500 Healthy Chinese Recipes Cookbook

July 6, 2007 (Press Release) -- Dear Friend,

I'm Nicholas Zhou. I love Chinese food since I was born.

I began to learn cooking Chinese food from my mom when I was 9. I was able to know the difference between ginger and garlic and how to use a pancake turner.

When I was 12, I began to help my aunt in the kitchen (this was how I paid for my school clothes and supplies). My aunt was a very famous chef in town. Actually she was like the local chief chef and was invited to cook for all the major events, feasts and wedding parties held in town. She taught me everything about cooking - selecting ingredients, balancing nutrition, 6 key techniques in Chinese cooking, 8 Chinese cooking styles and even table etiquette.

I still remember one day when I was 15.

"Hui (my nick name), I don't have anything to teach you any more." My aunt said after a graduation feast. I guess that's when I graduated from Chinese cooking school.

In the past 10 years, I never stopped learning cooking. I always bring my favorite Joyce Chen wok with me whenever I move to.

But I never thought of coming up with a cookbook until February 3rd, 1997 - my aunt passed away because of cancer. I didn't have a chance to say goodbye to her face to face because I was going to college far away from hometown. I was thinking of doing something for her. Nothing is better than writing a cookbook.

After one and a half years of work, I came up with the Chinese version cookbook in 1998 and got it published with a national publisher. About 560,000 copies have been sold since then.

In 2000, my friend suggested me to translate my cookbook into English and bring it to all people around the world who love Chinese food. In order to let this book be suitable for most people, I visited all the major Chinese restaurants here in Ohio and studied hundreds of restaurant menus. I talked to scores of doctors about healthy eating and nutrition. I subscribed to several major health publications and read health news regularly. After two years of research, I came up with my English version e-cookbook "Real and Healthy Chinese Cooking".

So this is NOT an ordinary cookbook. It is a cookbook packed with:

A master chef's 45 years of cooking experience

20 years of my Chinese cooking practice

Almost 4 years of cooking, writing and research

And of course, my love for my aunt for my whole life

You will be delighted to find this cookbook.

Thank you Nicholas for the wonderful cook book, you have done a fabulous job on it.

I have been in New York for a while now at the culinary institute in Hyde Park. So I haven't been active on your recipe exchange.

I am looking forward to using some of these recipes at the restaurant also...

Warmest regards,

Beryl Potter
Author: Recipes from a British Grandma

Eat a Healthy and Balanced Diet

Some people don't really understand how important eating healthy food is to us. Let's look at some statement:

1. Over a billion people worldwide are now overweight and 300 million are clinically obese. People who are overweight have a higher risk of developing serious health problems in later life, including heart disease, diabetes, stroke, type 2 diabetes, bowel cancer, and high blood pressure. Most people put on excess weight because their lifestyles include an unhealthy diet and a lack of physical activity.

2. According to Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention, post-menopausal women may reduce their risk of developing cancer by 35% if they eat a healthy diet and lead a healthy lifestyle. This result was based on 29,564 post-menopausal women, aged 55-69 for a research period of 13 years.

3. People who ate three or more servings of fruit per day have 36% lower risk of developing the sight loss than people who ate less than one and a half servings per day. (According to Archives of Ophthalmology)

4. Eat low fat food regularly can reduce the chance of developing heart disease and certain cancers.

5. Calorie reduction can increase life expectancy by up to 30 percent

6.Vitamins can cut cancer death rates by 37%

7. Foods that contain the mineral selenium and plant-based chemical sulforaphane in combination may have a 13 times greater ability to protect against cancer than when the food compounds are used separately.

......

This list can go on and on. But I think you've got the point:

Eat healthy and balanced food daily can protect us from developing major health problems like heart disease, cancer, diabetes, stroke and high blood pressure.

Hi Nicholas,

I think your cookbook is the best I've ever seen. We have a huge collection of cookbooks, both paper back and ebooks. I must have read more than 30 Chinese cooking books. But I never found one close to yours.

I am surprised to know that you spent 4 years on this cookbook. But I can see why. Look at the detailed cooking directions and beautiful pictures! I think it must be very hard for you to write in English since you are international. But you are doing great!

My whole family know your name, Nicolas. My son even asked me to invite you to our home and cook for us! (He is only 6 years old). Anyway, we all thank You for your wonderful cookbook and work!

Sharlyn
Singapore

This is the traditional symbol for the forces of yin and yang, sometimes described as two fish swimming head to tail. The left half is yin and the right half is yang. Taken literally, yin and yang mean the dark side and sunny side of a hill.

People commonly think of yin and yang as opposing forces. However, it is really more appropriate to view them as complementary pairs. The Chinese believe problems arise not when the two forces are battling, but when there is an imbalance between them. Floods, divorce, or even a fire in the kitchen - all can be attributed to disharmony in the forces of yin and yang.

How does the concept of yin and yang relate to food?

A basic adherence to this philosophy can be found in ANY Chinese dish, from stir-fried beef with broccoli to sweet and sour pork. There is always a balance in color, flavors, and textures.

However, belief in the importance of following the principles of yin and yang in the diet extends further.

Certain foods have yin properties, while others have yang properties - Cooling or warm, fat or non-fat, high-calorie or low- calorie, and etc.

Almost no foodstuff is purely yin or yang - it's more that one characteristic tends to dominate. It also reinforces that it is not so much the individual ingredients, as the the balance and contrast between ingredients in each dish, that is important. Interestingly, cooking methods also have more of a yin or yang property, as the list below demonstrates.

Chinese cuisine aims for perfection and balance among four elements in each dish: color, aroma or fragrance, flavor, and presentation. Colors should be pleasing, showing that the ingredients are fresh and tender. Aromas should be appetizing. Finally, the dish should be beautifully arranged and presented. Good Chinese cooking is also distinguished by its meticulous cutting, careful blending of seasonings, and attention to temperature control.

With this in mind, I feel it's better if I can add pictures into the cookbook. I know it's a little bit scary to cook Chinese food by yourself for the first time - You never know how the dish should look like.

But NOT with my cookbook! You will get 543 pages of over 500 recipes with 173 color pictures!