how do you like chinese food?

lyndsayrhew

It seems like it is not easy to cook chinese food, but i'd like to try, who can give me some tips?:)

Faith

Why would you start three threads, on the same topic, in the same forum? Don't do that again.

I've left this one open, so if you have any queries about chinese food, put them here.

restaurants

Chinese food is relatively easy to cook.
You can use any type of meat or veg.
Just get a chinese food mix and you cant go wrong.
There are a few key ingredients, such as Tofu, Mangetout, Courgette and Chinese Leaves.
Other than those you can add pretty much and ingredient you like.

Vodkat

HERES A RECIPE I ALWAYS USE

1 egg
2 teaspoons Asian sesame oil
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 cups leftover cooked rice (200 g, dry weight before cooking)
100 grams/4 ounces frozen peas (defrosted)
4 spring onions, finely chopped
35 grams ham (cut into small cubes)
100 grams/4 ounces bean sprouts
2 to 3 teaspoons soy sauce
1/2tsp Cayenne chilli powder/ half a red chilli (optional)
Ground black peppercorns, to taste,
Pinch of salt

1. Beat the egg and sesame oil in a small bowl.

2. Heat the vegetable oil in a large frying pan. When the oil is shimmering and almost smoking add the rice and stir-fry for 3 to 4 minutes, until completely heated through.

3. Add the peas, spring onion, bean sprouts and ham. Stir-fry for about 3 minutes, turning the rice constantly.

4. Season well with cayenne chilli powder, soy sauce, salt and pepper, then push to one side of the pan. Pour the beaten egg on the other side of the pan and leave for about 10 seconds to set.

6. Using a chopstick, stir around the egg to break it up and then toss around with the rice. Stir-fry for a further minute and serve.

ENJOY!!!

Vodkat

Oh and one tip NEVER try the egg fried rice that comes in a pouch, think its Uncle Ben's, It is the most revolting thing i have ever eaten. It smelt like dirty socks!! They have changed the recipe and it was still vile!!!

old hippy

Faith wrote: »

Why would you start three threads, on the same topic, in the same forum? Don't do that again.

I've left this one open, so if you have any queries about chinese food, put them here.

Maybe it's because s/he is new & us newbies occasionally make mistakes? :rolleyes:

I recommend watching anything with Ching He Huang in it; she cooks proper Chinese, not the heart-inducing stuff you get in so many takeaways...

rubadub

On tip is to stir fry veg & meat in stages, if all dumped in together the water falls out and it turns into a stewy mess. It also means they are each cooked to the right amoun, none under/overcooked, then toss it all in at the end to reheat the lot if any has gone cold.

sarahn11

Ide like to know, if anyone knows how do they cook their beef in Chinese Take aways? i heard that they soak it in some sort of gelatine before they cook it so it stays tender.

Any truth in this? Anyone know how to do it?

breakfast roll

sarahn11 wrote: »

Ide like to know, if anyone knows how do they cook their beef in Chinese Take aways? i heard that they soak it in some sort of gelatine before they cook it so it stays tender.

Any truth in this? Anyone know how to do it?

nah i dont think they soak it in gelatine. they use flank- a type of cut of beef, slice it up into strips n then they boil it till it's cooked. after it's left to cool down, and when a dish with beef is ordered they re boil the beef again

The Hill Billy

sarahn11 wrote: »

Ide like to know, if anyone knows how do they cook their beef in Chinese Take aways? i heard that they soak it in some sort of gelatine before they cook it so it stays tender.

Any truth in this? Anyone know how to do it?

It is far more likely that the beef has been "velveted".
"Velveting" is a common method of preparing meat (beef, pork or chicken) in chinese cookery.

See this article for an explanation.

CodeMonkey

Hill Billy is right, the beef is just marinated usually with a mixture of cornstarch, soy sauce, oil, salt, sugar, ginger, water etc. The beef is flash fried in very hot oil, then taken out before being added back in when preparing the stir fry dish.

Most takeaways will just mass poach the lot after marinating it and have it ready for preparing whatever dish it goes into. Most half decent restaurant and home cooks will do the flash fry method.

Also, chinese food is not just a basic stir fry. Chinese food is not easy, a quick stir fry is easy and from what I can see, most people don't know how to do an authentic stir fry.

Minder

CodeMonkey wrote: »

Chinese food is not easy, a quick stir fry is easy and from what I can see, most people don't know how to do an authentic stir fry.

Oh go on then, how do you do an authentic stir fry?

CodeMonkey

Minder wrote: »

Oh go on then, how do you do an authentic stir fry?

Something like this is authentic enough and it explains how to prepare different type of veggies http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art55352.asp

Here's a video of ken hom doing a simple broccoli stir fry
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YyTKwKojquI

Notice how hot the pan is in the video even before the oil goes in. The oil is meant to be smoking a little, adds to the flavour. Most kitchens in asia are outdoors (well hong kong anyway) partially because stir frying is one of the commonest cooking techniques home cook uses.

If you are stir frying beef/chicken/meat as well you prepare it first like i explained above.

sarahn11

Thanks for that lads! Will try it out next time im doing a stirfry

the beer revolu

Fresh ginger
Garlic
Chilli
Spring Onions
Soy sauce
Sesame Oil
Dry sherry or Shaoxing wine
Preserved black beans (from any Asian shop)
Schezuan pepper (as above).

Any combinations of the above ingredients will give you good Chinese flavours.

