Katie Chin's Everyday Chinese Cookbook by Katie Chin

My rating: 5 of 5 spoons

ggggg

I thoroughly enjoy Chinese food, but we don't go out to eat often, and I don't like the large amounts of msg many restaurants add to their food. This book is a delightful alternative! All your classic Chinese dishes are here from General Tso's Chicken, Firecracker Shrimp, Potstickers, multiple dumplings, Crab Wontons, Mu Shu Pork, Egg Drop Soup, Cashew Chicken, Pepper Steak and so many, many more!

My husband and I are working on changing our eating habits, watching calories, fat, etc and generally trying to lose weight and get healthier, so I wanted to treat him with last night. He's a long time fan of Beef and Broccoli, so I whipped up a batch from Katie's book. This was my first time making it myself, and it turned out lovely!! The recipe says it serves 2 for a main course with rice. We actually only ate about 1/3 of the pot apiece and that kept the calories under 500, which I was very happy with! It was nice to feel like you were having a cheat meal, but you weren't even cheating!!

Along with the delicious recipes, there's delightful sections on Katie's mom, understanding Chinese ingredients, cooking techniques, as well as tools and utensils before it gets into the actual recipes. I love that it includes recipes for the different sauces as well so you don't have to always rely on store bought.

The book is filled with photos that are colorful and mouthwatering to go with the well-written recipes that are easy to follow. The index is comprehensive making it easy to find the dish you want by dish or ingredient, which is a definite plus when you don't know exactly what to cook, but want to find something to fit what you have on hand. I had a nice little flank steak that I was looking to cook and was thrilled to find multiple recipes of various sorts that I could use it in.

This is overall an absolutely delightful cookbook that is easy to use and a joy to cook from. Why not skip the Chinese restaurant next time and whip up a batch of your favorite food at home!

I received a copy of this book from Tuttle Publishing for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.