Product Description
An introduction to the cuisine of Indonesia which contains step-by-step instructions on the preparation of a variety of dishes, from Ayam Kuning to duck Betutu Tanjung Sari. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Taste of Indonesia
Indonesian cooking recipes at its best. The book is simply outlined, the ingredients are all explained. Cultural background of the recipes are presented in an unbiased way. The recipes, when followed turn out dishes that taste exactly like the ones I have experienced in native Indonesia. The book is easy to follow and the recipes are few, yet all are common, popular dishes that are easily recognized. This book is a must for all those who love Indonesian food and would like to learn about the 'bumbu' that is the essence of this gastronomical delight. ... Read more

Product Description
This comprehensive new book not only includes a range of traditional and lesser-known dishes from the two regions, but discusses their origins with a fascinating introduction to the history, landscapes and traditions of both countries. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Disappointing
This book includes many key traditional dishes, but the recipes are inconsistently written and often unclear as to the proper method. The landscape photos are nice, but the text accompanying them is third-rate at best, and the information is better acquired from a traditional guide book. Many of the names of the dishes are incorrectly or poorly translated. The photos of the food itself are almost a joke. Many of the dishes are portrayed in ways you'd never actually see them, and indeed are supposed to be attractive but actually detract from the appetizing-ness. The "food stylist" employed by the photographer should never do that job again, with sloppy garnishes and poor knife work. Not recommended. "The Food of Bali..." by Heinz van Holzen is much better.

What a fabulous cookbook
This is one of the most innovative cook books I've bought. The traditional Indonesia recipes in this book are a real treat, but the book is also filled with unique concepts from a innovative chef...

This is a great cookbook! ... Read more

Product Description
Menus from street stalls, canteens, and elegant eateries are presented; recipes for those meals follow. Her colorful photographs of vendors and their wares show many of the foods native to the lands. Such long coastlines create a diet rich in fish and shellfish. The vegan cook will prize raw vegetables, often served with spicy lime juice and shallots, crispy fried tempeh and marinated tofu, as well as noodle and rice dishes. Meat is less important: spicy, hot and sour, often with coconut or as stuffing in pancakes or chili peppers. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Disappointing: the index browse feature ripped me off
I own a few Indonesian cook books already, so I browsed the index of this one carefully before ordering it. The recipes looked pretty standard until I noticed an entry for compressed rice, or lontong. I love lontong and was excited to think I would learn the secret to making it myself.

When I got the book, the first thing I did was turn to page 114 to see how to press lontong. Instead, I found a superficial overview of popular tropical fruits. I turned the page and under the heading "Puddings and Cake" found a capsule summary of the Badui culture of Sunda. Then again, for a cookbook, it was actually a pretty long section considering it said nothing about Badui cuisine other than that it is fascinating to watch them boiling palm sugar to sell.

I scanned every page looking for lontong. It appears only in the index.

The photos are lively, well-composed, and apt, but the text reads like an outdated travel guide. If this author's next work is a coffee table book of photos, I will buy it--provided she gets a partner to write the captions.

... Read more

Product Description
Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia are located in Southeast Asia. Because of the rich mix of cultures, ethnic groups, and religions, the cuisine of those three countries are greatly influenced by each other as well as such neighboring cultures as China and India. these distinctly diverse blends of culinary characteristics from Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia represent the cultural interchange of the region ¡V a true crossroads of Asia.

The dishes of SINGAPORE combine spices and cuisine from all over Asia. Hainan Chicken and Rice (Nasi Ayam), Noodles in Spicy Coconut Milk Soup (Laksa Lemak), and Spiced Sparerib Soup (Bak Kut Teh) are Singapore¡¦s most popular dishes. MALAYSIAN cuisine combines the delicacy of Chinese food with Indian spices and regional herbs; famous dishes include Penang Noodle Soup (Penang Laksa), Lacy Pancakes (Roti Jala) and Beef Sate (Sate Daging). INDONESIAN food is known for its unique and exceptional spicy aromas and flavored dishes such as Sticky Yellow Rice (Nasi Kunjit) with Spicy Chicken Braised in Coconut Milk (Rendang Ayam), Batavia Beef Soup with Glass Noodles (Soto Betawi) and Balinese Fried Fish (Ikan Bumbu Bali). Rarely indeed, has a cookbook come along that combines within one cookbook cover, the tantalizing cuisine from these three cultures so well. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

I like all the Wei-Chuan books
The Wei-Chuan Publishing Company (apparently connected with the Taiwanese Wei-Chuan Cooking School), has produced a good number of Cookbooks, mostly dealing with Chinese cookery but also coveing other Asian cuisines as well. I own over a dozen of these now and I like all of them. More importantly, I like all of these books for tmuch he same reasons and, accordingly, I have decided to do a general review that applies to each of them and then provide a few individualized comments where appropriate.

