Scan barcode
nakedsushi's review against another edition
2.0
This book looked right up my alley, but after perusing the recipes, it's not for me. Some of the ingredient substitutions in recipes are odd choices and I question the reasoning behind it.
I'm not one of those people who care about recipes being super authentic to the region or whatever (most of the time), considering I hardly ever follow recipes anyway, but I do care that dishes should taste like what they're known for. I can't speak to the Indian recipes here, but for some of the Chinese and Vietnamese recipes, the omission or substitution of some ingredients would change the flavor profile completely.
For example, in the recipe for dan dan mian (which she calls ben ben noodles because she based the recipe off of a chef friend -- who is *not* Chinese BTW), she lists amongst the ingredients Sichuan peppercorn and Shaoxing rice wine, which is good! But then for the sauce, she lists tahini, and *not* Chinese sesame paste. I would imagine someone who has Sichuan peppercorn and Shaoxing wine in their kitchen would probably care to have Chinese sesame paste. It actually tastes quite different than tahini and is a pretty important element to the sauce.
My biggest problem is in the titling of the book, which may be more the fault of the publisher than the author, but if the book is "recipes from Bangalore to Beijing" then I would expect the recipes to come from there, and not be an altered or second-hand version coming from a restaurant in the UK that serves that type of food.
I'm not one of those people who care about recipes being super authentic to the region or whatever (most of the time), considering I hardly ever follow recipes anyway, but I do care that dishes should taste like what they're known for. I can't speak to the Indian recipes here, but for some of the Chinese and Vietnamese recipes, the omission or substitution of some ingredients would change the flavor profile completely.
For example, in the recipe for dan dan mian (which she calls ben ben noodles because she based the recipe off of a chef friend -- who is *not* Chinese BTW), she lists amongst the ingredients Sichuan peppercorn and Shaoxing rice wine, which is good! But then for the sauce, she lists tahini, and *not* Chinese sesame paste. I would imagine someone who has Sichuan peppercorn and Shaoxing wine in their kitchen would probably care to have Chinese sesame paste. It actually tastes quite different than tahini and is a pretty important element to the sauce.
My biggest problem is in the titling of the book, which may be more the fault of the publisher than the author, but if the book is "recipes from Bangalore to Beijing" then I would expect the recipes to come from there, and not be an altered or second-hand version coming from a restaurant in the UK that serves that type of food.
notbucket24's review against another edition
5.0
This HAS to be the best cookbook out there (at least for now) that I've ever tried. Wow! And I'm not a vegan or vegetarian. I've tried so many of the recipes and they are pretty much all exceptional or stellar. We like Asian food so much in our house, and what really impresses me is how relatively easy the recipes are compared to other Asian cookbooks, and there aren't (comparatively) that many ingredients that you can't find at a regular grocery store. I work at a library, and really don't ever buy books, but am considering buying this one once I have to return it, because I don't want to wait for it again. It's hard to pick a standout, but the sweet potato cakes with kimchi mayo (I made extra and put that stuff on so many things) and the Napa cabbage okonomiyaki were 2 that I had to turn around and make again within a few days. And I put the gochujang sauce from the bibimbap recipe on just about everything that isn't dessert.
christinalucia's review against another edition
5.0
Interesting, straightforward and delicious recipes.
Rutabaga Laksa is a must try.
Rutabaga Laksa is a must try.
carlyxjack17's review against another edition
3.0
With all the positive reviews, I was a bit hyped. However, to be honest I was a bit disappointed by the recipes. Many recipes do contain coconut oil, coconut milk, mainly rapeseed oil and/or sugar. I expected a recipe book which tried to minimize on those ingedients. That are some min points from me. However, I love how the author incorporates sections which include information on some ingredients which are interesting. I have to give credits for that.
ari_reads_sometimes's review against another edition
5.0
A vegetarian recipe book that doesn't solely rely on beans and pulse!
catapultingtcup's review against another edition
3.0
Great instructions, great photos, great desserts. Unfortunately, I had to modify too much for my reflux so I can't say just how good the other recipes are.
jskells's review against another edition
5.0
I am going to purchase this book and make every. Single. Recipe.
perfect_leaves's review against another edition
informative
medium-paced
5.0
Nearly every single recipe is fantastic. It is rare for cookbooks to have even a handful of smash hits, let alone an entire book full. Meera Sodha delivers on her promise of flavorful, inexpensive recipes. I can find the majority of the ingredients at Kroger or Walmart, which makes these recipes very accessible as well. I had to go to a local Asian market to find lemon grass, black vinegar, and a few other herbs but in some places, even these are available in large, local supermarkets.
