Ken Hom's Quick Wok: The Fastest Food in the East

Famous for making Chinese cookery easy and appealing to everyone, Ken Hom has surpassed himself with this new collection of over 80 fast wok recipes. Ken Hom's Quick Wok has been written for the busy people of today, be they 17 or 70. Clear instructions, combined with the use of fresh ingredients that need little or no preparation, mean you can rustle up sure-fire winners in no time at all, such as Sweet Ginger Chicken and Firecracker Pork with Com, which your friends and family will love you for. If you want healthy food without compromising on taste; if you want inspiration but are in a hurry, then this is the cookbook you've been waiting for.

Customer Review: Very good book on wok cookery, but not the best
I give Ken Hom's Quick Wok only four stars because it is a good book, but one should think twice before buying it. A major warning sign is that it is a thin, oversize format book with lots of pictures and half the content for two thirds of the price of a `full size' cookbook. This consideration can be nullified by the fact that the book's contents are much better than the run of the mill oversize picture book if that were the whole story. A second consideration is that Ken Hom has a similar oversized many pictured book published at roughly the same time by Dorling Kindersley (DK) entitled `Foolproof Chinese Cooking'. This book is superior to the `Quick Wok' in many ways. First, the `Foolproof' book gives much more detailed recipe instructions and the many pictures are specifically dedicated to assisting in the communication of the recipe steps. Second, much of the introductory material in `Quick Wok' is duplicated in `Foolproof'. Thus, if one were interested simply in a good introductory book on Chinese cooking, the `Foolproof' book would be the one to choose. There are some reasons to own both books. The `Quick Wok' book focuses not only on recipes done in a wok, but also recipes which are fast even by the standards of wok cooking, which are normally as fast or faster than a sauté in French style cooking. Another reason to consider this book is that wok cooking is not all about stir-frying. It includes deep-frying and steaming and the book even includes some dessert recipes done by steaming. The major chapters on recipes in this book are: Starters and appetizers Soups Fish and shellfish Poultry Meat Vegetables Noodles and rice Desserts Unlike the `Foolproof' book, the table of contents does not list the names of all dishes. Another strike against it. There are two other observations, which may weigh on whether this is the book for you. First, since the theme of the book is fast cooking, there are a large number of prawn recipes, since these cook extremely fast. If you are not fond of shrimp, you may want to consider this. Second, while the pitch of the book is speed, I question some of the prep timings. I'm sure a professional chef can prep seven vegetables in 20 minutes, but I can't. I also discount the claim of fast cooking when the recipe involves a long marinade. That immediately discounts the recipe as suitable for a quick after work preparation. There are tips in the back of the book on entertaining and menus, which have the feed of something being copied from some other work. They all appear to be common sense. I would go to Martha Stewart for more detailed recommendations. The photography and food styling are competent, but not up to the quality one would expect in an oversize format with lots of pictures. The author has a great reputation in his field, but this is by no means his best effort. I recommend the contents of this book, but give some alternatives some thought as well.
Customer Review: Good Book by Worthy Author. Worth Considering
I give Ken Hom's Quick Wok only four stars because it is a good book, but one should think twice before buying it. A major warning sign is that it is a thin, oversize format book with lots of pictures and half the content for two thirds of the price of a `full size' cookbook. This consideration can be nullified by the fact that the book's contents are much better than the run of the mill oversize picture book if that were the whole story. A second consideration is that Ken Hom has a similar oversized many pictured book published at roughly the same time by Dorling Kindersley (DK) entitled `Foolproof Chinese Cooking'. This book is superior to the `Quick Wok' in many ways. First, the `Foolproof' book gives much more detailed recipe instructions and the many pictures are specifically dedicated to assisting in the communication of the recipe steps. Second, much of the introductory material in `Quick Wok' is duplicated in `Foolproof'. Thus, if one were interested simply in a good introductory book on Chinese cooking, the `Foolproof' book would be the one to choose. There are some reasons to own both books. The `Quick Wok' book focuses not only on recipes done in a wok, but also recipes which are fast even by the standards of wok cooking, which are normally as fast or faster than a sauté in French style cooking. Another reason to consider this book is that wok cooking is not all about stir-frying. It includes deep-frying and steaming and the book even includes some dessert recipes done by steaming. The major chapters on recipes in this book are: Starters and appetizers Soups Fish and shellfish Poultry Meat Vegetables Noodles and rice Desserts Unlike the `Foolproof' book, the table of contents does not list the names of all dishes. Another strike against it. There are two other observations, which may weigh on whether this is the book for you. First, since the theme of the book is fast cooking, there are a large number of prawn recipes, since these cook extremely fast. If you are not fond of shrimp, you may want to consider this. Second, while the pitch of the book is speed, I question some of the prep timings. I'm sure a professional chef can prep seven vegetables in 20 minutes, but I can't. I also discount the claim of fast cooking when the recipe involves a long marinade. That immediately discounts the recipe as suitable for a quick after work preparation. There are tips in the back of the book on entertaining and menus, which have the feel of something being copied from some other work. They all appear to be common sense. I would go to Martha Stewart for more detailed recommendations. The photography and food styling are competent, but not up to the quality one would expect in an oversize format with lots of pictures. The author has a great reputation in his field, but this is by no means his best effort. I recommend the contents of this book,especially if fast recipes are your major interest, but give some alternatives some thought as well.

