The Chinese Cooking Thread

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Anna Lee

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Hello geeks…

Here is the Chinese home cooking thread that I had promised…. Please bear in mind that im not a professional cook… I am only a mother who cooks dinner for my children and family every evening…. Which means my cooking is probably less fancy and maybe less ‘pretty’ than you may have seen or tried at Chinese restaurants..

So first things first… in order for you to cook chinese food.. you must understand the taste and usage of the basic chinese ingredients.. these ingredients are best bought from a Chinese supermarkets cos the real chinese brands has a better taste… or if you really cant get to one then can get from asda or tescos as they usually have an oriental shelf these days..

light soy sauce - salty - to add light salty taste.

dark soy sauce - little less salty than light soy sauce - usually used to add colour,

seseame oil - a strong smell - usually used as a seasoning at the end to add aroma, be careful how you use, little goes a long way

rice wine - to add aroma and taste

cornflour - to lighty coat the meat in marinate and also used to make a sauce in the actual cooking

oyster sauce - have a combination of taste, sweet and salty, can be used with most vegetables, my most used ingredient in my cupboard..!

ginger/garlic/onions/shallots - must go into wok first before everything else.. the idea is.. when ginger and garlic browns.. it releases an aroma which takes away the unpleasent smell of meat which usually follows directly after..



chinese cooking is not as complicated as many people think.. in fact.. basic chinese cooking is one of the easiest ways to cook… there is no actual set way of doing it and everyone will add or take away certain ingredients to accommodate to their own taste..

basically.. you need to balance out the taste of ingredients.. i.e..black bean sauce is salty and full of taste.. so no extra salt or sauce is needed.. instead you need sugar to balance the taste....

a honey dish is sweet.. so no more sugar is needed.. you will need salt to balance the taste..

mushrooms are quite bland.. so you will need something like oyster sauce to give it more flavour as oyster sauce is made up of different tastes...


I have.. of course.. have many different Chinese ingredients in my cupboard which I use when cooking at home... but i will take them out in my recipes cos you either can not buy them in this country... or they are very expensive… I will try and make it as simple as possible and tailored to the western peoples taste…

Rice is viewed as one of the seven essential staples of the Chinese culture and is more than just a food. The typical Chinese greeting is 'Have you had rice yet?' and a family is called to a meal with the words ‘Sikk Faan’ which means 'eat rice'. In a typical Chinese meal at home.. different dishes are served in the middle to share and everyone will have their own bowl of rice… the Chinese usually eat boiled rice with their meals but as I understand that westerners are a bigger fan of fried rice so my first lesson today is cooking fried rice..

chinese Fried Rice



The most important stage when cooking fried rice is the actual rice itself.. the secret behind a good fried rice is using rice which is cold and 1 day old… cook the rice 1 day beforehand and store in the fridge.. rice which is 1 day old is hard and when you stir fry hard rice it will not break and it will not be sticky.. do not attempt to fry freshly cooked rice as it will end up soggy and mushy.. which is not very appetising..

You will need:

Egg
Rice ( 1 day old)
Shallots ( chop up)
Light soy sauce
Dark soy sauce

1) heat wok with oil ( must be hot)
2) add shallots. Cook until brown(ish)
3) crack egg straight into wok
4) immediately add rice before the egg is completely cooked ( the rice will break up the egg automactically if done fast enough). Stir swiftly as you go along to prevent rice from burning.
5) add soy sauce
6) serve.

You can of course add in other ingredients as as meat ( chicken, beef etc) and veg ( peas, spring onion, mange touts, broccoli, carrots etc etc).. what you add in is up to you.. everything goes.. although if you add these ingredients then cooking in this order will make a difference..

1) heat wok with oil
2) add shallots. Cook until brown(ish)
3) add meat. Stir until cooked
4) add veg. Stir until cooked.
5) place on a plate and put aside.

6) add little oil again in wok.
7) crack egg straight into wok.
8) immediately add rice. stir swiftly.
9) add meat and veg you have cooked previously.
10) add soy sauce.
11) serve.

the amount of soy sauce you add in is up to you.. there is usually no need to add salt as well as the soy sauce is already salty..

Like I have mentioned before.. there is no set way of cooking Chinese food.. you decide what you like and what goes in.. when i cook i never have any measurements... i judge the amount depending on how many i cook for and how salty/sweet/rich flavour i want it to taste... but although having said this.. there is a certain order in cooking your food which will make a difference to the end result. I will talk about this a little more another time.

i hope this is easy to understand...

happy cooking geeks....:hug:

 
FANTASTIC THREAD Anna! Can't wait for the rest, never realised about using day old rice to fry - no wonder mine always turned out soggy! If you've got a Sui Mai recipe I'll be your best friend cos they don't do that in Ireland and I have to satisfy my cravings when I go over to the UK each month.

