Many people think that they can just chop up some veggies and meat, add soy sauce, and have a great meal...not true. This book gives you the details you need (such as, once you add the meat, stir every 20 seconds so it will brown properly) to create restaurant-quality stir-fry. And the All-Purpose Stir-Fry Sauce recipe in the beginning is really excellent, although I like to add cornstarch & extra water to mine to make a thicker sauce. I have not tried any of the non-Asian inspired dishes, and frankly think that they should not have been included, but all of the ones I have tried (Orange-Chili Beef, Beef Asparagus & Red Pepper, Minced Chicken in Lettuce Cups, Kung Pao Chicken--my husband's new favorite for dinner guests, Snapper with Tangarine-Chili sauce, Ants on a Hill, Quick Pot Stickers--a little tricky until you get used to the folding) have all been very good and have been made more than once.