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A Tradition of Soup: Flavors from China's Pearl River Delta
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$ 19.46
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$ 24.95 |
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| Item Number |
1561651 |
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Item Description...
Overview
"Integrates traditional Chinese medicine with the culture and cuisine of China, with a focus on soups. Offers many healthy and healing recipes"--Provided by publisher.
Publishers Description
Through recipes that use time-honored medicinal ingredients, A Tradition of Soup provides a fascinating narrative of the Southern Chinese immigrants who came to the United States in large numbers during the last half century, the struggles they faced and overcame, and the soups they used to heal and nourish their bodies.
Following the Chinese approach to health, Teresa Chen, who was born into a family of food connoisseurs and raised by a gourmet cook, groups the recipes by seasons and health concerns according to Cantonese taxonomy: tong (simple broths, soups, and stews), geng (thickened soups), juk (rice soups or porridges), and tong shui (sweet soups), as well as noodle soups, wonton and dumpling soups, and vegetable soups. Also focusing on dahn (steaming) and louhfo (slow-cooking) soups associated with good health, the book features fresh, natural, and seasonal food. A Tradition of Soup highlights recipes that serve a wide range of purposes, from gaining or shedding weight to healing acne and preventing wrinkles. While some ingredients may seem foreign to Western readers, most are available in Chinese grocery stores.
To help readers identify and procure these items, Chen provides a beautifully photographed ingredients glossary complete with Chinese names, pronunciation, and detailed descriptions.
“For soup enthusiasts like me, this book is simply invaluable.”
—From the foreword by Martin Yan, bestselling author and host of Yan Can Cook
“[Teresa Chen’s] new book, A Tradition of Soup: Flavors from China’s Pearl River Delta, a collection of 144 recipes from southern China, is the result of years invested in health education…The recipes, intermingled with information about southern Chinese culture, traditional medicine, and immigration history, are grouped by seasons and health concerns, including gaining and losing weight, getting rid of acne, and preventing wrinkles.”
—Harvard Magazine
“Chen lays out the basics of nearly the whole of Chinese gastronomy…[she] has made it safe for me to walk into any Chinese pharmacopeia and conduct myself well.”
—Olivia Wu, The Art of Eating Magazine
“I've often wondered why our family had so humble a name: Hong (meaning soup). Thanks to Teresa Chen, I now understand that soup has as long and powerful a tradition as tea. Soup is a healing medicine, and soup sustains and extends life. Soup has its myths and stories. And soup made its way from China to America, from the Pearl River Delta to the San Joaquin Delta, in the cookery of immigrants such as my mother.”
—Maxine Hong Kingston, author of the award-winning The Woman Warrior and recipient of the 2008 National Books Awards’ Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters
“While there are dozens of superb cookbooks that translate Cantonese cooking for Americans, none take Teresa Chen’s expansive medicinal approach to food. I recommend this book not only to those interested in health, but also to those who want to discover a whole new and thoroughly fascinating branch of Chinese cuisine.”
—Ken Albala, professor of history at University of the Pacific and award-winning author of Beans: A History
“A Tradition of Soup is a treasure chest of Cantonese soup recipes generously garnished with cultural gems, ancient wisdom, beautiful pictures, and lucid prose.”
—Brian Chee C. Loh, OMD, LAc, president of the American Institute of Chinese Medicine and the Association of World Traditional Medicine
“Unlike many Asian cookbooks, [Chen] doesn't include easily-found substitutes available in all grocery stores. Rather, arguing that traditional ingredients are now relatively easy to find or order through a website, she presents classic recipes using traditional ingredients.”
—Lindsay McSweeney, Suite101.com
“A Tradition of Soup focuses on the place of soup in Cantonese cuisine, specifically around the rich and fertile Pearl River Delta in China, and what might be called its sister culture in Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta in California, where so many Chinese immigrants ended up after fleeing war, repression or famine in their own country.”
