[.ca] Potsticker Chronicles: America's Favorite Chinese Recipes (ISBN 0471250287)

Dig In!:
By Bill Marsano. Stewart Chang Berman lives up to his promise to give us 'America's favorite Chinese recipes in this volume, as you can see for yourself. They're all here: won ton soup, shrimp in garlic sauce, lobster Cantonese, General Tso's chicken, Hunan beef, pepper steak and many more, including one of his signature 'fusion' dishes, Sichuan blackened shrimp. In short, just about everything you can find at your storefront Ptomaine Wok take-out is here, 160 or so recipes, potstickers (fried meat dumplings) included. Most recipes are gratifyingly simple: More than a hundred run to no more than five steps. Of course Chinese cooking requires some unusual ingredients and equipment, but surely we are no longer stunned at the sight of a wok or star anise? In any event, the author pitches in with helpful sections on ingredients, equipment, techniques and basic sauces. He even includes--for the neophytes among us--the cornstarch mixture, which is simple (it's cornstarch and water) and, I think, unnecessary. I gave up adding it years ago; my sauces always seemed thick enough without it. The recipes are nicely laid out, usually one to a page. They're clearly written and presented in a readable type face. No fussiness nor fol-de-rol here. Note that the paper is unfinished--not slick and shiny. That means when you use this book at the stove it's best to have one of those clear plastic protectors at hand. Or else be neat, which is beyond me. The real surprise in this book is the author, Stewart Change Berman has been around for some time. He switched from a political-science career to cookery when illness threatened the family restaurant, The Court of the Mandarins, in Washington, D.C. during the Nixon administration--so why haven't we heard from him before? It would appear that he was too busy opening other restaurants (Wok 'n' Roll and The Mandarins, both in or near Washington) to court celebrity. Which is perhaps just as well. This is a honey book with homey touches, none better than the anecdotes and family memories he sprinkles throughout. In fact, his mother's illustration of the meaning of tact is worth the price of the book all by itself. There are some dinner-menu suggestions troward the back of the book; most contain suggestions for wine. My advice is to forget them. Wine go with Chinese food but it seldom goes willingly. Beer and tea are drunk at table by the Chinese, and who should know better?--Bill Marsano is an award-winning writer on travel and wine and spirits; he often cooks for his family.

Brown Sauce:
I cannot believe the secret of the "Brown Sauce" was revealed along with many others! Stu did a wonderful job mixing family stories and excellent cooking. Closely guarded secrets are now an open book to honor his mother's memory. It's a unique mixture between ancient Chinese traditions and the New World! There are no pictures in this cookbook because pictures could not do the quality of the cooking justice! Not only is the quality and the history of the cooking honored, but also the quality and the origin of the ingredients. Such as the brown trout that was caught by the author below a waterfall and the pheasant that was transported by Amtrak to the most deserving kitchen. Fabulous!!!

Brown Sauce Secret:
The book is excellently written and gives not just fabulous recipes but also the family history associated with them. Previously closely guarded secrets are revealed in honor of the author's mother. Ancient Chinese tradition is fused with the New World. The importance of the right ingredients is stressed and accompanied with stories of their origin such as the trout caught by the author below a waterfall in the Alps. Delicious!!!