It is a traditional Chinese custom to urge friends to stay and eat... 

{HISTORY}

Beloved Chinese-American chef, Joyce Chen (1917-1994) was responsible for introducing authentic Chinese cooking to American kitchens. A native of Beijing, China, Joyce immigrated to America with her husband and young children in the late 1940s and began her cooking career in Cambridge, MA. 

A few platters of Chinese baked goods and egg rolls made for her children's school fundraiser became the unsuspecting starting point that would eventually make Joyce a household name. Like Julia Child did with French food, Joyce Chen demystified Chinese cooking for home cooks, making it a popular cuisine in the US, especially for those who were interested in learning more about Asian culture.

Over the course of her career, she owned and operated four restaurants in the Cambridge area, taught cooking classes in person and on public television with WGBH Boston, started her own line of gourmet foods and invented specialty cookware.

In 1962, she wrote this cookbook. The Joyce Chen Cook Book, which has now become a beloved kitchen classic. Home cooks who are new to Chinese cooking will appreciate Joyce's thorough approach in this book. She shares information on how to shop, where to shop, what to buy and what utensils to use. She explains how to grow certain ingredients easily at home, how to cook in layers to maximize flavor and consistency, and how to present Chinese food at table. Featuring heritage foods from North China, she focuses on easier recipes of Mandarin, Cantonese, Shanghai, and Chunking origin, so that everyone, especially new cooks, could confidently produce successful dishes right off the bat. "Learn the basics first without getting overwhelmed by more complex dishes," she advised, "then you can move on to other recipes with skill and knowledge."

A runaway hit, Joyce's cookbook has been reprinted dozens of times since its debut in 1962. This edition, the 14th printing, was most likely published between 1966-1967 as it mentions her cooking show on television which aired 26 episodes during these two years.

{SPECIAL FEATURES}

- 14th printing of 1962 edition

- 223 pages

- Illustrated throughout with line drawings

- The Chinese names of each dish and ingredient appear alongside the American names

- Interesting recipes include Crab and Bean Curd Soup, Chicken with Green Peppers, Beef with Pea Pods, Chunking Pork, Sweet and Sour Shrimp, Folded Fried Eggs in Soy Sauce, Chinese Noodles in Soup, Stuffed Cucumbers, Steamed Egg Cake, Fried Rice and Joyce's now-famous eggroll recipe that launched her career during the school fundraiser days, 

- A Note to Cooks: Many of the recipes here include the use of MSG which was popular during the 1960s. Today, salt or soy sauce can easily be substituted. 

{CONDITION}

In good vintage condition, this cookbook contains a few random cooking spots and stains as well as some passages that have been underlined in pencil by a previous owner. The dust jacket is slightly faded in color and bears some chippy spots along the top and bottom edges. All interior pages are bright and clean 9minus a few cooking stains). The spine is tight and all pages are intact. 

{SIZE}

Measures 8.75" (width) x 7.75" inches (length) x 1" inch (thickness) and weighs 1.7lbs