—BiblioBuffet
“Much more than a cookbook, A Tradition of Soup introduces us to TCM nutritional theory, the historical connections between the Pearl River Delta and the San Joaquin Delta, and the stories of the Cantonese immigrants who brought the culinary treasures from their homeland to the United States. … A Tradition of Soup presents the idea that soup, and food in general, are key components of building wellness and preventing disease. … In looking through the mouthwatering [recipe chapter], one cannot help but wonder when we can start cooking!”
—American College of Traditional Chinese Medicine Campus Forum
“If you love soups, the recipes [in A Tradition of Soup] are a treasure trove. … The book has classic cultural gems and great valuable and usable information. … Do not know how we managed without it, but we do know that we recommend it without hesitation.”
—Flavor & Fortune
Teresa M. Chen, PhD, and her husband, Yi-Po Anthony Wu, MD, founded Pacific Complementary Medicine Center in Stockton, California, in 1993. Dr. Chen oversees community outreach and health education, organizes seminars, conferences and workshops, leads breathing and Liu Tong exercise classes, lectures to college extension and community groups, and contributes articles about food, nutrition, exercise, and complementary medicine to publications such as APA (Asian Pacific American) News and Review and Connections, an alternative newspaper published by the Peace and Justice Network.
Named the Chinese Cultural Society of Stockton's 2007 Citizen of the Year, Dr. Chen has also served on the board of the United Way of San Joaquin and of Jene Wah, Inc., a Chinese multi-service and senior citizen center. She has developed and secured funding from San Joaquin County for an Asian Nutrition Lunch program and an acupuncture-based chemical-dependency treatment program. Raised in Hong Kong, Dr. Chen graduated from Radcliffe College and received her PhD in Linguistics from the University of Hawaii. Before settling in Stockton, she was a researcher at the University of California at Berkeley and taught at San Francisco State University. |
Item Specifications...
Pages 408
Dimensions: Length: 1.25" Width: 8.25" Height: 10.5"
Weight: 2.5 lbs.
Binding Softcover
Release Date Apr 28, 2009
Publisher North Atlantic Books
ISBN 155643765X
EAN 9781556437656
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Availability 5 units.
Availability accurate as of May 27, 2012 08:36.
Usually ships within one to two business days from Momence, IL.
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Reviews - What do our customers think?
 | Healthy and informative recipes Dec 15, 2009 |
I really love this book! It is so beautiful, and the descriptions are very informative. I have always been interested not only in the flavor and taste of ingredients I cook with, but the holistic healing aspect of them - and this book addresses both.
I also like that the book has different foods for different seasons. Some recipes are more complicated than others, but you can definitely find easier ones to start with. Some are SUPER easy, like mung bean soup - what a healthy, easy snack to make in the summer! I would say this cookbook is for chefs of all levels - some easy, some more challenging recipes. I would probably rate myself somewhere in the middle.
I haven't researched what the market is like for books like this, but it seems pretty unique.
My colleague introduced this book to me and I'm so glad she did! | | | | Excellent collection of traditional homemade soups Sep 25, 2009 |
| This is just the kind of soup book I've been waiting so long for in English. I am cantonese and I grew up drinking what the author calls "louhfo tong" or slow cooking soups from my mom. I recognize many of the recipes in the book and am so happy that I can make them for my own family now. I was particularly happy to see the recipe for savoury rice dumpling soup which is served during the winter solstice. The majority of the recipes were collected from the residents living at a chinese seniors center in CA so they are very authentic. If you grew up drinking "louhfo tong" don't miss this book. | | | | A Feast! Jul 14, 2009 |
The first thing I noticed about A Tradition of Soup is that is a beautiful book. It is a feast for the eyes. The North Atlantic Books production team deserves many kudos. The pages are oversized, printed on heavy coated paper. The photographs are excellent, most in full color and abundant.
In her Preface, Teresa Chan writes, "This cookbook is written to promote Chinese food and culture, and to promote health. It pays tribute to my kindred Cantonese people from the Pearl River Delta and to our soup tradition that explicitly links food to health and healing." The book is divided into four parts that indeed cover Chinese culture, healing traditions, history, and of course, food.
