A Spoonful of Ginger : Irresistible Health-Giving Recipes from Asian Kitchens

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Part cookbook, part primer of Chinese medicine, Nina Simonds's A Spoonful of Ginger offers dietary advice, herbal home remedies, and lively, unintimidating Asian recipes for the American home cook. Try Braised Duck with Tangerine Peel and Sweet Potato as a cure for high blood pressure. Baked Black Bean Shrimp might be just the dish to get you over that bout of depression. Simonds presents the ailing reader with concoctions to relieve everything from hangovers to frostbite.

And lovers of fine food need not despair--medical advice is kept brief, presumably to make room for more delicious recipes. For example, Steamed Fish with Black Mushrooms and Prosciutto makes no claims to cure anything but hunger. And any volume on health food that features a substantial section on pork (check out Spicy Pork Tenderloin with Leeks and Fennel) can hardly be called austere or old-fashioned. With tastes from all over Asia represented, from Indian curries to Japanese miso, these 200 dishes are tasty riffs on Chinese themes that should cure even the most jaded of palates. --David KalilFrom Nina Simonds, the best-selling authority on Chinese cooking, here is a groundbreaking cookbook based on the Asian philosophy of food as health-giving. The 200 delectable recipes she offers not only taste superb but also have specific healing properties according to the accumulated wisdom of traditional Chinese medicine.

The emphasis is on what's good for you, not bad for you. It's primarily a question of balance: eating in harmony with the seasons; countering yin, or cooling, foods (spinach, tomatoes, asparagus, lettuce, seafood) with yang, or hot, foods (ginger, garlic, hot peppers, beef) and neutralizers like rice and noodles.

Feeling tired? Ms. Simonds offers a spoonful of ginger in her hearty chicken soup. A cold coming on? Try Cantonese-Style Tofu (to sweat out the cold) in Black Bean Sauce (healing to the lungs and digestion). Your immune system needs building up? Wild mushrooms (a cancer deterrent) are tossed with soba noodles (a stress reliever). Concerned about cholesterol and clogged arteries? Instead of giving up all the foods you love, indulge in Yin-Yang Shrimp with Hawthorn Dipping Sauce.

Whatever your health concerns may be, you will find the right restorative and satisfying recipes. Babies and toddlers have special needs, as do adolescents, pregnant and menopausal women, the aging--and all of these are addressed with specific recommendations. The wealth of information Nina Simonds offers here derives from her extensive research into the evidence amassed over three thousand years by practitioners of Chinese medicine, and from her interviews with leading experts today in food as medicine, who offer their firsthand testimony.

It is all here in this remarkable book. But, above all, it is the range of dishes, from the exotic to the earthy, that will convince you that you can enjoy marvelous food every day--relishing its good taste and knowing it is good for you.

Reader Reviews:

I've had this cookbook for a number of years, and I freely admit that I haven't made every recipe in the book. There are some dishes, however, that have become standbys, such as the saucy ground turkey wrapped in lettuce leaves. (In fact, I just grabbed the book so I could make those lettuce wraps as my contribution to a potluck Halloween party -- everyone says, "This is better than PF Changs!")

It's not that these are the most authentic, knock-your-socks-off recipes. If I'm ready to spend a couple of hours putting together an awesome Asian meal, I'll turn to Barbara Tropp or to The Key To Chinese Cooking. However, the recipes in this book are solidly GOOD, with an underlying sense of healthful eating, and many recipes are vegetarian (or nearly so).

However, what makes this cookbook a winner is that the recipes are straightforward enough to make during the week, after an exhausting day at work (when something to balance your energy sounds most appealing -- doesn't "hot and sour salmon with greens" sound restorative?).

Plus, there's a good chance you have most of the ingredients you need in the house already, and can whip together something more interesting than "maybe I'll just open a can of chili." That's how the book falls open to the recipe for chile chicken with cashews -- I usually have a bag of frozen chicken breasts, a can of water chestnuts, scallions, soy sauce, sesame oil, ginger, cashews... it doesn't ask for a heck of a lot more. A few minutes of rummaging around in the refrigerator, and I have a meal that sounds like I planned it.

Also, the healthy stuff -- yin-yang, and advice about food-based remedies (mussels are good to strengthen the kidneys, for instance) -- is enjoyable and educational.

Nice book. I recommend it.Very versatile and informative. It has a little Eastern philosophy mixed in for those who are interested (I am not).

I consider myself pretty strong as amateur cooks go (favorite book to cook from is the French Laundry cookbook), and am now able to include many Asian themes in my cooking.

Favorite recipes:
* Cinnamon-braised tofu with spinach (this will keep your guests guessing for about 10 minutes about what the heck they're eating)
* Poached pears in a sweet ginger sauce (not the actual recipe name, but that's what it was)
* Yin-yang shrimp (absolutely astounding)This book is Amazing, I have tons of cook books and I use this one the most. Although ginger is used it is in abundance (and I LOVE it) in this book, it is full of dishes with many wonderful herbs, and flavors. The fish recipes are my favorite (such as the ginger miso crusted Halibut, so easy and delicious) but the beef and chicken are also wonderful. Its like going to a very good Chinese restaurant with out clogging your arteries. I hate string beans but loves the String Bean recipe in this book and the Conge is perfect for a cold rainy night.So far, the recipes I've prepared from this book have garnered nothing but raves. Many of the recipes are simple enough to prepare for weeknights, using few ingredients but very fresh ones. The result is fabulous flavor that you just can't get from your local takeout joint. The section about home remedies is really neat (I have yet to use the hangover helper recipe, but I'm sure it will come in handy one day).

I got this and Ming Tsai's "Blue Ginger" cookbook around the same time. I've barely cracked open Ming's book-the recipes are gorgeous but mostly inaccessible. If you are a newcomer to Asian cooking, I think "Spoonful of Ginger" is a delicious introduction.The front cover of this book states "Irresistible, health giving recipes from ASIAN kitchens." While this book is great - albeit a bit too Americanized for my taste (most Asian recipes have stronger, bolder tastes, these are much too mild) - it centers too much on Chinese food and philosphy. Those who love authentic Asian food realize that each culture is diverse, both in food and in culture. This book lumps them all together and is too general.
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