.
Most of the recipes contain readily available ingredients and with Fuchsia's clear guidance, you will soon see how simple it is to create some of the most beautiful and delicious dishes you'll ever taste. With evocative writing and mouth-watering photography, this is an important new work about one of China's most fascinating culinary regions.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Dunlop (Every Grain of Rice), a London-based food and travel journalist and the recipient of multiple James Beard Awards, continues her love affair with Chinese cooking in an exploration of the Jiangnan region. In this "culinary heart of China" along the lower Yangtze near Shanghai, abundant resources from fertile valleys and waters produce a "gentle way of life and glorious cuisine" and a refined "seductive harmony of tastes." Dunlop selects 150 recipes from home and restaurant kitchens, street vendors, foragers, and farmers that feature traditional courses: appetizers, meat mains, poultry, eggs, seafood, tofu, and vegetables. Soups, rice, noodles, dumplings, along with snacks, sweet dishes, and drinks are included. There are foundation recipes for stocks and bun dough and tips for menu planning, pantry ingredients, tools, and techniques. While home cooks might find sourcing chrysanthemum leaves, lotus roots, or lily bulbs a challenge, the majority of dishes translate simply for the home cook. Her dishes will certainly impress: Tofu Ribbons, a comforting mushroom, pork, and wheat noodle dish; stir-fried sweet potato noodles; and the extravagant leaf and mud-wrapped Beggar's Chicken entr e. Jiangnan flavors, tamer than other regions', are achieved with a limited range of seasonings yet are perfectly balanced and attractive to modern adherents of clean eating, Dunlop argues. The Jiangnan is an exquisite "crucible of Chinese gastronomy," and Dunlop's scholarly homage to the region will captivate the culinary imagination.
