Notes about Recipes in this book

• Kunming-style cold noodle salad

  • jenburkholder on March 13, 2022

    Very nice. We did the wood ear mushrooms - just a small handful, thinly sliced. Also subbed a homemade chili oil that had Sichuan peppercorns for the couple requested in the recipe. Fresh and delicious.

• Grandma's potatoes

  • jenburkholder on July 21, 2020

    These were very tasty and quite simple, a definite repeat.

• Home-style stir-fried pork with garlic chives

  • TrishaCP on May 17, 2022

    This was pretty easy to make and had nice flavor. (I used boneless pork chops.) I didn’t like the whole Sichuan peppers in this though. They were too strong for my palate. (Too much numbing, not enough citrus.)

• Pork with garlic scapes and Sichuan peppercorn oil

  • metacritic on June 19, 2021

    Pretty good. I don't know if the flavors quite marry, but I liked it even as I don't know if I'll make it again. A light and simple dish, made by the garlic scapes.

  • TrishaCP on June 24, 2021

    This was good but I agree with metacritic about the flavors. I thought it was really interesting that the garlic scapes really seemed to mellow when cooked in the wok. This was helped along by the addition of chile crisp.

  • kitchen_chick on July 20, 2022

    We thought this was on the bland side even with the Sichuan peppercorns and oil. A simple dish. Fast to prepare. I agree some lashings of chili oil with sediment or chili crisp helps. I might try adding some ginger, too, if I make it again.

• Stir-fried beef with pickled greens and garlic chives

  • jenburkholder on February 11, 2022

    I made this with regular ground beef (not grass-fed). Didn't have garlic chives so used extra garlic and scallions. Store-bought Sichuanese ya cai instead of her homemade recipe. Tamari instead of light soy to be GF. Hey, it's a homestyle recipe and I bet any Yunnan cook would use what's around too! It was tasty, super-easy, and I'd repeat it. Plenty of umami flavors (soy and pickled mustard greens!) and maybe too salty, though eating with lots of white rice of course cut it. Definitely needs plenty of veg sides. I'd probably go down to 2.5T tamari next time.

  • TrishaCP on October 14, 2022

    This was a fast and tasty dinner. I also used store-bought ya cai, and rinsed it- so I didn’t think the dish was too salty. I used a combination of garlic chives and scallion greens due to insufficient garlic chives, and also added carrots. (Was going to stir fry carrots separately, but laziness won out!)

• Vegetable momos

  • jenburkholder on February 08, 2023

    These, while lightly spiced, were delicious. Dough was easy to work with, though I had to add more water. Served with a quick tomato sauce. Oh, and - first dumpling recipe I’ve ever made where it actually makes the right amount of filling!

• Stir-fried shiitakes with chiles and Sichuan peppercorns

  • jenburkholder on October 31, 2020

    Really good. I omitted the chili flakes, presuming it was going to be hot enough (it was). The citrusy Szechuan peppercorns with the earthy shiitakes and the rich butter... mmm, so good. Definitely recommend - and so easy, and so pantry-friendly.

• Stir-fried chrysanthemum greens with chile

  • jenburkholder on August 14, 2020

    I thought these were good, but not everyone was sold on the intense, vaguely carroty taste of the greens. That’s an issue with us, though, not with the recipe! A perfectly nice preparation, flavorful side.

  • DayOwl on March 28, 2021

    Well-written recipe, easy to follow, with a nice balance of flavors, not too salty or spicy. I happen to love the herbal taste of chrysanthemum greens and the snap of the hollows stems.

• Chicken and chestnut soup

  • metacritic on January 07, 2021

    Thiis is wonderful. The black cardamom provides smoke, the searing of the chicken gives depth, and the chestnut adds an earthy sweetness. This was a big hit.

• Eggplant with garlic and chiles

  • chawkins on July 22, 2022

    Very good for such a simple dish but how could it not be when everything were garden fresh. I used a green bell pepper instead of the Anaheim chile and Italian eggplant instead of the Asian ones, even the scallion and garlic were from the garden. The only pantry ingredients were the little bits of oil and soy sauce.

• Fried squash leaves

  • kitchen_chick on July 20, 2022

    While I didn't use squash leaves the recipe calls for, the egg dip worked really well with nasturtium flowers, squash flowers, and shiso leaves.

• Stir-fried beef with mint

  • abengal on December 29, 2021

    We liked this, even though I only had about 1/3 of the needed mint, next time I will buy a large bunch instead of trying to use the mint out of the garden, we didn’t have enough. The recipe doesn’t make much, so perhaps consider it the “one for the table” extra dish, rather then the main meat dish.

• Fried kidney beans with fennel

  • jenburkholder on July 21, 2020

    These were tasty, but very rich due to the deep frying. Better as part of a diverse plate than a main component.

• Stir-fried duck with ginger

  • metacritic on January 07, 2021

    I made this with boneless duck breast, a cut I don't like at all. Accordingly, I found this dish really disappointing. The flavors of the ginger and garlic didn't come out at all. I wonder if I would have liked this with duck legs instead.

• Pickled mustard greens

  • jenburkholder on September 21, 2020

    Very good, add nice flavor to lots of Chinese dishes.

• Eat Your Books by Jenny Hartin

  Walk along with Georgia Freedman and experience the beauty and cuisine of the Yunnan Province.

  Full review