The Chinese Vegan Kitchen: More Than 225 Meat-free, Egg-free, Dairy-free Dishes from the Culinary Regions of China: A Cookbook

This cookbook is surprisingly useful, if only for its simplicity and straightforward presentation. The book contains no pictures and little in the way of “fluff,” but after making ten recipes, it is becoming a go-to resource for simple Chinese recipes.Unlike many other cookbooks, this one eschews the fifteen or more ingredient recipes that take a huge investment to cook, and instead focuses on simple, authentic dishes that can easily become part of a regular cooking routine. I found the section on vegetable side dishes to be especially useful. Most of the sides take minutes to make, and the sauces could easily be repurposed for whatever you have on hand.Overall I really like this cookbook. It is beginner friendly if you are new to Chinese cuisine, and the recipes have the simplicity that reflects how home chefs actually prepare meals regularly. My only criticism is that the section on “mi can” or seitan, doesn’t have a recipe for making it from scratch. It’s so easy to make seitan at home without trying to find it pre-made. Also, the cookbook starts off with a prayer, which I have never seen before, but there you have it.I recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn the basics of Chinese home cooking with a vegan focus.

This is my third cookbook by Donna Klein, which officially makes her my favorite cookbook author. This book, like the others, is non-visual. All the instructions are provided by text without any of the fancy or colorful photos you might find elsewhere. Rather than being a negative, it gave her more room to place more recipes-- a good thing.So far I've made nearly two dozen of the recipes in this book and found them for the most part to be universally good and tasty. I've lived in both Japan and China for extended periods, so I'm familiar with several varieties of Asian cooking, but this book is very helpful for a novice. When I read the introductory sections, I found the descriptions of different ingredients and techniques to be very understandable. The actual instructions for each recipe were also very comprehensive and easy to follow.Pros:-Easy to follow directions-A wide variety of main rice, noodle, and tofu/seitan dishes. Plus the appetizer, dessert, and side dishes.-Well written introduction for novice Chinese cooks.-A large percentage of dishes that can be made w/o any special 'Chinese' ingredients. Great if your local grocer doesn't have a good Asian section or you're some distance from a Chinese grocery.Cons:-Some recipes that required folding the ingredients were harder to follow.-No estimated prep and cooking times.All in all, of the 3 Klein cookbooks I own, this is the best and a very welcome addition to my collection and I use it weekly.

I've tried a few recipes and they have been decent so far, but there are no photos in this book. I'm fairly new to Chinese cuisine in general, and definitely new to many of the specifically Asian ingredients, so the lack of photos makes it very difficult for me to figure out which recipes look appetizing. Photos speak to my stomach much more clearly than printed text! As such, I won't get as much use out of this cookbook as I had hoped.

I enjoy this book for it's ease and the fact that most ingredients are supermarket friendly. The Ramen soup is wonderful, has a lot less sodium than the packaged stuff and literally takes 5 minutes to make. If you have a number of cookbooks in your repertoire, I would add this one too. However, if you're looking for solidly consistently great chinese recipes with more of an authentic flare, I like Bryanna Clark Grogan's Authentic Chinese Cuisne.

I grew up in Japan. I love Asian food and I love cooking. My favorite cookbook to date is The Chinese Vegan Kitchen! I have made over four dozen recipes so far and they were all delicious. I cook from this book daily! I actually don’t mind that there are no photos. I prep everything before I start cooking. What I love about this book is how incredibly fast the recipes come together! I can’t believe how much time I save cooking with these recipes! I live 10 minuets from an Asian grocery so I got all my pantry staples. If the author writes another vegan cookbook I will be the first in line to buy it! I seriously cannot say enough good things about this cookbook!

So glad I found this at my library. After flipping through it and trying about 5 recipes, I was sold. Easiest cookbook decision I've ever made. I tried making some Hunan-style spicy dishes and was very satisfied (and impressed with myself!). I love all sorts of Chinese food, but in recent years I've really homed in on Western and Northern cuisines as my favorite, and this book seems to cover many of the bases.Note: not fun if you don't have a Chinese grocery nearby. I'm very fortunate to live near a gigantic diaspora zone with excellent restaurants, tons of immigrants, and amazing suburban supermarket-sized first-class Chinese grocery stores. If all I had were corner shops or mini-marts, I'm not sure I'd find everything I'd need to make these the way I'd like to.

I am surprised that anyone could be "disappointed" by Donna Klein's marvelous contribution to the 'veganization' of world cuisines. I found her in-depth, expert exploration of Chinese food from a vegan point of view to be brilliant. Her on-the-spot exposure to Chinese cuisine and culture lends her recipes a convincing authenticity. It is a book that is well worth adding to your library of vegan cookbooks.

This has become one of my favorite vegan cookbooks. The recipes are straight forward and tasty and affordable ingredients, I have tried out loads of new things .I would only wish that there were photos, but many recipe books don't have them.cI would actually recommend this to a friend that likes Chinese/ Asian flavours of food.

I tried some of the simpler recipes. Those I tried required ingredients readily available. Substitutions or other options are suggested in many of the recipes (which I love!). The recipes I tried yielded were delicious and my guests were impressed with what I served them. Looking forward to exploring the other recipes of this book!

so tasty...and so tasting authentic...forget the religious stuff and get on with baking your dofu/tofu in five spices before adding to stir frys and then move onto black eyed beans and basmati rice with ginger and spring onions and dark sesame oil...well how tasty can that be...yum.

Don't be put off by no pictures. Excellent book, haven't had a bad recipe yet. Just ordered the Mediterranean Vegan from the same author.

Better recipe books out there. This book has a congested layout with many recipes calling for unhealthy ingredients, such as conventional condiments and starches. Some great basic recipes though, such as a clear broth, which I make often now. Would recommend loaning from a library for a quick glance through over owning. The Asian Vegan Kitchen is a better book by Hema Parekh.

All pictures are black and white.Poor quality book