Chinese Cuisine 2: Wei Chuan's Cook Book (English and Mandarin Chinese Edition)

The Table of Contents is more like an Index. It is organized by major ingredients with dishes listed in each applicable category not just one category. This may not be very helpful, but to give you an idea, this is the recipe count: 22 Chicken, 1 Squab, 5 Duckling, 20 Pork, 15 Beef or Mutton, 24 Fish, 20 Miscellaneous Seafood (Clams, Crab, Scallops, Squid, Mussels, Oysters, Eel, Sea Cucumbers), 15 Shrimp, 14 Tofu, Eggs, Appetizers, 29 Vegetable including those dishes where vegetables are mixed with meat like Stir-Fried Pork with Asparagus, and 18 Soups. Again, every cooking style has only one recipe, with variations noted, but in the listing, each variation is listed separately. I think this is a convenient way to present the information. A reviewer of Volume One complained of padding, but at least in Volume Two, this is not the case, at least in my opinion. The presentation of the recipes is Chinese on the Left, English on the Right, Photos and nutritional counts across the upper 1/3 of the pages. The recipes are simple but classic. The fare is what you would cook at home, or eat in a solid Chinese restaurant. One recipe is for Lotus Leaf Pork, with Beef, Chicken and Duckling variations. No padding with separate recipes, just one recipe, with the variations noted, like extra cooking time, etc. Same for Smoked Duck or Chicken. Included are Moo Shu (Mu Hsu) Pork, Simmered Lions Head, Deep Fried Spare Ribs, Seafood Congee, Stir-Fried Crab in Sweet Bean Sauce, Red-Cooked Squab, Chicken, or Duckling variations, Steamed Fish with Ginger, Scallions, and Chili Pepper, Drunken Clams or Chicken. Also in this book are two versions of Crispy Fried Oysters which look awful in the photos but which sound like the delicious classic crispy oysters. It is the custom in the city that I live in to make the oysters look like luscious lumps of deep gold. The first 55 pages show how to make beautiful vegetable garnishes. In Chinese and English.