Every Grain of Rice: A Taste of Our Chinese Childhood in America
(Fried Green Tomatoes with Flank Steak. Pan-Fried Prawns i...)
Fried Green Tomatoes with Flank Steak. Pan-Fried Prawns in Ketchup Sauce. "Stand Back" Chicken. Turkey Jook. Sticky Rice with Sausage and Taro Root. These are the foods that say "family" and "home" to Ellen Blonder and Annabel Low. In Every Grain of Rice they have collected more than 120 outstanding recipes for the delicious homestyle and special occasion dishes they remember so vividly from their childhoods but have rarely found in conventional Chinese cookbooks.
(In Cantonese, "dim sum" means "touch the heart," and Elle...)
In Cantonese, "dim sum" means "touch the heart," and Ellen Blonder’s charming celebration of China’s famed tea lunch does just that. More than sixty carefully crafted, authentic recipes, each illustrated with Ellen’s exquisite watercolor paintings, put the key to re-creating these delectable morsels in every cook’s hand.
Ellen Leong Blonder is a professional illustrator, designer, and a cookbook author with numerous licensed product lines. Her first cookbook, Every Grain of Rice, won the IACP award for best cookbook in the American category.
Background
Ellen Leong was born in 1950 to the family of Chinese immigrants. The girl grew up in the Sacramento Valley as part of an extended Chinese-American family. Ellen from childhood has had very close relations with her aunt Annabel (they are only sixteen days apart in age).
They were raised virtually as sisters, dividing their time between Ellen’s family farm and the renowned cafe where Annabel’s father was a chef/proprietor. From him, and from their mothers, aunts, and uncles, Ellen learned to cook traditional dishes and that influenced a lot her future life.
Education
Ellen Leong graduated from San Francisco State University.
Ellen Leong Blonder has been a professional illustrator and designer for more than two decades. She focuses on plants and gardens. Besides, she has illustrated numerous children’s books.
Blonder authored her first personal book with her aunt, Annabel Low. In their book, Every Grain of Rice: A Taste of Our Chinese Childhood in America, Blonder and Low present more than 120 recipes, many of which they remember from their childhood.
Also illustrated by Blonder, Every Grain of Rice features anecdotes by both authors that provide a look into their family lives as children. Calling the anecdotes "personal without being too sentimental,” a Publishers Weekly reviewer also noted: “This book is both appetizing and engaging."
Blonder’s second book Dim Sum: The Art of Chinese Lunch focuses on the making of dim sums, which are the mainstay of the traditional Chinese tea lunch. In addition, Blonder discusses dim sum restaurants, various Chinese teas, and how to set up a steamer and make doughs. Overall, the book contains eighty recipes, including breads, sweets, and condiments.