Tea clubs were how many people first learned about green tea and grew to love it. The same goes for herbal tea. You never used to hear of anyone drinking mint or chamomile tea, though they had been on the market for quite some time. Some savvy marketer decided it would be a good idea to prominently display these teas, and tout them as "natural" alternatives to coffee and soda in order to get them to sell. This tactic worked, probably beyond this marketing guru's wildest dreams! Suddenly, everyone who was hip and in style was drinking herbal teas, green teas, and black teas.

Tea club members gradually became quite sophisticated as far as tea was concerned. Each month, it seemed that the teas that arrived at their homes were a little more exotic than they had been the month before. Friends in the same town planned a get-together on the day they all expected their tea to be delivered. They would bring cookies, muffins, and other baked goods, and everyone would thoroughly enjoy the new taste sensation in the form of a tea no one had tried before.

It wasn't all that long ago that there was no such thing as a tea club. No was was able to experience the sheer bliss of receiving a new and different type of tea every month to try out for the first time ever. Can you imagine how much fun it must have been to be one of the first few people to take part in a "Tea of the Month" club?

Tea Clubs - A Tea Lover's Dream

Occasionally, someone wouldn't like that month's selection, and that's when the tea trading got under way. By the time everyone was ready to go home, they had swapped tea and sipped tea to their heart's content, and were already making plans for the next month's tea delivery day.

All ages seem to be interested in the Tea of the Month clubs offered by the various companies. Everyone from senior citizens to teenagers are eager to sample as many new teas as they can. Isn't it interesting how something as simple and uncomplicated as tea has served to bring such a vastly different group together with the same goals in mind? Tea seems to be the great communicator, whether it is black, green, herb, or any kind, for that matter. Try placing a group of varied ages together in one room for an hour or more with a shared interest of anything else except tea, and see how long everyone stays calm! At times, I truly think tea is what makes the world go round.

These clubs began back when people started to take an interest in all of the different types of tea that were available. They wished for some way that they could sample these new and interesting-sounding teas they kept running across in the gourmet markets, for they weren't sure whether or not they would like them well enough to purchase an entire box. A Tea Club was the perfect solution! For one fixed price, they could sample tea after tea after tea, for as long as they continued to be a member of the club.

