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(The) Shun Lee Cookbook: Recipes from a Chinese Restaurant Dynasty

by Michael Tong

Review
Every true New Yorker we know has been dining here for ages and many even have the restaurant's phone numbers saved on speed dial for deliveries! Shun Lee has withstood the test of time and serious food gourmands of this city. It has been a gem to so many who really understand fine dining and know what to look for: quality ingredients, freshness, attentative service, presentation, environment and authenticity. Now with this new cookbook, anyone can try these recipes in the comforts of their own home! It's about time!
Food lover, New York (Amazon.com)

Book Description
   Until the 1960s, nearly all Chinese food served in the United States was Cantonese. Egg Foo Yung. Barbecued Spareribs. Egg Drop Soup. But with the opening of his Shun Lee restaurants more than forty years ago, Michael Tong and his chefs introduced the spicy regional foods of Sichuan and Hunan and the red-cooked dishes of Shanghai to New Yorkers—and eventually to all of the United States. Crispy Orange Beef. Lake Tung Ting Prawns. Crispy Sea Bass. Dry Sautéed String Beans. Hot and Sour Cabbage. Scallion Pancakes. These dishes originated at Shun Lee, and are now on nearly every Chinese restaurant menu across North America.
   Now, in his first cookbook, Tong shares his most popular recipes from the Hunan, Sichuan, and Shanghai regions of China. Who says Chinese food is difficult to prepare at home? With The Shun Lee Cookbook, even novices have nothing to worry about. All the recipes have been tested and modified for home kitchens. If adapting a recipe for the home—like Beijing duck—proved to be impossible, Tong omitted it. The result is a collection of easy-to-make but dazzling dishes. And perhaps the best part is that they can all be made with ingredients found in supermarkets everywhere.
   Chinese favorites such as Hot and Sour Soup, Sichuan Boiled Dumplings, Dry Sautéed Green Beans, and Kung Pao Shrimp are included. There are also new dishes such as Peppery Dungeness Crab, Singapore-Style Rice Noodles with Curry, Red-Cooked Beef Short Ribs, and Hunan Lamb with Scallions.
   In addition to the recipes The Shun Lee Cookbook includes tips for stocking home pantries with Chinese staples, and there are more than fifty color photographs of the finished dishes throughout.
   Why order take-out when you can take home The Shun Lee Cookbook?

About the Author
Michael Tong is the owner and executive chef of the popular Shun Lee West and Shun Lee Palace in New York City. In forty years, the Shun Lee restaurants have served about ten million people and have won two four-star ratings from the New York Times. Tong has appeared and cooked on the Late Show with David Letterman, and his restaurants have been reviewed in the New York Times, Time Out, Zagat Survey, New York magazine, and the Michelin Guide to New York City. For introducing Chinese culture to America, he has been honored by the China Institute in America, and was awarded the 2006 Ellis Island Medal of Honor. He lives in Manhattan.