Condition: Acceptable. SIGNED! Not personalized (See Photos)! Packed in a RIGID mailer with cardboard backing and padding! 1977 Edition, Spiral Bound. Pages: marks and writing on some pages, otherwise, not written on, clean, tanned or stained at bottom near spine of most pages, odor free. Cover: clean, bright, rubbing to edges. Ships from California. Ships same or next day (weekdays and Saturdays)! ABOUT: FOREWORD  I have used many Chinese cookbooks by as many different authors and have enjoyed the knowledge gained through them. I had often wondered how a Chinese chef could cook so many different dishes for so many different people in so short a time. Beyond preparing food before hand, I thought there must be some secret they shared. All the cookbooks describe the various ways of cooking over and over again in separate recipes. No wonder the average Westerner is confused and hesitates to try to cook simple Chinese dishes. 

My ancestors originally came from. Europe and my husband's from China, although we both were born in the United States, and I had to learn Chinese cooking from scratch --or cookbooks, with my husband critiquing the finished product. It wasn't easy since we lived in Alaska and Chinese ingredients weren't readily available. Impro-vising became a way of life and it presented a challenge that I still enjoy. The finished dishes really didn't taste exactly Chinese, but near enough to satisfy my husband's taste buds. They tasted delicious to me. Soon it was easier to cook a western Chinese dish than to cook the Southern way (I grew up in the South) and it took much less time. 

There are just a few basic ways Chinese foods are cooked, the difference lies in the way the ingredients are used and combined. For the Western taste, some of these combinations and ingredients can be changed without losing the essence of Chinese cooking, so I have tried to write methods for some of the basic ways Chinese foods are cooked and how some of the meats and seafood are prepared.