A Spoonful of Ginger
I’ve talked about this cookbook before, by Nina Simonds. It’s another favorite, not so much for authenticity as for the health information and ideas one can find in it. Ms. Simonds talks about her personal experiences with Chinese food — specifically those used for healing. It’s an exceptional introduction to Chinese chefs’/herbalists’ practices, the concept of cooling/heating foods, etc. (although Eileen Yin Fei-Lo’s also offers much in this area). I haven’t yet asked my hubby’s Filipino-Chinese doctor what she thinks of this cookbook — she is one of a growing number of physicians in the US that practice integrative medicine. My hubby loves her and has learned a lot from her, though he hasn’t agreed to acupuncture; maybe one day…. but I digress.
If I’ve got any objections to the recipes in this book, it’s that the use of sauce is a bit too liberal. With the focus on health-giving foods, I have concerns that sodium content would be higher for several dishes than is desirable. What I do in this case is simply halve or quarter the sauce portion of the recipe. Either that or I make the entire batch, sauce to taste, and freeze the rest for another use.
Incidentally, my family also loves Nina Simonds’ book, which we’ve used as a read-aloud and jumping board for China studies. Very kid-friendly, and it has recipes too!
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POSTED IN: Cookbooks, Healthy Eating with Asian Food
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