Jackie
x
 
Yummy ! I will be printing this thread off asap :green:

Don't suppose you have a recipe for Sesame Prawn Toast ? Its my fave !

You will have to do a Chinese Home cooking book that we can all buy xxx
 
Ooooh, I'm going to print this off for my hubby. He has taken up cooking as a hobby and is doing BRILLIANTLY.

He cooked chinese last night with his new electrick wok from John Lewis. He couldn't wait to try it out. Cooked a Prawn dish, Beef dish and a pork dish.

I felt the pork lacked something and suggested a dash of soy next time.

Thank you so much for this!!
 
oohh great thread.. lokks like every geek will be having chinese from here on in:lol::lol::lol:
 
FANTASTIC THREAD Anna! Can't wait for the rest, never realised about using day old rice to fry - no wonder mine always turned out soggy! If you've got a Sui Mai recipe I'll be your best friend cos they don't do that in Ireland and I have to satisfy my cravings when I go over to the UK each month.

Jackie
x

'sui mai' is a part of the 'dim sum' family... its is a totally different degree of chinese food... chinese chefs are usually divided into chinese cooking chefs and dim sum chefs.. just cos you can cook chinese food.. it doesnt neccessarly mean you can make good dim sum..

the meat inside the sui mai is not difficult to mix up.. its the skin around it and the wrapping technique which is the difficult part.. and unfortunetly you have to see it to learn it....

most chinese people dont make dim sum at home.. there is a lot of preparation work and uses a lot of time... they usually go to a resturant to eat it and pay the £2.50 for the dish instead...!!
 
Yummy ! I will be printing this thread off asap :green:

Don't suppose you have a recipe for Sesame Prawn Toast ? Its my fave !

You will have to do a Chinese Home cooking book that we can all buy xxx

a cooking book...?? ah.. thank you.. but im not THERE yet.. :D

sesame prawn on toast is easy peasy.. BUT it is one of the most unhealthy chinese food you eat... it is soaked up full of oil...

the chinese dont really eat sesame prawn on toast... its one of the dishes which is especially made up for the westerners.. along with the aromactic duck and sweet and sour battered pork/chicken balls.... do not go to hk/china and ask for these dishes... the waiters will be confused as they do not exist..

I felt the pork lacked something and suggested a dash of soy next time.

Thank you so much for this!!

i have a fair idea what might be missing.... :idea: :wink2:

will talk about it next time or i will end up confusing everyone.....
 
thanks so much for this thread, i love chinese food, and nothing ever comes out like i expect it too - will certainly have a go at this tho, will let you know how it turns out :hugs:
 
Anna, looks like you had a very busy weekend there:lol: If you are running out ideas, give me a shout:green:
 
The tip about the rice is handy to know, though I make fried rice for the family occasionally and never had sticky/soggy rice. I think the main thing is that I rinse in cold water (stops it cooking/overcooking) and leave to drain for as long as possible - between 10 - 20 minutes.

Will look forward to more installments, having produced al a carte/restaraunt meals when I was a chef I am interested in other cuisines and dishes to cook.
 
Thank you Honey, I will definitely give this a go. MWAH you are a star
 
I am a great fan of Chinese cooking, I like to try new dishes & tastes.

I'm not a fan of egg fried rice, but I look forward to reading other recipes.

I have a can of red bean paste ( I love the taste) Ive only ever eaten it in sweet dumplings (big round balls coved in sesame seeds & fried) can you suggest what else I could do with it? or even tell me how to make those dumplings???

Thanks Flower!
 
I have a can of red bean paste ( I love the taste) Ive only ever eaten it in sweet dumplings (big round balls coved in sesame seeds & fried) can you suggest what else I could do with it? or even tell me how to make those dumplings???

Thanks Flower!

jo... red bean paste is usually an ingredient for chinese desserts.... you can make quite a few things out of it...

i have a receipe that i can share.. but i will run thru the basic things first so the other geeks get the hang of things before going onto desserts..

next up is fried noodles.. will write it up sometimes in the next few days...
 
I'll look forward to that Anna.
:D

I could eat chinese food everday! There is so much variety!
Sweet
Hot
Spicy
salty
sour
noodles
rice
the list goes on!
 
Hello geeks…

my next Chinese home cooking recipe is fried noodles..