About the title of my review: I HATED beets before trying this book. I find them to be too earthy, and I dislike white vinegar so I had a hard time finding good beet recipes. Sodha uses a combination of rice vinegar (which is more mellow) and seasoning to make these dishes palatable. I was scared to try the Sri Lankan beet curry, but I had no reason to worry. I was less scared to try the beet and ginger soup, but I gulped it down. Now I'm actually excited to try the beet and yogurt rice, as well as the clay pot noodles with beets.
About the salt: I cook with course sea salt and I know from experience that I need to use about half as much salt as the recipe calls for. My intuition was correct here. I suspect Sodha uses kosher salt, based on the quantities given.
My main gripe is that the book lacks an adequate table of contents. If I want to find a specific recipe, I have to rely on bookmarks or keyword searches. It would have been lovely to see all the recipes in a list.
-----
ADVANTAGES OF THE BOOK:
- truly easy-to-find ingredients (and all condiments get used repeatedly, making them worth the investment)
- flavorful recipes
- vegetarian recipes are easily made vegan
- no meat or seafood required
- no fancy kitchen equipment is required
- very few wasted vegetable pieces
DISADVANTAGES OF THE BOOK:
- no real table of contents (there's an "alternative" table of contents that does not list all the recipes)
- chopping the vegetables into small pieces can be time consuming
- does not specify the type of salt, so you need to use "chef's intuition"
- the recipes calling for Sichuan pepper are gritty. I recommend using a fine grind instead of a coarse one
FAVORITE RECIPES:
- overnight soy eggs
- Thai salad with grapefruit and cashews
- silken tofu with pine nuts and pickled chiles (I omitted the pine nuts)
- carrot achar
- salted miso brownies (I recommend using a neutral oil instead of coconut oil, but this is personal preference)
About the title of my review: I HATED beets before trying this book. I find them to be too earthy, and I dislike white vinegar so I had a hard time finding good beet recipes. Sodha uses a combination of rice vinegar (which is more mellow) and seasoning to make these dishes palatable. I was scared to try the Sri Lankan beet curry, but I had no reason to worry. I was less scared to try the beet and ginger soup, but I gulped it down. Now I'm actually excited to try the beet and yogurt rice, as well as the clay pot noodles with beets.
About the salt: I cook with course sea salt and I know from experience that I need to use about half as much salt as the recipe calls for. My intuition was correct here. I suspect Sodha uses kosher salt, based on the quantities given.
My main gripe is that the book lacks an adequate table of contents. If I want to find a specific recipe, I have to rely on bookmarks or keyword searches. It would have been lovely to see all the recipes in a list.
-----
ADVANTAGES OF THE BOOK:
- truly easy-to-find ingredients (and all condiments get used repeatedly, making them worth the investment)
- flavorful recipes
- vegetarian recipes are easily made vegan
- no meat or seafood required
- no fancy kitchen equipment is required
- very few wasted vegetable pieces
DISADVANTAGES OF THE BOOK:
- no real table of contents (there's an "alternative" table of contents that does not list all the recipes)
- chopping the vegetables into small pieces can be time consuming
- does not specify the type of salt, so you need to use "chef's intuition"
- the recipes calling for Sichuan pepper are gritty. I recommend using a fine grind instead of a coarse one
FAVORITE RECIPES:
- overnight soy eggs
- Thai salad with grapefruit and cashews
- silken tofu with pine nuts and pickled chiles (I omitted the pine nuts)
- carrot achar
- salted miso brownies (I recommend using a neutral oil instead of coconut oil, but this is personal preference)
claireak95's review against another edition
4.0
This cookbook is fun! The author has expanded outside of Indian inspired recipes to recipes inspired by all of Asia. Looks like this has fun variations on dishes from all over. Oh, and it's vegetarian! Which I kind of forgot.