Today's tea clubs are many are varied. Whereas someone who was interested in joining a Tea of the Month once had a hard time finding out anything about such a club, today there are tea clubs all over the Internet. Anyone can find quite a few clubs just by doing a simple web search. It's a good thing that there are so many different Tea of the Month clubs available in this day and time, for people are taking their tea more seriously than ever before. There are tea clubs for green tea only, tea clubs just for herbal tea, tea clubs for black tea, organic tea... the list could go on and on. And, it seems that these clubs have no problem getting new members - most of them don't even have to advertise!

For people who loved tea, the Tea of the Month clubs seemed almost too good to be true. Where else could you have these wonderfully exotic sounding teas delivered right up to your front door? Word spread about this phenomenon, and more and more people decided that a Tea club was something that they would be interested in, as well.

They were even more pleased when they discovered that if they joined the club for six months or a year at a time, they would get a very nice free gift along with their first shipment of tea. That cinched the deal for many people, who joined so they could get the gift, which usually was a nice tea pot or tea kettle, along with enough tea to keep them satisfied from one month to the next.

The 2007 Report on Thai Foods: World Market Segmentation by City

This report was created for global strategic planners who cannot be content with traditional methods of segmenting world markets. With the advent of a borderless world, cities become a more important criteria in prioritizing markets, as opposed to regions, continents, or countries. This report covers the top 2000 cities in over 200 countries. It does so by reporting the estimated market size (in terms of latent demand) for each major city of the world. It then ranks these cities and reports them in terms of their size as a percent of the country where they are located, their geographic region (e.g. Africa, Asia, Europe, Middle East, North America, Latin America), and the total world market. In performing various economic analyses for its clients, I have been occasionally asked to investigate the market potential for various products and services across cities. The purpose of the studies is to understand the density of demand within a country and the extent to which a city might be used as a point of distribution within its region. From an economic perspective, however, a city does not represent a population within rigid geographical boundaries. To an economist or strategic planner, a city represents an area of dominant influence over markets in adjacent areas. This influence varies from one industry to another, but also from one period of time to another. In what follows, I summarize the economic potential for the world\'s major cities for "Thai foods" for the year 2007. The goal of this report is to report my findings on the real economic potential, or what an economist calls the latent demand, represented by a city when defined as an area of dominant influence. The reader needs to realize that latent demand may or may not represent real sales. For many items, latent demand is clearly observable in sales, as in the case for food or housing items. Consider, however, the category "satellite launch vehicles". Clearly, there are no launch pads in most cities of the world. However, the core benefit of the vehicles (e.g. telecommunications, etc.) is "consumed" by residents or industries within the world\'s cities. Without certain cities, in other words, the market for satellite launch vehicles would be lower for the world in general. One needs to allocate, therefore, a portion of the worldwide economic demand for launch vehicles to both regions and cities. This report takes the broader definition and considers, therefore, a city as a part of the global market.

Barbecue Season is Upon Us: Add Flavor with Seasoned Skewers

As the weather begins to warm up in various parts of the country, it won't be long until you begin to have the scent of grilled meats and barbeque sauce wafting over your backyard fence. In fact, these delightful scents may get you thinking about dusting off your own grill and looking for some new recipes for your favorite grilled meats and vegetables. Well, look no further, as seasoned skewers may be just what you are looking for.

If you are looking to add the same great flavor that you put on the outside of your meat on the inside as well, then seasoned skewers may be just what you need. These skewers are made of untreated wood that has been infused with flavored oils. As the meat heats up and cooks, you find these delicious flavors seeping inside of your meat. Compliment the seasoning on the outside of your meat and you will have a barbeque dish to die for.

Don't think that these skewers are just for kabobs either. Get creative in your grilling by using the skewers to flavor baked potatoes, fruits, vegetables and seafood. They can also be used on a wide variety of meats from your basic steak and shrimp to chicken and turkey. The skewers are especially delicious in meats such as chicken and turkey, as it is hard to get your seasoning inside of these meats. The skewers will help keep your chicken and turkey seasoned and moist.

Seasoned skewers also allow you to get creative. There are various flavors that will not only add flavor, but variety. Just think about some honey bourbon chicken with a garlic herb baked potato.