Basically, the Wei-Chuan publications are authored/editored by several different persons but the format is largely the same. Each book is divided into logical sections (Meats, Vegetables, Appetizers, etc.) and nearly every recipe is accompanied by a good photograph of the result with some recipes having additional pictures of the preparation as well. This feature alone makes these books well worth the purchase. Another feature of this cuilinary series is that the books are written in China and, at least as far as the books on Chinese cuisine is concerned, the reader need have no issues with 'authenticity'. I personally also like the fact that all of the books are written in Chinese characters and then translated into English. This has has an added bonus of occasionally providing some unintentional amusement due to a particularly 'unfortunate' translation but I specially like it as I am teaching myself Mandarin and these books are excellent learning tools. I often take one on the plane with me when I travel (along with dictionaries) and can spend hours happily translating passages. It is amazing how often the actual translation of a recipe title bears little resemblance to the English title provided.

Finally, I have to say that the recipes in all of these books are interesting and he ones that I have tried to reproduce have worked out well. Mainly though, I just like reading through these books for inspiration and enjoyment. The money I have spent has been repaid many times over.


The We-Chuan books I currently own are as follows:

Chinese Cuisine- Very good introductory section. Recipes range from simple everyday dishes to exotic banquet style delicacies.
Chinese Dim Sum: Wel-Chuan Cultural and Educational Foundation -Great 'step-by-step' pictures for many recipes. Bit too much emphasis on sweet rather than savoury for my personal taste.
Chinese Snacks -More of the same as in the Dim Sum book. No 'step-by-step' pictures but I actually like this book better.
Chinese Appetizers and Garnishes - I haven't attempted much from this book but I am thankful for the great 'step-by-step' pictures provided.

Favorite Home Dishes Chinese Cooking-As the name suggests, most of the recipes are simple and, thus, easy to prepare.

Chinese Cuisine Beijing Style - Lots of Imperial Banquet dishes and many exotic foreign influenced meals that have been 'Chinesified'.
Chinese Cuisine: Cantonese Style - 75 Cantonese recipes. Good recipes with nice pictures but a sparse introduction.
Chinese Cuisine Shanghai Style- Typically good Wei-Chuan quality but probably my least favorite of the 'regional' Chinese cookbooks.
Chinese Cuisine-Taiwanese Style- Excellent Book. Some truly unique recipes I have never seen elsewhere. I love to browse this volume.
Chinese Cuisine: Szechuan Style- I love Szechuan food especially but I would still treat this book as a favorite anyway.

Indian Cuisine-A nice book but be aware that the recipes Indian dishes for the Chinese palate, not Indian.
Vietnamese Cuisine-Great recipes.
Japanese Cuisine-Nearly as good as many books I have that are written by Japanese chefs.
Korean Cuisine-My favorite of the We-Chuan non-Chinese cookbooks so far,
Singaporean, Malaysian & Indonesian Cuisine - My least favorite Wei-Chuan book so far. Somewhat interesting but I don't look at it much.

Finally, I have a new Wei-Chuan book on order and will continue to buy from time to time. I will review separately as I read these new books.

Singaporean, Malaysian & Indonesian Cuisine (SM&IC)
Left-sided or right-sided brain; Chinese or English language literate, this cookbook is for you. The majority of recipes contain seafood, so you can learn how to fry, grill, bake or steam it in SM&IC.

Looking for Chinese dishes using any form of coconut, I was thrilled to find 15 recipes, four of which were made with coconut milk and four with coconut gravy.

Directions by food writer, Christina Sjahir Hwang, are meant for either side of the brain cooks. "Rub with {number 1} mix in {number 2) and add {number 3) is just one of the many examples.

Authentic, delicious, and simple
If you're looking for some authentic delicious SE Asian dishes, this is the cookbook you should get.

The instructions are easy to follow, with beautiful pictures for every dish. So far I haven't had any problems finding ingredients yet. I improvised for stuff I didn't have (candlenuts, for one), but the results were still spectacular. 5 stars!

Outstanding, a must-have!
This is an amazing book, it immediately made it into my personal cookbook top ten. The photos are nice, the recipes work out perfectly, everything tastes great.

This may well become the first cookbook, where eventually I will have tried every single recipe. (I've already cooked my way more than halfway through...)

Singaporean, Malaysian & Indonesian Cuisine
Everything about this book is great: the food, pictures (we can actually see what the meal is supposed to look like)not to mention that the books were new and arrived in no time. I would definitely go back to this seller. ... Read more

Product Description
This exotic collection feature over 300 of the best oriental dishes selected from the Top-Selling Sainsbury Cookbook Series. A comprehensive, easy-to-follow guide to oriental ingredients, cooking methods and equipment acccompanies the recipes. ... Read more

Product Description
This digital document is an article from Encyclopedia of Food and Culture, brought to you by Gale®, a part of Cengage Learning, a world leader in e-research and educational publishing for libraries, schools and businesses.The length of the article is 3790 words.The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase.You can view it with any web browser.Intended to provide a comprehensive description of the enterprise of education both within the United States and throughout the world. Articles offer a view of the institutions, people, processes, and products found in educational practice. ... Read more

Product Description
This digital document is an article from Countries and Their Cultures, brought to you by Gale®, a part of Cengage Learning, a world leader in e-research and educational publishing for libraries, schools and businesses.The length of the article is 8958 words.The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase.You can view it with any web browser.Covers the broad range of popular religious culture of the United States at the close of the twentieth century. Beliefs, practices, symbols, traditions, movements, organizations, and leaders from the many traditions in the pluralistic American community are represented. Also includes cults and phenomena that drew followers, such as Heaven's Gale and UFOs. ... Read more