CHINESE COOKING FOR BEGINNERS demystifies and simplifies authentic Chinese cooking for those who want to cook this style of food, but are intimidated by those big books written by famous chefs. Most ingredients used in these recipes are available in any well-stocked North American grocery store; the utensils are common for Chinese cookery, and are available in larger cities or on-line. Before beginning the recipe section of the book, Culinary Idioms are covered and illustrated. The idioms covered include: cleaning, cutting, preseasoning, mixing, stir-frying, deep frying, steaming, mix-boiling, stewing, smoking, roasting, precooking, and stock making--all activities that a moderately experienced home cook is familiar with. What makes Chinese cooking different than the typical North American cooking, is that many of the techniques are combined in one cooking session, so that foods are flavored more deeply, and the texture of foods are often crisper. So if you are ready to learn to make Hot and Sour Soup, Tomato and Egg Flower Soup, Almond Chicken, Stir-Fried Chicken, Sweet and Sour Pork, Beef with Broccoli in Oyster Sauce, Moo-Shu Pork, Vegetable Rolls, or the more adventurous Cantonese Pickled Vegetables or Jellyfish Salad, these and over a hundred more recipes are ready for you to try. Fully illustrated with exciting color photos.