Part One introduces readers to Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), the tradition of soup, and the history of Cantonese people in two deltas: the Pearl River Delta in China and the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta in California. The Cantonese people have a rich history in the California Delta region. As a co-founder of the Pacific Complementary Medicine Center and as a member of the Board of Directors of Jen Wah, Inc. both in Stockton, CA, Chen was able to draw on the accumulated wisdom of Chinese elders for the recipes and techniques in this book. In Appendix B the soup contributors are profiled.
Part Two focuses on the basics of Cantonese soups, techniques, and equipment. Of particular interest to me is the section about reconstituting dry ingredients. Since many recipes require dry ingredients, this is a critical step in the process. Also here is where I find a great marinade recipe and the discussion for preparing soup stock including "Top Stock," the all-purpose stock.
Perhaps the most fascinating section of the book is Part Three: Ingredients. Some are familiar, like chicken; others are exotic, such as wolfberry leaves. Color photographs are provided for the ingredients. Each ingredient is listed with its Western name, Mandarin and/or Cantonese pronunciation, and Chinese characters (Mandarin pinyin and Cantonese Romanization). The uses for each ingredients are explained as well as tips for choosing and medicinal values. This part of the book is subdivided into four groups: Animal Sources, Plant Sources, Medicinal Herbs, and Other Food Products.
The bulk of the book is devoted to Part Four: Soup Recipes. Naturally, following TCM practices there are recipes for the four seasons. This makes a great deal of sense for those persons devoted to eating locally produced food, it will be seasonal. There are also sections for all-season, vegetarian, medicinal, exotic, and expensive soups. Most recipes occupy a full page accompanied by a gorgeous, often full-page photograph of the soup in a serving dish. Recipes often begin with a brief description of the soup and its benefits. The ingredient list and clearly written instructions are followed by suggestions and variations when appropriate. The Soupy Snacks and Light Meals section is fun. There are recipes for rice soups, sweet soups, and noodle, wonton and dumpling soups.
If you are looking for "typical" Chinese restaurant soups, you will find Shrimp and Pork Wonton Soup. Although of Sichuan origin, Chen includes Hot and Sour Soup because of its popularity. Many of the recipes remind me of soups served in small, family-run Chinese restaurants in East Bay area of San Francisco. While there were the usual types of soup available, there was also "Today's Soup." Often I had no idea what was actually in the soup, but it was always wonderful.
From beginning to end, A Tradition of Soup is a comprehensive reference work that is thoroughly engaging. People interested in health and nutrition will discover much of value here. The index is thorough. However, the design could be improved for easier scanning through the use of a smaller type and less leading in between lines. My only complaint is that some ingredients are not available in places without a significant Chinese population. Unfortunately the book does not provide Internet resources for obtaining many of the ingredients. Thankfully, many recipes do not contain exotic ingredients. My biggest problem will be choosing which of the delicious recipes to make first. | | | | The ultimate comfort food May 12, 2009 |
| Soup puts me in a wonderful place. What a find this book is! It's a great resource with useful information about ingredients I was somewhat familiar with but not particularly clear about; now I know how they can be used for promoting health and treating ailments. I love the photos too. Can't wait to try all the recipes. I'm going to be using it a lot and giving it to my family and friends as gifts!!! | | | | Almost a Time Machine May 11, 2009 |
In the computer world, with information, data input and output will be like "garbage in garbage out ", so much more should it be with the food we ingest into our bodies.
I think that most of the maladies we have in the world today are based on the type of food that we consume, especially fast food and I can speak from experience, after major surgeries that placed me in the brink of never having to worry about food again.
This is a great book especially today when we are all looking for easy, and proven healthy food recipes we can prepare on a daily basis. I am certainly looking forward to try all of its recipes in this book. It is great to find some of the soup recipes from my grandpa's kitchen that I used to eat when I was a child.
Mrs. Chen, thank you for compiling and writing such a wonderful book, and bringing back those great memories of my childhood with my grandparents. It is amazing how the smell and flavor of a cup of soup can transport us over time and space... yes, almost a time machine.
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