Asian Dumplings - by Andrea Nguyen (Hardcover)

About the Book

Nguyen's crystal-clear recipes for more than 75 of Asia's most popular savory and sweet parcels, pockets, packages, and pastries range from Spicy Potato Samosas to Shanghai Wonton Soup. The cookbook also details the techniques for shaping, filling, and cooking.

Book Synopsis

IACP AWARD FINALIST - Is there anything more satisfying than a well-made Asian dumpling? Wrapped, rolled, or filled; steamed, fried, or baked-asian dumplings are also surprisingly easy to prepare and enjoy at home, as Andrea Nguyen demonstrates with more than 75 recipes.

Nguyen is a celebrated food writer and teacher with a unique ability to interpret authentic Asian cooking styles for a Western audience. Her crystal-clear recipes for Asia's most popular savory and sweet parcels, pockets, packages, and pastries range from Lumpia (the addictive fried spring rolls from the Philippines) to Shanghai Soup Dumplings (delicate thin-skinned dumplings filled with hot broth and succulent pork) to Gulab Jamun (India's rich, syrupy sweets).

Organized according to type (wheat pastas, skins, buns, and pastries; translucent wheat and tapioca preparations; rice dumplings; legumes and tubers; sweet dumplings), Asian Dumplings covers Eastern, Southeastern, and Southern Asia, with recipes from China, Japan, Korea, Nepal, Tibet, India, Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines. Throughout, Nguyen shares the best techniques for shaping, filling, cooking, and serving each kind of dumpling. Plus she makes it easy to incorporate dumplings into your life by giving a thorough introduction to essential equipment and ingredients and offering make-ahead and storage guidance with time-saving shortcuts that still yield delectable results, and tips on planning a dumpling dinner party.

Review Quotes

IACP Cookbook Award finalist
One of NPR's Best Cookbooks of 2009

"Asian Dumplings is full of inspiration for vegetarians and non-vegetarians alike. Samosas, lumpia, pot stickers, momo, gyōza, wontons, and bāo in one volume? And diagrams for all the folding techniques? Thank you, Andrea." -Heidi Swanson, author of Super Natural Cooking

"If it's a small, succulent parcel encased in dough, pastry, batter, or leaves from anywhere between India and Polynesia, you'll find a recipe and crystal-clear instructions for making it with Andrea Nguyen's Asian Dumplings." --Cooking Light, Favorite Cookbooks, 2010

"Nguyen, author of Into the Vietnamese Kitchen, celebrates a wide array of dough-wrapped treats from China, Vietnam, Japan, Philippines, India and Korea in this lavishly photographed homage to the not-so-humble dumpling. . .Line drawings highlight shaping techniques to make half-moons, pea pods, crescents and footballs. Sections on sauces, seasoning and stocks, key ingredients and essential equipment round out a superb collection. This alluring and attractive book will appeal to a wide audience of home cooks and trained chefs." --Publishers Weekly

"Until I began cooking from this remarkable book I had no idea that preparing Asian dumplings was so easy and so satisfying. Andrea Nguyen's latest work is authoritative, fun, and filled with recipes that yield insanely delicious results." -James Oseland, editor in chief of Saveur and author of Cradle of Flavor

"I was truly excited when I first picked up this book, a feeling that quickly turned to awe. Andrea Nguyen introduces you to Asian dumplings you never knew existed, makes you feel that you can't live until you try them, then takes your hand and, in admirably lucid detail, shows you exactly how to make them. Asian Dumplings is destined to become a classic-it's already an instant must-have for any Asian food lover." -John Thorne, author of Outlaw Cook and Mouth Wide Open

"Andrea Nguyen has done a remarkable job of guiding us through the world of Asian dumplings, sharing their history and evolution and providing plenty of user-friendly recipes. This beautiful cookbook will make you want to throw a dumpling-making party every time you turn the page."
-Corinne Trang, author of Essentials of Asian Cuisine and Noodles Every Day

"Andrea' s humor, enthusiasm, and comforting pragmatism make me want to bolt into my kitchen to knead and roll and wrap and steam and bake and fry and, best of all, gobble. This book will make you very, very hungry." -Niloufer Ichaporia King, author of My Bombay Kitchen

About the Author

ANDREA NGUYEN is an author, teacher, and consultant based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Born in Vietman, she came to the United States at the age of six. Her first book, a children's book, chronicles that journey. She has written a number of acclaimed cookbooks, including Into the Vietnamese Kitchen, Asian Dumplings, and The Banh Mi Handbook. Her food writing has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, Cooking Light, Lucky Peach, Saveur, and Rodale's Organic Life, where she is a contributing editor.