Five Tastes

In ancient China, a chef was seen as a kind of magician, able to combine the five tastes-sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and pungent-harmoniously in a dish. In her latest cookbook, Fuchsia Dunlop shares with home cooks 120 easy recipes inspired by culinary traditions across China. She includes both old-fashioned favorites and invented dishes that combine Chinese flavors with produce found in any Western market or supermarket. Try the delectable green beans with "strange-flavor" sauce or a cool fish-fragrant eggplant salad; impress your guests with a ravishing braised tofu or a steamed fish that sings with citrus notes. Cook your way through a host of scintillating vegetable recipes, rustle up a quick bowlful of spicy peanut butter noodles, or hit the sweet spot with Shanghainese seaweed cookies. Centered on vegetables but including some meat and fish dishes, The Five Tastes is a cookbook to be read and savored.