Martin Yan's Asian Favorites: From Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Thailand FROM OUR EDITORS
The Barnes & Noble Review
Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Thailand are the true stars of this new book by TV chef Martin Yan, and readers looking for a gentle introduction to the cuisine of Southeast Asia will be delighted.
Part cookbook, part travelogue, this is the companion book to the public television series Yan Can Cook: Asian Favorites, and it comes gorgeously produced with plenty of full-color photos of food and scenery. (The sight of Taiwan's Jilong Beach, with its amazing mushroom-shaped rocks, is enough to get you surfing for plane tickets.)
Yan explores the food trails of Southeast Asia, from the sophistication of Hong Kong to the diversity of Thailand and the Chinese microcosm that is Taiwan. The book's 140 recipes range from street snacks like Thai-style Meatballs on Skewers to formal entrées like Baked Lobster with Green Tea from the Hilton Hotel in Taipei. Yan also provides classics from each cuisine -- Taiwan-style hot pots and son-in-law eggs from Thailand -- as well as strange fusion foods like a Ying Yang Pizza or Thai-Style Burritos. Assuming they have some familiarity with a wok and cleaver, readers should find the recipes unintimidating.
Fans who enjoy Yan's humor on his TV show will feel right at home with such sidebar titles in the book as "Flankly Yours" (on flank steak), "Orange You Glad" (on the color of Buddhist monks' robes), and "No Vein, No Pain" (on deveining shrimp).
(Ginger Curwen)
FROM THE PUBLISHER
Join Chef Martin Yan as he visits Asia on an insider's tour of three of the continent's most dynamic culinary traditions. Collecting recipes from top hotels and restaurants, food stalls, and home kitchens, Martin provides a definitive look at Asian cuisine in all its diversity. He first visits Hong Kong to explore the creative wonders of this culinary crossroads. Martin then heads to Taiwan, where he uncovers a microcosm of all of Chinese cuisine, with elements derived from every region and style found on the mainland. Finally, Martin takes his inaugural tour of Thailand, experiencing the many facets of the country's cuisine, from the seaside villages of the south to the bustling streets of Chiang Mai in the north. The companion book to his latest public television show, MARTIN YAN'S ASIAN FAVORITES continues Chef Yan's fascinating exploration of the cultures and cuisines of Asia.
About the Author: Martin Yan received his certification as a Master Chinese Chef from the Ontario Restaurant Association, a master's degree in food science from the University of California at Davis, and an honorary doctorate from Johnson and Wales University. Watched in more than 70 countries, Yan Can Cook is one of the world's most popular cooking shows and has received two James Beard Awards. Martin Yan lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.
FROM THE CRITICS
Publishers Weekly
In Yan's slightly disappointing 24th book, the celebrity chef and host of Yan Can Cook travels across Hong Kong, Taiwan and Thailand, visiting street vendors, restaurant chefs and home cooks along the way. Part travelogue and part cookbook, the volume has the feel of a package tour with an enthusiastic guide who won't linger in any single place. Taiwan, with its little-known cuisine, is, according to Yan, a lazy Susan: "Take a quick spin, and you can experience all the delights China has to offer!" Hong Kong, where he began his career as a 13-year-old restaurant apprentice, is "an international crossroad as well as a culinary hotspot," while Thailand's hotels have "a top-notch reputation for hospitality," and so on. The simplicity of Yan's recipes will appeal to readers who are intimidated by long lists of exotic-sounding ingredients; that the resulting dishes are not complexly flavored is the price to be paid for the ease of preparing them. Odd fusion dishes like Hong Kong Soft Beef Tacos (tortillas filled with shiitake mushroom, wood ear and marinated beef) and Yin-Yang Pizza (which is topped with eggplant, sesame-oil pesto, crookneck squash and canned pineapple) will probably not have wide appeal. Yan's chapter on Thailand is more conventional and, in addition to the old standards, features recipes for simplified curry pastes, which anyone who has ever spent a morning pounding spices will welcome. (Nov.) Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.
Library Journal
The latest book from popular television chef Yan is the companion volume to his new series of the same name. It takes his readers on a tour of Hong Kong, the city where he began his culinary education; Taiwan, which he describes as "a microcosm of all of Chinese cuisine and culture"; and Thailand, one of his favorite places, not covered in previous series. The recipes range from sophisticated dishes from four-star hotel chefs to street food delicacies, with an emphasis on regional specialties in Taiwan and Thailand. There are color photographs throughout, and informative sidebars in the often cornball style (e.g, "Kabocha? You Betcha!" or "Garden of Eatin' ") that has become Yan's trademark, although his approach to the food itself is always serious. His fans ensure demand; for most collections. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.
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