Xi'an Famous Foods: The Cuisine of Western China, from New York’s Favorite Noodle Shop

I really did enjoy the techniques, the pictures, stories and simply how this book is done. I sits on my bed table while i sleep and on the kitchen counter when i cook. I quickly made 2 recipes in it and it was a huge success among all friends at supper time. ah-ah that was easy. Get this book.

Som introduktion till kökets smaker och kombinationer är den utmärkt! Härliga genomgångar av de viktigaste ingredienserna och kombinationerna t ex. Som receptbok däremot är den rätt omöjlig. Instruktioner och tips är utspridda på andra ställen än där själva receptet finns, och trots att det står att ingrediens A, B och C är nyckeln till en viss rätt finns de sen inte med i receptet alls… förvirrande.

Bought this for my girlfriend who missed these noodles from living in New York. It is comprehensive and delicious at every meal

I mainly picked up this book because I have been a huge fan of the restaurant ever since a friend of mine who lived in Flushing told me about the opening of one of her favorite restaurants in the St Marks area of NYC that I used to frequent often back then. When Xian Famous Foods opened in the LES (Lower East Side for the unfamiliar), I had recently returned from my first trip to the Eastern Hemisphere to visit a friend who worked for the US Embassy in China. I spent a few months traveling to various places there and loved it (including Xi'an, but just briefly to see the Terra Cotta Soldiers). I was initially attracted to XFF in NYC by the very cheap prices for a filling, unique, and delicious meal (I think the lamb burger was only $2? Try finding prices like those in NYC!) but after a while I found myself having cravings and making the trek over to the LES for some good noodles in soup or a quick bite of the burgers.Due to events of 2020 XFF has been (mostly) closed in NYC at the moment and when I heard about this book I wanted to try to see if I can get my XFF cravings satisfied at home. I was pleasantly surprised by this book! Originally I was expecting more of a cookbook for some of the dishes at one of my more favorite "fast casual" restaurants in NYC (which it is!), but this book is so much more, for me it was also a coming-of-age slash rags-to-riches story, a nice nostalgia trip (I have a lot of Asian friends in NYC, so I have also had some Circle/KTown nights that Jason describes at one point), and an appreciative retrospection for Jason, all while making my mouth water the whole entire time.One thing I love about this book as a cookbook is the simplified list of ingredients -- most cookbooks require a large array of ingredients to craft the recipes at home on your own, which becomes even more of a problem when the recipes require ingredients that are quickly perishable. I feel like there are a small subset of ingredients required that are constantly used throughout the recipes in this book, if you are fortunate enough to live near an Asian market you can get started on many of the recipes right away in a short amount of time. It also really shows you the versatility of the ingredients, with some creativity you can use some of the sauces and spices to make a "XFF-style" dish of your own.Do yourself a favor and grab a copy of this book for your shelf and try out some of the recipes! If you are intimidated by some of the steps, like noodle-pulling to be specific, take a look around the internet for some videos to help supplement the book, once you see the process it becomes a lot less intimidating

I read about this long awaited book. I've never been to XFF actually. But the recipes and the book are fun to read and most importantly, delicious to eat. Xi'an dishes, but with an added western twitch. Veeeery nice.