(Part 2) Best products from r/Chefit

I'm a bit of a cookbook junkie, so I have a bunch to recommend. I'm interpreting this as "good cookbooks from cuisines in Asia" so there are some that are native and others that are from specific restaurants in the US, but I would consider these legit both in terms of the food and the recipes/techniques. Here are a few of my favorites:


Pan-Asian

• Asian Dumplings - the masterpiece on all things dumpling
  
• Asian American - Dale Talde's (Top Chef) book with lots of Asian cultures' food in the US
  
• Asian Pickles - pickles and fermented foods from throughout Asia
  
• Lucky Rice - recipes from the Asian festival of the same name
  
• The Asian Grandmother's Cookbook - traditional cooking passed down to American cooks
  
  Burmese
  
  
• Burma:Rivers of Flavor - good focus on difference in Burmese cuisine from other regional
  
  Cambodian
  
  
• Num Pang - Cambodian sandwich restaurant in NYC
  
• Cambodian Cooking - GREAT book on Cambodian cuisine, supporting refugees
  
  Chinese
  
  
• Ken Hom Complete Chinese Cookbook - great primer for cooking Chinese food using ingredients commonly available in US
  
• China Moon - classic SF Chinese restaurant food
  
• Feeding the Dragon - modern culinary journey through all of China
  
• Mastering the Art of Chinese Cooking - omnibus focused on the home chef
  
• Breath of a Wok - focus on wok technique at home
  
• Every Grain of Rice - wonderful Sichuan food for home cooks
  
  Indian
  
  
• Madhur Jaffrey Indian Cooking - actually, any of her cookbooks are wonderful for Indian cooking
  
• Savour Mumbai - looks at Indian cuisine as a melting pot in Mumbai
  
• The Indian Family Cookbook - modern South Indian food
  
• Indian Harvest - Vikas Khanna's family cookbook
  
• Made in India - classic Indian food, from street to home
  
  Indonesia
  
  
• The Food of Indonesia - everything you need for a rijstaffel!
  
  Japanese
  
  
• Japanese Farm Food - authentic rural Japanese cooking
  
• Preserving the Japanese Way - how to make awesome Japanese pickled vegetables
  
• Sushi Chef - not strictly speaking a cookbook, but "Jiro Dreams of Sushi" book in English
  
• The Japanese Grill - authentic hibachi and Japanese grill recipes
  
• Japanese Comfort Food - lots of traditional Japanese recipes
  
• Nanban - Japanese "soul food"
  
• Tokyo Cult Recipes - hip modern urban food from Tokyo
  
• Yum Yum Bento Boxes - updated modern take on bento boxes
  
• Ivan Ramen - traditional ramen for a Western audience
  
• Izakaya - traditional Japanese pub food & small plates
  
• Nikkei - emigrant Japanese food culture in South America
  
• Donabe - traditional Japanese hot pot recipes
  
• Kyotofu - very unique Japanese dessert cookbook
  
  Korean
  
  
• K Food - modern take on Korean street food
  
• Maangchi's Real Korean Cooking - great resource for Korean cooking in a non-pro kitchen
  
• Traditional Food - omnibus of four regions of Korean food
  
• Koreatown - authentic, approachable guide to Korean food in a US context
  
• Smoke & Pickles - Edward Lee's fusion of his Korean heritage and southern barbeque
  
• The Kimchi Cookbook - many, many recipes for kimchi...
  
