New Wok Cooking: Easy, Healthy, One-Pot Meals

Executive chef at New York City's Oriont, Ross rehabilitates the wok in this exciting collection of recipes. Readers who associate the wok solely with stir-frying will learn to use it for braising, poaching, tea-smoking and even making soup. Some of the recipes, such as Vietnamese Pork Cooked in Sugar, are traditional Asian dishes but others, such as Seafood Mousse in Crepe Net Bundles, innovatively mix Asian and European flavors and techniques. It's amazing what Ross can do with such a simple piece of equipment: a chapter on steaming includes both simple Crisp Broccoli Steamed with Oyster Sauce and downright elegant Soft Savory Custard Steamed in a Pumpkin. The introductory material is outstanding as well. A thorough glossary of ingredients used to stock various Asian pantries covers everything from nori to cassia bark, and the author sensibly provides basic instructions for making the rice that serves as a base for many of her dishes. Throughout, Ross plays the part of the gentle, informative and generous teacher, whether sharing the secret method for easily poaching fish fillets (boiling water is gently poured over the fish) or leading the way through the steps of smoking tofu over a mixture of sugar, flour and black and jasmine tea leaves. Even the few desserts provided are never intimidatingly strange, yet always fresh. Particularly delicious is her Jade Sea Pudding made with pearl tapioca and honeydew melon. (May)