The Heritage Of Chinese Cooking
Cookbook Vintage Non-Fiction Chinese Cuisine Regional Asian Cooking Food History Culinary Arts Ethnic & Cultural Cooking Practical Skills & How-To
First published in 1993, Elizabeth Chong’s The Heritage of Chinese Cooking is the vintage hardcover that serious collectors and curious home cooks alike hunt for on the secondary market. Wrapped in its original dust-jacket and profusely illustrated with full-page color photographs, this 224-page volume distills three millennia of Chinese culinary wisdom into one elegant, kitchen-friendly reference. ISBN 9781875202539 identifies the true first edition; copies in any condition are now scarce, so finding one with only light shelf wear and a single gift inscription is a genuine win for the bookshelf.
Inside, Chong—Australia’s beloved “god-mother of Chinese cooking”—goes far beyond take-out favorites. She organizes the book by regional schools (Cantonese, Sichuan, Shandong, Jiangsu, Hunan) and explains the philosophical balance of yin–yang ingredients, the art of velvet-coating proteins, and the science behind wok-hei (“breath of the wok”). Step-by-step photos demonstrate hand-pulling noodles, folding har gow dumpling skins, and carving winter-melon tureens, turning technical feats into repeatable home successes. Metric and imperial measures, a Chinese pantry glossary, and a cross-referenced spice chart make the recipes globally usable even thirty years on.
What makes this particular copy special is its honest patina: a few page corners carry the gentle crease of a cook who actually cooked, and a discreet ink tick beside a handful of recipe titles marks personal triumphs—evidence that this book lived, not languished. The jacket is intact, the binding tight, and the colors still vibrant, so it displays beautifully on a shelf yet remains kitchen-ready. For collectors, it checks every box: first printing, English language, hardcover, illustrated, and—crucially—no ex-library markings. For chefs, it is a passport to authentic flavor without the filter of modern shortcuts.
Young adults learning to cook, parents wanting to pass on genuine techniques, or food historians tracing the 1990s globalization of Asian cuisine will all find value here. Keywords that surface this gem in search results include “Elizabeth Chong first edition,” “vintage Chinese cookbook 1993,” “heritage Chinese cuisine hardcover,” and “illustrated regional Chinese recipes.” Owning this copy means holding a tangible slice of culinary history—an invitation to bring true Chinese heritage into today’s kitchen.
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