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Introduction

chinese food
The first time I ate Chinese food in the United Kingdom in the 1970s, it was truly quite unappealing.  Everything came in a gloopy sauce and looked like to taste the same, because of the overuse of monosodium glutamate, supposedly a flavour enhancer but in reality, nothing of the kind.  Then in the 1980s a new breed of Chinese cafeteria arrived “at least it took that long to reach the provinces” which provided lighter, tastier Chinese cooking demonstrating regional differences.  There was one drawback, anyhow, which was that this new type of cafeteria was much more pricey than the original low-priced ‘n tasteless ones.  Consequently, I thought how cool it would be to cook Chinese food at the residence but I had no idea where to kick off until BBC TV came to my rescue in the shape of Ken Hom, the USA-born chef of Cantonese parents.

Ken presented Chinese cuisine in such an easily-understandable way, demonstrating formulas and suggesting substitute ingredients should the originals not be accessible in your local supermarket. The book which accompanied the series, Ken Hom’s Chinese Cookery became my bible and I still have my duplicate, pages stained with oil drips and smears of sauce.  

To help you on your road to cooking Chinese food at a residence, I’m going to briefly clarify the simple equipment, ingredients and formulas which you require knowing so as to you can generate some basic and tasty dishes.  I hope you enjoy the article and that it inspires you to get cooking!

Equipment

Although there are numerous implements and pieces of equipment you can pay for, to kick off on the road to cooking your own Chinese food, you truly only require a good knife or two and a wok.  Woks come in all shapes and sizes, they might be non-stick, flat-bottomed, they can even be electric nowadays but I still like better my old carbon steel wok with it’s rounded bottom and one wooden handle.  This is a Pau wok. These are promptly available in Chinese supermarkets and are much less pricey than other varieties.  There is one important activity, though, before you will be prepared to cook with such a wok and that is to season it.  You will require to scrub it with a cream cleaner to eliminate any residues of machine oil and dry it carefully. Put the wok on the hob through a low heat.  Rub the inside of the wok with two tablespoons of cooking oil using a kitchen towel.  permit the wok heat steadily for ten to 15 minutes then wipe the inside with more kitchen towel.  The paper will come away black.  keep on a coating, heating and cleaning off until the kitchen towel comes away clean.  Your wok is now prepared to use.  After use, wash only in water without detergent and dry thoroughly through a low heat.  You could even apply a small oil if you want.  This should prevent the wok from rusting but if it does originate rust, just scrub and season again.

As well as the wok, you will require a wok stand, specifically if you have an electric hob.  This maintains the wok steady if you're using it for braising or deep frying.

You will also require something to stir with – any spatula, slice or slotted spoon will do – metal for a metal wok and plastic or wooden for a non-stick wok.

Ingredients

Before you rush out and pay for up the whole Chinese section at the supermarket, bear in mind that  a couple of ingredients don’t keep well if left not used.    Just elect something basic from your chosencookery book and pay for the things that you require for that then you can develop your selection as you progress by means of different dishes.

Some frequent store-cupboard ingredients that you will almost certainly require are dark and light soy sauce, a couple of sort of cooking oil and sesame oil, cornflour and rice wine or sherry.  to get more information, see my article Chinese Cooking - Ingredients and Equipment.

Techniques

Stir-Frying

The most well-known Chinese cooking method is stir-frying.  This is where your wok comes into its own as it’s shape and size (at least 14 inches diameter with deep sides) is ideal for fast cooking.   the key to successful stir-frying is to have all your ingredients ready in anticipation.

Meat should be cut in keeping with the recipe but generally in thin strips.  veggies likewise but in any event should be of similar shapes and sizes to ensure even cooking.  Long thin veggies such as spring onions, carrots or asparagus are often cut on the diagonal so as to more surface ground is exposed for faster cooking.  choice out sauce ingredients - verify the recipe - if they are all added to the dish at the same time, you can put them all in one little bowl.  If cornflour is included, don’t forget to give it a good stir before adding to the other food.

Once you have everything elaborated, heat your wok until it is extremely hot then add oil and utilizing your chosen stirring perform to ensure that the oil is evenly distributed through the surface of the wok.  Before you add your ingredients. the wok should be so hot that it is almost smoking - this will prevent the food from being greasy. The exception to this is if you are flavouring your oil with garlic, chilli, spring onions, ginger or salt - these will burn if the oil is too hot.

Now add your other ingredients in the order stated in the recipe and toss them through the surface of the wok ensuring that nothing rests in one place for too long and moving the food from the centre of the wok to the sides.  I recommend that you wear an apron or other protective clothing for this surgical procedure as the food often spits because of the high temperature it is cooked at.

Deep Frying

You can utilize your wok for deep frying but be extremely careful that it is safely balanced on its stand.  Under no factors leave it unattended.  Deep frying in a wok uses less oil than a deep fryer or saucepan but you may find these safer and easier to use.

When deep frying, be sure that the oil is hot sufficient before adding ingredients or the food will end up extremely greasy.  Test it by dropping in a little piece of elaborated food or a cube of bread.  If the oil bubbles up around what you decreased in then it’s hot sufficient. 

Make sure that food to be deep fried is dried thoroughly on kitchen paper or drained of its marinade before cooking otherwise it will spit.

Shallow Frying

This is the same as the Western method.  Fry food on one side, then the other and drain off any excess oil before adding sauce ingredients.  A frequent frying pan is acceptable for this.

Steaming

Steaming is widely used in Chinese cookery.  You can utilize a bamboo steamer in a wok, a heat-proof plate placed on a rack in a wok or other large pan or you can utilize a frequent European steamer.

If using a bamboo steamer or plate in a wok, evoke 2 inches of water to a simmer.  Put your rack into the wok (if the bamboo steamer is immense enough and will sit on the sides of the wok without being in the water, you don’t require a rack) and balance your plate or steamer of food on it.  Put the lid on your steamer or wok and verify occasionally to see if the water requires topping up (use water which is earlier hot).

Whichever technique you use, be sure that the food is above thewater level and isn’t getting wet.

Braising

As with Western cooking, braising is used for tougher cuts of meat and involucres gentle cooking of meat and/or veggies in flavoured stock.  Red-braising is the method where food is braised in a dark liquid such as soy sauce which gives the food a red/brown colour.  This form of braising sauce might be frozen and re-used.


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