  Malaysian
  
  
• Malaysian Cooking - good overview of Malay cooking
  
  Middle Eastern
  
  
• The New Persian Kitchen - modern Iranian food
  
• Ottolenghi - Israeli-Palestinian collaboration
  
• Persiana - dynamic modern recipes from throughout the Middle East
  
• Zahav - modern Israeli food
  
• Sweet Middle East - traditional and modern desserts
  
  Philippine
  
  
• Filipino Homestyle Dishes - good intro to classic Filipino dishes
  
  Russian
  
  
• Mamushka - focus on Ukraine
  
  Sri Lankan
  
  
• Hidden Kitchens of Sri Lanka - beautiful photo-cookbook on Sri Lankan cuisine
  
  Taiwanese
  
  
• The Food of Taiwan - um... food... from Taiwan
  
  Thailand
  
  
• Nong's Thai Kitchen - she beat Bobby Flay in pad thai
  
• Pok Pok - Portland's most AWESOME Asian restaurant
  
  Turkish
  
  
• Istanbul:Recipes from the Heart of Turkey - lovely focus on urban Turkish food
  
• Anatolia - wonderful approachable approach to Turkish cuisine
  
• Essential Turkish Cuisine - focus on history and evolution of Turkish food
  
  Vietnamese
  
  
• The Slanted Door - great Vietnamese restaurant cookbook
  
• Vietnamese Market Cookbook - focus on simple Vietnamese from fresh ingredients
  
• Into the Vietnamese Kitchen - traditional Vietnamese home cooking
  
• The Banh Mi Cookbook - the greatest sandwich in the world!
  
• Vietnamese Home Cooking - another great overview
  
  (edit: screwed up a couple links)

Chopping skills has to be high up on the list. I don't have a good book on this, but have seen several possible good ones on Amazon. There are lots of videos online as well. I'd learn and master all types of cuts on all types of items (meat, veggies, fruit, etc).

If you're wanting to be a chef (i.e. not just a cook), having some knowledge about why methods/recipes are a certain way would be good too (e.g. books like On Food and Cooking: http://www.amazon.com/On-Food-Cooking-Science-Kitchen/dp/0684800012).

Not quite a direct answer to your question, but hopefully useful

So, a cleaning stone for the whetstones should be like this then? Messermeister Sand Rubber Cleaner for Whetstone

and for sharpening i should probably use something like this? King Japanese Grit 1000/6000 Combination Sharpening Stone KW-65 and King #8000 Nagura Stone : Bundle - 2 Items

I’d figure 9oz cooked pasta p/p, 3oz protein, 3oz veg, 4oz sauce.

So for your protein the total minimum is 120oz. If you evenly divide that between three proteins you’d have 40oz each. Now it really depends on your crowd and the proteins. If you have shrimp you better believe more people will want that and adjust accordingly. That being said, let’s assume sweet Italian sausage 50oz, grilled chicken 50oz, and shrimp 60oz shrimp. I’ve added a little to adjust for error in portioning on the fly. Probabaly gotta round up to the nearest pound so that would give you 3#,3# and 4# cooked proteins.

If you use boneless skinless chicken breast which might give an 80% yield cooked. You need to buy 4# (3.75 rounded up.)

Sausage cooked yield is about 77%. So also purchase 4# (3.9# rounded up.)

If you buy peeled deveined shrimp your cooked yield is about 80% of the original weight which means you need to purchase 5# total.

So we’ve rounded up three times to account for choice, for getting portions right while serving and to adjust for cooking yield.

Pasta take your cooked portion and divide by 2.5 (being conservative.) so 3.6oz dry times 40 = 144 oz or 9 #. so purchase 10 # of pasta.

That should get you through the trickiest part of the planning. That being said you have to know your crowd and event. Demographics, time of day, other food being served, alcohol consumption and other factors could affect how you plan portions.

I used two sources every chef should use and learn inside and out. The Book of Yields: Accuracy in Food Costing and Purchasing https://www.amazon.com/dp/0470197498/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_r3GnDbHQN537K
And The USDA Table of Cooking Yields for Meat and Poultry; https://www.ars.usda.gov/ARSUserFiles/80400525/Data/retn/USDA_CookingYields_MeatPoultry.pdf

A good idea would be to get a whetstone, a wet japanese one, like this one.

Then, learn how to sharpen knives with him, it's a skill he'll need lifelong if he's to be a chef.

Your friend needs "The Book of Yields"

http://www.amazon.com/Pok-Stories-Roadside-Restaurants-Thailand/dp/1607742888 Andy Ricker really knows his stuff if you want real thai food beyond things like pad thai and whatnot

I recently read Heat by Bill Buford--absolutely awesome, couldn't put it down. Also, this is actually on my to-read list but On Food and Cooking is supposed to be really very informative.

Setting the Table by Danny Meyer.

Math by the CIA.

The Book of Yields by Francis Lynch.