When Grace Young was a child, her father instilled in her a lasting appreciation of wok hay, the highly prized but elusive taste that food achieves when properly stir-fried in a wok. As an adult, Young aspired to create that taste in her own kitchen. Her quest to master wok cooking led her throughout the United States, Hong Kong, and mainland China. Along with award-winning photographer Alan Richardson, Young sought the advice of home cooks, professional chefs, and esteemed culinary teachers like Cecilia Chiang, Florence Lin, and Ken Hom. Their instructions, stories, and recipes, gathered in this richly designed and illustrated volume, offer not only expert lessons in the art of wok cooking, but also capture a beautiful and timeless way of life.

With its emphasis on cooking with all the senses, The Breath of a Wok brings the techniques and flavors of old-world wok cooking into today's kitchen, enabling anyone to stir-fry with wok hay. IACP award-winner Young details the fundamentals of selecting, seasoning, and caring for a wok, as well as the range of the wok's uses; this surprisingly inexpensive utensil serves as the ultimate multipurpose kitchen tool. The 125 recipes are a testament to the versatility of the wok, with stir-fried, smoked, pan-fried, braised, boiled, poached, steamed, and deep-fried dishes that include not only the classics of wok cooking, like Kung Pao Chicken and Moo Shoo Pork, but also unusual dishes like Sizzling Pepper and Salt Shrimp, Three Teacup Chicken, and Scallion and Ginger Lo Mein. Young's elegant prose and Richardson's extraordinary photographs create a unique and unforgettable picture of artisan wok makers in mainland China, street markets in Hong Kong, and a "wok-a-thon" in which Young's family of aunties, uncles, and cousins cooks together in a lively exchange of recipes and stories. A visit with author Amy Tan also becomes a family event when Tan and her sisters prepare New Year's dumplings. Additionally, there are menus for family-style meals and for Chinese New Year festivities, an illustrated glossary, and a source guide to purchasing ingredients, woks, and accessories.

Written with the intimacy of a memoir and the immediacy of a travelogue, this recipe-rich volume is a celebration of cultural and culinary delights.

Customer Rating:
Summary: Not as detailed as I had hoped
Comment: Although this is a very nice book and it has some well written stories, I was anticipating something with a lot more detail (historical, more pictures, etc.). It was still an enjoyable read.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Great list of dishes and history about woks
Comment: So many of my favorite Chinese dishes in one book! I am thrilled.
The history about woks and the people are also fascinating. I love the photos of the poeple, it makes the stories come alive. This is so much more than a cookbook.
I love that at the back of the book, she not only list and describe the key Chinese cooking sauces/vinegars/ingredients, but actually have pictures!! This is important because it makes it so much easier to find those bottles and ingredients in the stores that carry such a variety of any one ingredient!
It's also wonderful that famous chefs and her family contributed their favorite dishes, some of which happen to be mine as well.
The only negative is that there aren't enough photos of the dishes, but I am familiar enough with the dish names to know what they should look like, luckily.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: The Breath of a Wok
Comment: What a beautiful book! The author shares her wealth of knowledge gained while passionately researching the wok. The history and how to of the wok are thoroughly explained. (Now I know why my wok cooked dishes are more like soup!) I recommend this book and the experience of studying it to anyone with a desire cook Chinese in the traditional way.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Grace Young writes as if speaking with you.
Comment: I loved her first book, although the binding did not hold up for long. The content is still good. Breath of a Wok is fabulous. The writing is clear and friendly, the recipes are clear and friendly. The photographs are lovely, the beautifully prepared food in pretty dishes, as well as the funky cooking shots and interesting family pictures. She inspires me to keep learning to cook Chinese. It will make you want to go shopping in Chinatown!

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Read This Before Purchasing Your Wok
Comment: Not really a cookbook but a cultural study of woks. The seasoning, care and maintenance of the wok are described here are very useful.

My chief complaint is that the one photo picturing a very well cared-for wok is in black and white. This is irritating because you can't really see what it looks like (it's a patch of black).

Some reviewers seem not to have finished reading the book. The reason for and the use of chives were clearly explained.

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