This is a refreshed version of the classic, and it is a beauty. Think of this as the master blueprints for nearly any recipe. Each of the 10 chapters has a basic cooking concept, then lists of endless adaptations for sauces and ingredient pairings. Nothing fancy here and don't expect "authentic" tastes from the Asian-inspired recipes, but rest assured you will find something to make using ingredients you have right now. Because the ingredients are so everyday the hardest part is actually deciding what to make in the face of so many options.

I wouldn't suggest this book for a complete beginner in the kitchen. Check out some "no-recipe recipes" by Sam Sifton to get an idea of the confidence you'll need in order to work with this amount of flexibility. But if you already have a fistful of cooking experience, you'll be familiar enough with the concepts to just use them for what they are: a nudge in the right direction or a cue card.

The idea is that as you pick up the patterns of standard cooking concepts (when to add what to the stir fry, acid-fat ratios, protein-veg ratios, etc) you'll be able to use the book less and less. I like this. I naturally do most of the things in this book every week but I get stuck in a rut when it comes to trying new sauce combos—either I find a completely new recipe to try or I don't use a recipe and stick with what I know off the top of my head. This book is a kind of in-between those two things. I think buying the book for that aspect alone would be worth it for me.