A lovely, homely cookbook that celebrates the rich variety of ingredients in the everyday Chinese diet. The book starts with a mercifully short list of basics from toasted sesame oil to whole Sichaun pepper, and a few “magic ingredients”, plus there’s a handy glossary at the back. Get the recipe for congee, the ultimate in comfort food, or perhaps Sweet and Sour Short Ribs or Smoky Aubergines with Garlic.

Fuchsia Dunlop trained as a chef at China's leading cooking school and is internationally renowned for her delicious recipes and brilliant writing about Chinese food. Every Grain of Rice is inspired by the healthy and vibrant home cooking of southern China, in which meat and fish are enjoyed in moderation, but vegetables play the starring role.

Try your hand at blanched choy sum with sizzling oil, Hangzhou broad beans with ham, pock-marked old woman's beancurd or steamed chicken with shiitake mushrooms, or, if you've ever in need of a quick fix, Fuchsia's emergency late-night noodles. Many of the recipes require few ingredients and are startlingly easy to make. The book includes a comprehensive introduction to the key seasonings and techniques of the Chinese kitchen, as well as the 'magic ingredients' that can transform modest vegetarian ingredients into wonderful delicacies.

With stunning photography and clear instructions, this is an essential volume for beginners and connoisseurs alike.

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Susan Low

Food writer

I love good Chinese food but never thought that I’d be able to cook it successfully until I started reading and cooking from Fuchsia Dunlop’s books. I’m a big fan of her other books (especially Sichuan Cooking) but this is the one I find myself returning to again and again, for recipes that are deceptively simple – many have just a handful of ingredients – yet that taste undeniably ‘proper’.

Allan Jenkins

Editor, Observer Food Monthly,

Finest of the third wave of food writers, Dunlop shares her knowledge and travelling lightly. Simply told and shared, this is Chinese cooking as it should be, everyday food as eaten at home by the people and places she introduces. An immensely useful, evocative book. Also a pleasure to read.

Nicola Twilley

Writer

I bought this after travelling to China to report on their refrigeration boom for The New York Times Magazine. I missed the flavours I had tasted while in China, and Dunlop's recipes are simple enough for me to make without too much palaver, but the results still taste authentic.

Jeremy Pang

Founder & Head Chef of School of Wok

Fuschia's achievement as a Western lady, yet to me, true Chinese chef are highly commendable and also well respected in the industry for good reason. Her recipes are modern yet authentic. The book is also beautiful and makes you want to pick it up and enjoy.

Every Grain of Rice

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