It is May and that brings several things. In the United States it means Mother's Day, the end of school is near and Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month. This post is the first of mine in the Multicultural Kid Blogs Asian Pacific American Heritage Month Blog Series and Giveaway. (Scroll down for the giveaway!) Today I am sharing with you a new cookbook from Katie Chin. This book is Katie Chin's Everyday Chinese Cookbook: 101 Delicious Recipes from My Mother's Kitchen with photographs by Masano Kawana. Katie Chin is sharing some of her mother's everyday recipes just in time for Mother's Day!!
The recipes in this book are easy to follow and have ingredients that are easy to find as well. The book begins (after the introduction and information about her mother's kitchen) with pages explaining the Chinese ingredients and basic cooking techniques and tips and tools. Then the recipes begin. The chapters are Sauces, Starters and Dim Sum, Salads, Soups, Poultry, Beef, Pork and Lamb, Seafood, Vegetables and Tofu, Noodles and Rice and Drinks and Desserts. Many of the recipes are for food you may order at a Chinese restaurant. What is your favorite thing to order? For us it is even better to have homemade food because I can cater the food to our likes and dislikes. For example we do not like mushrooms so I don't add the mushrooms. (A funny side story: I remember trading mushrooms for peppers with a co-worker whenever we got Chinese food for lunch as well as with pizza. We would literally pass each other the food we didn't like across the table all the time.)
We tried three recipes in this book and loved them all. In fact we decided after the first recipe that this book was a keeper. It will not be donated to our public library since we really love the recipes. We started with Canton-Style Chicken Chow Mein. I did not put the mushrooms in to this recipe.
The next recipe we tried is Lettuce Wraps with Chicken. I did not make our own hoisin sauce, but there is a recipe for it in the book. Again this was another favorite. I actually added a little hoisin sauce to the chicken instead of spreading it on each piece of lettuce. All of us however added more after trying it.
Hazel's only complaint was that they are hard to eat, but she used her spoon and ate the filling out. Then she asked for more to "finish" her lettuce. I also did not top them with green onions mostly because I let everyone make their own.
Our third recipe we have tried so far is Stir-Fried Beef with Broccoli. I added green beans to the recipe since Steve does not like broccoli. Hazel however loves it especially the stems so I also included some of the stems and not just the florets like the recipe called. Hazel asked me to make this one. She loved the idea of beef and broccoli together. Katie Chin shares a similar recipe on her blog.
Again everyone loved this meal. It was very easy like the other two recipes. The biggest thing for me was how many pans and dishes I used. I called my father and told him I wished he was here to do the dishes since he is always commenting on how it awful to be on dish duty after I cooked when I was younger. I always liked trying new recipes and tended to need every pan in the house and then some. I guess I haven't changed.
These recipes reminded me of the food I have eaten at good Chinese restaurants only better since they had our favorite foods and not the things we don't eat. The recipes are clear and easy to follow. I can't wait to try some more and have to recommend this book to everyone who likes Chinese food and wants to try making some!
Welcome to our third annual Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month Blog Series and Giveaway! Follow along all month for ideas about sharing with kids the rich cultures of this vast and varied region. Also, be sure to enter the giveaway below and link up your posts on our main page
May 3
The Art Curator for Kids
May 6
Creative World of Varya
May 9
Crafty Moms Share
May 12
All Done Monkey
May 13
Colours of Us
May 16
Bicultural Mama
May 17
Wise Owl Factory
May 23
Miss Panda Chinese
May 27
Pack-n-Go Girls on Multicultural Kid Blogs
May 30
Crafty Moms Share
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Grand Prize
From Tuttle Publishing:
Origami Zoo Kit: includes Book, 40 Papers, 95 Stickers, Zoo Map
Beyond the Tiger Mom: East-West Parenting for the Global Age
Lucky Bamboo Book of Crafts: Over 100 projects & ideas celebrating Chinese culture
From Miss Panda Chinese: Set of three learning units (75 page Chinese Number Unit 0 - 100, 30 page Days of the Week Unit, and 18 page Moon Festival Unit)
From Daria, World Music for Children: Set of pu'ili (Hawaiian rhythm sticks) plus a Make Your Own Pu'ili craft PDF. US Shipping Only
1st Prize
From Tuttle Publishing:
All about Korea: Stories, songs, crafts, and more
Malaysian Children's Favourite Stories
From Whole Wide World Toys: World Village Playset China, includes playmat, book, wooden puzzle figures, and story cards. US Shipping Only
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From Mikaya Press: Tah Majal, a story of love and empire. US Shipping Only
2nd Prize
From Gestalten Publishing: The Honey Hunter, a modern day South Asian fable that teaches children to respect and appreciate nature.
From Quarto Group:
Journey Around the World, discover with Playmobil the most marvelous places on earth with this fully illustrated travel journal. US Shipping Only
C is for China, stunning photographic book capturing the rhythms of everyday life in China. US Shipping Only
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