Chicken Fried Noodles

you will need:

- noodles
- chicken
- veg (any you fancy)
- onions ( or shallots is even better - or both..!)
- seasoning ( light soy sauce/dark soy sauce salt - can use oyster sauce as seasoning, but if using oyster sauce then NO NEED to use anything else cos oyster sauce already has much flavour and colour)

there are mainly two types of chinese noodles:
- egg based (yellow ones)

- rice based (white ones)

they can come in thin, thick, round or flat... but they are all the same and cooked in the same way. These days you can buy ready made noodles from major supermarkets which is soft and there is no need to boil.. but if you can get to a Chinese supermarket… then it is best to get some from there as chinese brands always taste different.. either way.. if your noodles are dry then you need to boil it first.. heres how:

- heat pan with water, boil
- put in noodles, cook only until soft
- take off heat, immediately run under COLD water tap (this stage is IMPORTANT.. as it washes away the yucky starch and keep the noodles from going any softer, if the noodles are too soft then its no good for stir frying and you will end up with a mushy mess)
- noodle ready, put aside



- cut chicken into small pieces. marinade ( Light soy sauce, tiny bit of salt, little cornflour, little oil)
- chop up vegetables - can be whatever you like... as little or as many ( mange tout, chinese pak choi, carrots, beansprouts, etc.. etc)
- chop up shallots/onions

now you are ready to cook and it is important that you cook in this order...

- heat wok with oil
- add shallots/onions. cook until brown(ish)
- add meat. stir until cooked.
- add veg. stir until nearly cooked.
- add noodles. only need to heat up as already prepared earlier.
- add seasoning. Stir swiftly. ready.

remember that there is no real set way with stir fry.. you decide what goes in and you decide how you want the dish to taste..


you can of course.. swap the chicken for any other type of meat you fancy… just chop up.. marinate and cook exactly the same way… if you use beef though.. remember not to overcook.. otherwise it will end up rubbery… if you find it hard to control then just before you add the veg.. take out the beef first and put aside… add it back into the wok for a quick stir before you are just about to serve.

the longer you leave the meat marinated.. the better it will taste... so sometimes i prepare and marinate the meat first in the morning for cooking later in the evening.. remember to store in fridge though...


if you are cooking for a baby.. then maybe use only a little light soy sauce in the marinate and a little light soy sauce as add seasoning... how much you add depends on how salty you want your baby to eat.. although chinese babies are usually not encouraged to eat fried noodles ( too oily).. they eat soup based noodles instead..

shallots in used in chinese cooking alot... shallots has the same usage as ginger and garlic - to take away the nasty smell of meat and to give the dish aroma.. if you have no shallots in hand then use onions.. if you fancy a stronger aroma.. then you can use garlic also.. just put garlic and shallots in together..

you must make sure the oil is hot enough before you add shallots and then cook shallots until brown(ish) before you add in the meat.... or you are not using it to its full potential... the hot oil will bring out the aroma and flavour of the shallots/onions…

remember dark soy sauce adds colour... it will make your noodles brown looking... add a little in if you prefer your noodles to look darker… if there is no colour on the noodles.. it will look bland and will affect your tastebuds..! hehe


basically.... chinese cooking is defined in 3 categories:

- colour (look)
- aroma ( smell)
- flavour ( taste)

for a dish to be a good dish.. it must have all 3 of these things.

i have tried to make this as simple to understand as possible.. if you are confused in any way or have any questions then feel free to ask.....

happy cooking everyone... :hug:
 
Well... I have to laugh at myself.. you are explaining things so easily and I am thinking "oh right, thats were I went wrong!" LOL

I did the 'sticky' egg fried rice thing too..
It was soooo sticky, i made rice balls into like burger meat ball shapes and covered in flower before shallow frying!! I didnt want to throw it out. Turned out ok too. LOL

I will be printing these off also.. thanks *flower* :hug:
 
Well... I have to laugh at myself.. you are explaining things so easily and I am thinking "oh right, thats were I went wrong!" LOL


thanks for the feedback tsia... its good for me to know that my geeky friends are understanding this... i can never judge if its understandable enough cos ive know about chinese cooking all my life... i was afraid of peeps reading all this thinking 'what the hell is SHE on about..??!!'....

I will be printing these off also.. thanks *flower* :hug:

youre welcome dear...
 
I love you!!!! I am soooooo excited about cooking chinese food, I love it!:)

Flower, when is your book coming out? I can't wait for the next recipe.

:hug::hug::hug::hug::hug:
 
keep them coming.. and dont delete them cos me printer is not working ...lol
 
keep them coming.. and dont delete them cos me printer is not working ...lol

I am copy and pasting onto a word document then I'll print the whole lot.. and staple together.
Keep in the kitchen drawer for quick reference. :)

And@ *flower* .. Anna, you are most welcome. Just one question though.. what oil are you using in the wok? seseame? can you use vegetable? I only have olive oil in the cupboard, flavour with garlic.. what about using that? xxx:hug:
 

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