Product Description

Yuji Wakiyas impressive creative talent for serving authentic Chinese recipes and ingredients has revolutionized the perception of that nations cuisine. He has taken food that too often has been seen as a take-out staple steeped in artificial additives and given it layers of delicate, subtle flavor and an elegant touch, resulting in what can only be called haute Chinese.

Wakiyas unique stylecaptured in this book by the breathtaking photos of Masashi Kumacomes from the combination of his deep knowledge of Chinese food and culture and the Japanese aesthetic for an always-stylish, yet refined presentation.

In commentary and supplemental information accompanying each recipe, Wakiya enlightens readers on a wide variety of topics ranging from the medicinal properties of certain ingredients to making stocks and sauces from scratch, reconstituting dried Chinese ingredients, and the importance of using high heat in making tea. He discusses the origins of his signature dishes, based on Shanghai cuisineknown for its use of healthy ingredients such as black vinegaras well as the fascinating history, traditions and culture of the cuisine. Detailed instructions enable accomplished amateur chefs and professionals to prepare the dishes themselves.

Over 70 dishes are presented in the book, organized by coursefrom appetizer through the meat and vegetable dishes to the dessert. Each of the dishes also reflects Wakiyas creativity and originality through his selection of antique plates from all over Asia.

Like no other Chinese cookbook before it, Haute Chinese Cuisine from the Kitchen of Wakiya is a dramatic treat for sophisticated eyes and palates and the intellectually curious.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #349474 in Books
• Published on: 2008-11-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 192 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9784770030726
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. Chef Wakiya is a culinary artist well-known to globe-trotting gourmands for his Japanese television appearances as well as his restaurants (Americans were welcomed to the table in 2007, when he opened Wakiya at New York's Gramercy Park Hotel). His fans can now recreate (or at least read about) their favorite dishes with this stunning cookbook, a testament to Wakiya's skill, imagination and craftsmanship. Blending Chinese, Japanese and French techniques into a style all his own, Wakiya's innovative approach makes each page revelatory, with clear explanation of culinary show-stoppers like glistening Tofu with Black Sesame Sauce (surprisingly easy to prepare), artful Potato and Chicken Croquettes and classics like Peking Duck and Pan-Seared Jade Dumplings. Many ingredients will be difficult, if not impossible, to source in the West, but Wakiya's goal is stay as authentic and transparent as possible; though few readers will attempt the laborious, multi-day preparation for dried shark fin (in Shark's Fin Soup), they'll surely appreciate Wakiya's meticulous process. Other dishes are more straightforward, like Fresh Calamari with Mustard Sauce and Stir-Fried Chicken with Sansho Pepper; assuming they can locate shiso flowers and leaves, cooks can also easily recreate the gorgeous Fried Rice with Shiso Flowers. Still, it's Wakiya's storied skill, matched with eye-popping photographs of his luxurious dishes, that will draw in chefs, home cooks and culinary tourists.
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Review

A chefs character reflects on his cooking: a positive kind of chef puts out positive food. I have really come to admire Yuji's personality, and to adore his cuisine. --Nobu Matsuhisa

The book melds Wakiya's Chinese training with his Japanese heritage, resulting in dishes lighter and far more flavorful than what you'll find at your favorite takeout place. The Record

About the Author

YUJI WAKIYA was born in Japan, started his career as a cook in Chinese cuisine at the age of fifteen under a Chinese chef, and became an executive chef at Turandot in the Pan Pacific Hotel in Yokohama, Japan, in 1995. Since then he has opened his own successful restaurants in Tokyo, and, most recently, in New York in 2007.

Photographer MASASHI KUMA was nominated for a James Beard Award for his photography in Kodanshas Kaiseki: The Exquisite Cuisine of Kyotos Kikunoi Restaurant.

Customer Reviews

Gorgeous art book for the assured cook
While few will actually use this book to cook from, it is a gorgeous art book and a window onto the highest Chinese cuisine, from Veiled Shark's Fin Soup and Whole Shark's Fin to Peking Duck (in which only the skin is eaten) and Abalone Lotus, which starts with abalone in its shell and includes two homemade jelly sauces, one of which requires a soup be made first.

Stir Fried Beef Tongue, Simmered Beef Tendon and Garlic Cloves, Lily Bulb Petals in Jade Sauce are not nearly as rustic as they sound while others, though exacting, are not difficult - Sweet and Sour Pork, for instance. And a few cry out to be tried, like Vinegar Fried Black Rice.

Wakiya, a culinary artist with restaurants in Japan and New York (at the Gramercy Park Hotel), delights the eye as well as the palate and offers an instructive look behind the exacting standards of elegant Chinese cuisine. Not for the cook without staff, however.

Great pictures and recipes, but..
I got this book because I'm a big fan of Nobu and he wrote a foreword for his friend, Yuji Wakiya.

The book has great pictures and all the recipes sound yummy. But I only wish there were snapshots of processes. The chef should have shown his techniques and equipments he uses in the kitchen. I am wondering what kind of tools he uses other than a wok... I'm still in the dark for how the haute Chinese cuisine is made.

The best part of this book is the section in the end where he explains the basic knowledge of Chinise cuisine.It's well written and useful.

Not what I expected.
I was expecting a book filled with nouvelle Chinese cuisine, and got a book with a thick cover, little substance, and not much inspiration. I always try to get books that inspire me to cook new and exciting things, which was the reason I had gotten this book, but was sorely disappointed. Its an ok cookbook, but nothing special really, and for this price it should have been better.