reference

As an aficionado of Asian food, both at home and in restaurants, and also as a frequent traveler to the Far East, I was very happy to find this much needed book in my local bookshop. In it I found essential information necessary for purchasing and preparing many of my favorite dishes. The descriptions of many of the items gave me the impetus to try and recreate some restaurant favorites, right in my very own home. The drawings made it easy to find many of the sauces, condiments and vegetables that I needed to purchase but previously had been undecipherable to me. Reading the book, I felt as though I truly was walking through my local Asian grocery store! The recipe for Blood and Skin Tonic Soup was a real find, as I had been trying to recreate at home some of the holistic recipes I had found at a local restaurant. This book has given me a lot of new and unique information, as well as confidence, for preparing Asian food at home. The book even fits in my pocketbook! The Asian Grocery Store Demystified truly has demystified Oriental cooking for me, and is a must-have item in the kitchen of any Asian food aficionado!

Asian food tastes good, that part is not so mysterious. As a lifelong lover of the gifts of the Oriental cornucopia, and as an occasional, bewildered visitor to Oriental markets, I have found a trustworthy guide to calm my fears and open my eyes to the logical patterns extent in Asian groceriesÉ. Sort of like seeing the tree in the structure of its leaf. BladholmÕs handy, compact guide is jam packed with a veritable taxonomy of Asian foodstuffs. After several trips, guidebook in tow, I now know my way around the numerous varieties of noodles, rice, veggies, spices, condiments, and sweets. My taste buds require fire and ice, and the yin yang organization of a typical Asian grocery that Bladholm so clearly and deftly describes, complete with charming, lovingly done, little word sketches drawn from her extensive Asian travels, as well as her uncannily accurate, line drawings helps to make a trip to the Asian grocery store as easy as apple pie and ice cream, just substitute the apples with pomegranates and the pie with soy bean paste confections that boggle the palette as well as the eye. Hers is a great book, it does what it title claims. It is a totally demystifying experience!

I love interesting ingredients and am fortunate to live near an ethnic grocery. This book helps me figure out what new and interesting dishes I can make with what is available to me. The set up is easy to understand, divided into foods most people should be familiar with, saving the "exotic" ingredients for last. I recommend this book, and if the other ethnic grocer books are anything like this one, I recommend them too.