Dim Sum: A Pocket Guide

Dim sum is one of the great pleasures of Chinese cuisine, but it can be bewildering for Westerners unfamiliar with Chinese cooking. This little red book, which would easily fit in a back pocket or purse, serves as an illustrated explanation of the items one can expect to find at a dim sum restaurant--with it, one can figure out what's inside that steamed dumpling, what that tiny dish of meat is and how to tell the difference between a White Turnip Cake and a Taro Cake. For each of the 48 dishes included here, the author provides a color photo and gives a description in English, along with a phonetic pronunciation of the dish's Cantonese name. Introductory paragraphs give useful tips, such as how to tell the host or hostess the number in your party in Chinese, how to indicate to the waiter or waitress that you're ready for a refill of your teapot and how to use chopsticks. Cute, clever and handy, this book makes a great gift item for foodies.