WW: Minced Pork in Lettuce Cups

Wok Wednesdays wokking through Stir-Frying to the Sky's Edge
by the fabulous Grace Young






Yep. It's good. If you follow my blog regularly, you probably guessed that already.

It's amazing that one cookbook can have so many successful recipes - Grace Young knows her stuff! I don't think I'll ever be able to eat out at a Chinese restaurant again.

Our family back in the day, before everyone moved out of state, we used to get together every Tuesday night at a local Chinese restaurant. It's nice to go to a restaurant where they know you and at the time you think the food is good, until you wok your way through this book, and everything changes.

My husband and I had rarely gone out for Chinese food after most of the family had moved; mainly because I found the food to be too salty and thinking back, a bit too oily as well. Now that I am learning to cook this cuisine at home, we don't even have the desire or craving to go out for Chinese food.

After raving about the recipes from this book, I feel bad not being able to share them with you here on my blog; one of the rules of Wok Wednesdays is not to post the recipe - not only out of respect for Grace, but to help support the publishing industry; and I for one do not want to see books disappear.  

So if the recipes appeal to you even in the slightest, I highly recommend that you visit your local bookstore and purchase a copy for yourself. You will not be disappointed - I'm sure of it; and when you do, come join us over at Wok Wednesdays for a wokerrific time!

Success meter (1-3): 3

FungusAmongUs - Don't you just love the name?!

Opening the package, I was not expecting such a wonderful aroma from the dried Shiitakes.

You need to soak the dried mushrooms for thirty minutes in cold water. Personally I would use fresh Shiitake mushrooms if available, or substitute fresh Portobello mushrooms. I did not care for the reconstituted Shiitake for they had a bit of a chewy, rubbery texture. (Maybe I did not soak them long enough?)

On a side note: I was fortunate to have met Grace Young in person this weekend. She was speaking at the Chinese Historical Society of America in San Francisco. I can say she comes across just as she does online - soft spoken, knowledgeable, and with a sense of humor.  What a pleasure it was to listen to her tell her stories and that of others. I hate to think of what we (my daughter and nephew also attended) missed out on by arriving 15 minutes late due to horrible traffic into the city.  Maybe I'll have another chance to see her speak again. Grace, it was a pleasure~

To get a sense of what Grace's talk was like, check out my daughter's post on meeting the "Stir-Fry Guru". 

You will not find the recipe here on my blog or within the Wok Wednesdays community. We encourage our readers to purchase this book at their local independent bookstore or on-line to support the publishing industry and to help keep books alive! I know I prefer to flip through the pages of a book rather than read them electronically; nothing compares to the feel and smell of a printed book.

Make sure to visit my co-wokkers to see their results on this stir-fry.

Look for the LYL link on the Wok Wednesdays page.

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