thedailychannel.com — recommended books

Every Grain of Rice
by Ellen Blonder and Annabel Low

This slim yet substantial cookbook is a moving voyage of nostalgia created by two young women of Chinese parentage living in America.

This book is a labor of love, and Ellen Blonder's illustrations really show it. Even if this cookbook didn't show how to make virtually any kind of Chinese food that you might ever want to have, the illustrations would be nice to have around, just to look at.

But of course, there are many recipes, too: jeng, bao, beef with black mushrooms, a whole range of childhood comfort foods, family recipes recreated, along with family memories of the occasions when they were prepared and of course consumed.

One reviewer complained about the reminiscences, saying "just give me the recipes." I disagreed, and I disagree even more now that I have read the book. Many of these recipes are too involved to even attempt -- and anyway, are for more portions than most people in a busy modern life are called upon to deliver.

In fact, to be perfectly honest, although I have read the book, there is only one recipe that I have cooked out of this book: Broccoli and Beef with Oyster Sauce. However, this single dish turned out to be such a hit with my family (I like it also, to be sure) that I have made it at least 25 times in its various variations, both with and without garlic and ginger.

I think maybe next I'll try Beef with Black Mushrooms.

In the meantime, if you're at all interested in Chinese food, I highly recommend you visit amazon.com and pick up a copy of Every Grain of Rice by Ellen Blonder and Annabel Low.

reviewed Saturday April 14, 2001