A wonderful reference which enables a North American reader to achieve authentic results - although the book is slightly outdated (we have better access to ingredients now) and long out-of-print. Friendly and accessible, analogies to Julia Child, Marcella Hazan, Madhur Jaffrey, or Irma Rombauer seem apt.

While I think a contemporary reader will get more out of Yin-Fei Lo's "Mastering the Art of Chinese Cooking" if they are a serious student, or Grace Young's or Fuchsia Dunlop's books if their interests are confined to more every-day preparations, Kuo's book remains a classic English introduction to the cuisine. ( )

Irene Kuo has been called the Julia Child of Chinese cooking and she deserves the title. This is the cookbook I used to teach myself Chinese cooking and it has every technique I have ever seen mentioned in any other Asian cookbook. Kuo writes so clearly that there is not much need for illustration, although there are some when describing cutting techniques and ingredients. More importantly, she has a love for her craft that comes through clearly and makes you understand why various techniques even matter. There is a plethora of recipes, many of which are amazingly simple to yield such authentic results. She rightly points out that there is much more than stir-frying to Chinese food and proceeds to instruct in red-cooking, shallow frying, and much more that adds timing flexibility many may not expect from Chinese cooking. Many of the recipes are very simple but the flavor is authentic. If you've ever been interested in Chinese cooking this is the only cookbook you'll ever need. ( )

A Chinese friend recommended this as an excellent intro cookbook for someone new to Chinese recipes. It has been a great learning tool. ( )