I Bought A Book: Every Grain Of Rice

Right, so I already spoiled this review last week when I got so excited over the spring rolls I made that I had to post them. Okay. So all tension is now drained from the post, you know I love, adore and recommend this book I'm just going to post a link to it over at Amazon so you can click it, buy it, and come right back.

Okay? Let me tell you why you won't be disappointed you just did that. Every Grain Of Rice is a nice big chunky book of Chinese home cooking. Which means the food in here is simple, honest and mostly very quick. Most of the recipes are weeknight proof. With the help of a few 'magic' ingredients you can turn whatever is lingering in your fridge into a great meal very quickly.

I cooked myself a simple meal of Firm Tofu With Green Pepper, Twice Cooked Swiss Chard and plain white rice in twenty minutes or so. It didn't taste thrown together at all. It was incredible and I actually ate the stalks of the chard for the first time. I did have to buy some specialist ingredients but only of the kind that costs very little, lasts forever and adds a lot of taste. Back when I lived in the north it was much easier to find these things (most of them you can even get in supermarkets) but ordering online from places like Sous Chef isn't much more difficult. 

If you aren't used to shopping in Chinese Shops or for Chinese ingredients there's a really stunning section at the back to talk you through what each ingredient is, what it looks like and what you can do with it. Including a whole page of tofu. Be still my vegetarian heart.

Really the thing that stopped me from buying this when it first came out was that I didn't know the ratio of veggie to meaty recipes. Well there isn't much in here I can't cook. It's so full of vegetables that it's absolutely perfect for people with veg boxes or allotments. If you've ever had a vegetable in your hand and no idea how to make a meal out of it you should buy this book. 

Every Grain of Rice: Simple Chinese Home Cooking