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

Land of Plenty: A Treasury of Authentic Sichuan Cooking | Fuchsia Dunlop | An excellent book on cooking and culture.

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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

update on sichuan peppercorns

One reviewer warned that the U.S. Dep't of Agriculture's ban on the importation of Sichuan peppercorns limited the utility of this terrific book. Be advised that in the three years since that review was written, the U.S. has lifted the ban. I know because I bought some today, at a spice store in Chicago.

An excellent book on cooking and culture.

This is an extremely well written book, with careful instructions for making classic Sichuan dishes. Much restaurant and cookbook Chinese cookery of Britain and the USA is Cantonese, with some Peking style and Shanghai variations. The "Szechuan" or "Sichuan" style in most restaurants, without an authentic Sichuanese trained chef, is "watered down" Sichuan or a "hot" Cantonese variant, turning people off to a cuisine they have truly never tried.

My Chinese chef-friend from Chengdu, Capital of Sichuan Province, has looked this book over, cooked several dishes from it for us, and proclaimed it "very very good". I've eaten in Chengdu, and also greatly appreciate the taste of native Sichuan cookery.

For example, "Pork slices with black cloud fungus", a fairly quick and simple stir fry, was the real thing, just as my friend had back in Chengdu. Rehydrate the dried fungus to be moist and still be a touch crunchy, and do not overcook it, or it loses this necessary mild crunchy texture. Feeling a little peckish? Try also Sweet and sour pork, Boiled beef slices in a fiery sauce, Pock marked(Old woman's) Mother Chen's beancurd, hotpot broth (for dipping varied foods), and spicy braised fish with whole garlic. Yum!

Need to learn what true cooking should taste like before cooking on your own? Compare your cookery with kitchens such as Bar Shu, the Sichuan restaurant in London under Miss Dunlop's supervision; some other Sichuan places in England are London's Sichuan Restaurant, and Red Chilli in Manchester.

My friend and my only small complaint/suggestion is that as good as the color photos are, there is a great need to have photos of much more of the dishes in a next edition. (Photos of eight or more dishes can fit on one side of a page, to save costs, and increase variety.) Note, pictures of some dishes can sometimes be found by Googling.

Sichuan peppercorn has been available again in the USA since 2005 at several internet pepper suppliers... it's a truly necessary ingredient for the "numbing" spice's contibution to quite a few authentic dishes. They are dark red, with the inner gritty black seeds removed. Chew one, if it doesn't have a tingling and somewhat numbing sensation on your tongue and lips within a minute, then get a fresher batch elsewhere! Supplies for the other staples can be found at Chinese/Asian suppply stores in larger cities, or from internet suppliers.

Note: Fuchsia Dunlop's cookbook, "Revolutionary Chinese Cookbook: Recipes from Hunan Province", is also a very good book; I tend to prefer this one.

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Authentic

I recently visited my son in Chengdu, where I became addicted to Mapo Dofu. I bought this cookbook because I am back in the States and this reminds me of our meals together. It's a treat to be able to replicate the taste - this food is nothing like you get in your average Chinese restaurant. It's also a treat to be able to discuss the recipes with my son over the phone - with me trying to pronounce the Chinese words and him trying to guess what I'm saying. The recipes should make me even more adventuresome next time I visit Chengdu.

Szechuan Peppercorns are available

i noticed in the 2003 review that it was stated that US government had banned import of this key component. this ban appears to have been lifted and they can be found online at places like Penzeys

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Land of Plenty: A Treasury of Authentic Sichuan Cooking

Wonderful cookbook, my husband & I have become exteremly interested in Sichuan Cooking over the past few months and we were very excited to find a cookbook representing the Sichuan style of cooking. We love cooking with Sichuan Peppercorns and the "Hot & Numbing" style of cooking. The first recipe we tried was the Dry Cooked Beef, the recipe was very well written, easy to understand and the end product was yummy. I would recommend this book to any one who is interested in a wonderful and very interesting style of Asian cooking.

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

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