Chinese cooking techniques are the set of method traditionally used for preparing Chinese cuisine. Chinese food has a reputation of being delicious through combination of ingredients as well as paying careful attention to complex process and equipment used. There are hundred of cooking methods in china. Different ingredient are cooked using different techniques, while the same ingredients can be used in multiple dishes to provide different flavors and appearances.
Steaming
The special cooking technique invented in china is steaming. Steaming food are cooked by gentle moist heat or steam, which must circulate freely in order to cook the food. The Chinese use bamboo steamers, but you can use any type of steaming utensils available in your region. This cooking method helps to bring subtle flavor of the dishes.
Blanching
This technique of cooking is putting food into hot water or moderately hot oil for few minute for to cook it briefly but not entirely. It is often used as a softening-up process for food before final cooking. Blanching is common for hard vegetable like carrot and broccolis. The vegetable are plunged into hot boiling water, removed after a brief timed interval and finally submerge into Coldwater to halt the cooking process. Meat is sometime blanched to get rid of unwanted gristle and fat to ensure a clean taste and appearance. You should always avoid overcooking your food at the blanching stage. In most cases blanching results to stir frying food to finish the cooking.
Stirfrying
This is the most famous cooking technique originated from china and it is possibly the trickiest to master. There are two primary stirfrying techniques: chao and bao. Stirfried food can be cooked within a minutes using minimum amount of oil and retaining their natural flavors and textures. The success depends upon having all the required ingredients prepared, measured out and immediately at hand and on having good source of heat. Heat the wok or frying pan until it is very hot before adding the oil, use metal spatula or long-handled spoon to evenly distribute oil over the surface. This prevents food from sticking and will ensure even heat. You should be good at wok, tossing them over the surface of the wok or pan precisely and the heat.
Deep-frying
This is one of the most important cooking techniques in Chinese cooking. Deep-frying uses more oil than stirfrying, the trick is first cut the ingredients into medium-sized pieces, soak them in prepared seasoning for a while and finally submerge in the hot oil over medium heat, producing crisp-textured food. The density of coating determines the level of tenderness and crispness of the food. Chinese use wok for deep-frying rather than flat-deep fryer.
Shallowfrying
This technique is similar to sautéing. As the name implies, this cooking method involves less oil than deep-frying and more oil than stir-frying. . The dishes are usually golden or burned on the outside, the meals are very soft on the inside. Typically, the materials for shallow-frying are sliced or flattened out and seasoned. The ingredients are also seasoned and lightly dusted with cornflour to create crispy outer skin. When cooking, the ingredients should be shallowfried on one side first and then turned to the other side. Sometimes the excess oil is removed and a sauce is added to complete the dish. A frying pan is best for shallowfrying.
Slow-simmering and steeping
These processes are similar. Slow-simmering involves submerging food in a liquid that is brought nearly to boil and then cooled to a simmer, which cooks the food to the appropriate level. This method is used for making stock. Similar to this, food is submerged in liquid (often stock) and boiled for a while during steeping process. After that, the heat is switched off, and the cooking process is completed by the liquid’s residual heat.
Braising and red- braising
This technique is most often applied to tougher meat cuts and some vegetables. After the food is browned , it is added to the stock that has been seasoned with spices and seasoning for at least an hour to make huge chunks of meat melt in your mouth. The process of braising food in a dark liquid, like soy sauce, is known as red braising. That gives food a reddish brown colour, hence the name of the method. You can freeze this kind of braising sauce to use later. It has a fuller flavour each time and can be used numerous times.
Roasting
Roasting involves a gentle cooking technique that utilizes indirect and even heat to prepare its components. In China, roasting typically occurs in commercial kitchens, as most households lack ovens. The Chinese utilize large, drum-shaped metal ovens that are approximately 1.5 meters (5 feet) tall and are powered by charcoal. The food is suspended on hooks within the oven. The concept is to ensure that all surfaces of the food are exposed to the heat, resulting in a crispy exterior while keeping the inside moist.
Barbecuing
This is the variation of Roasting and is not common in Chinese cookery. To keep marinated meat wet, it is set over a charcoal fire and basted continuously. These days, outdoor barbecues and contemporary grills produce much the same result.
Twice-cooking
This is a two-step process that uses two quite different methods, including stirfrying and simmering as the name suggests. Food that are hard to prepare can be made more manageable by using it to alter the texture, add taste and change their texture.