I like fresh coriander over most Chinese food to serve but I'm not sure how 'authentic' that is.

A little cornflour blended with water will thicken your dish but don't overdo it and go all 'takeaway gloopy'!

Add stock to make your dish more liquidy.

Don't confine yourself to stirfries - Chinese stews or roasts can be great, particularly belly pork and/or chicken legs.

Chinese leaves are cheap and readily available, but don't overcook.
Pak Choi is a bit dearer but is more 'exotic'. I separate the white from the green and cook the white a little longer.
Try some of the unfamiliar greens from your Asian store - my favourite is Gai Lan (very like tender stem broccoli but different flavour) .

Mince pork and tofu are a great match.

Experiment (within boundaries )

Minder

CodeMonkey wrote: »

Something like this is authentic enough and it explains how to prepare different type of veggies http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art55352.asp

Here's a video of ken hom doing a simple broccoli stir fry
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YyTKwKojquI

Notice how hot the pan is in the video even before the oil goes in. The oil is meant to be smoking a little, adds to the flavour. Most kitchens in asia are outdoors (well hong kong anyway) partially because stir frying is one of the commonest cooking techniques home cook uses.

If you are stir frying beef/chicken/meat as well you prepare it first like i explained above.

Disappointed - I thought there was some great revelation coming. A lot of this is just common sense. Big florets of broccoli (like in the Ken Hom recipe) will never cook in just the oil. Either pre cook or add the raw broccoli to the ginger & oil, stir fry for a minute or two, then add some water and pop the lid on.

One point to note - use a cooking oil with a high smoke point. Olive oil isn't used in chinese cooking but is common in western kitchens. It has a low smoke point making it unsuitable for stir frying. Refined peanut or groundnut oil, or rice bran oil is best. Seasme oil is a condiment used ti flavour the dish at the end of the cooking and is not suitable for high temperature stir frying.

CodeMonkey

Minder wrote: »

Disappointed - I thought there was some great revelation coming. A lot of this is just common sense.

What's with the attitude? Did I not say a quick stir fry is quite easy? What revelation were you looking for? Common sense if you know it already but a lot of people here knows very little about chinese food from what I've seen.

Minder

CodeMonkey wrote: »

What's with the attitude? Did I not say a quick stir fry is quite easy? What revelation were you looking for? Common sense if you know it already but a lot of people here knows very little about chinese food from what I've seen.

I was looking for something other than a clip of Ken Hom that is so old he has hair. I was looking for a validation of your claim that most people here know very little about chinese food - that, from what you can see, most people can't do an authentic stir fry.

Since you offer an old clip of Ken Hom and a basic three step article on stir frying, I'm disappointed. This information is nothing new. Sorry if you think I have an attitude because I asked you a question, but I'm not the one pre-judging the wok skills of other members.

the beer revolu

this row could spoil an otherwise informative thread and should, to be fair, just deleted.

CodeMonkey

I suppose I was pre-judging the skills or knowledge of other members on chinese food and stir fry but...

I still don't consider the recipes given here authentic at all as I've never seen any dish seasoned with the ingredient combinations done by any chinese restaurant or chinese home cooks. E.g. egg fried rice with cayenne pepper, sesame oil, bean sprouts, black pepper...not very authentic. I am not saying you can't do that.

No mention of how the meat that goes into a stir fry should be prepare at all and Hill Billy only explains how it's marinated.

As for wok skills, knowing how to stir fry doesn't mean you can make something authentic. But whatever, you clearly know your food so I'll leave them in your hands. I have absolutely nothing else to contribute.

Minder

If you have some authentic recipe suggestions, please post them. If you have information on technique or food preparation, please post it. You are tantalisingly close to offering some real information - how should the meat be prepared for a stir-fry? What is an authentic recipe for fried rice?

I genuinely want to learn something new, so please offer something.

dudara

I love cooking chinese-style. It can take a bit of practice, learning how to use sesame oil, cooking wine etc, but it is worth it.

The Food of China is a book that I bought years ago, but I've learned so much from it. The recipe for lemon chicken (for instance) is just fantastic.

The Sweeper

Dudara - can you post it? (lemon chicken recipe, that is)

dudara

Don't currently have access to the book as I'm away for the weekend, but the sauce is something along the lines of

lemon juice
rice wine
sesame oil
soy sauce
sugar
water + cornflour

boodlesdoodles

CodeMonkey wrote: »

I suppose I was pre-judging the skills or knowledge of other members on chinese food and stir fry but...

I still don't consider the recipes given here authentic at all as I've never seen any dish seasoned with the ingredient combinations done by any chinese restaurant or chinese home cooks. E.g. egg fried rice with cayenne pepper, sesame oil, bean sprouts, black pepper...not very authentic. I am not saying you can't do that.

No mention of how the meat that goes into a stir fry should be prepare at all and Hill Billy only explains how it's marinated.

As for wok skills, knowing how to stir fry doesn't mean you can make something authentic. But whatever, you clearly know your food so I'll leave them in your hands. I have absolutely nothing else to contribute.

Just curious, are you saying sesame oil in general isn't used? Or just you've a recipe with the ingredients you've listed. As for cayenne pepper I've seen it suggested somewhere you can use it as a last resort for Sichuan pepper.

Sigma Force

I've made the mistake of using olive oil before, peanut oil is easier to get now so must give it a go. Haven't a decent wok though mind you unless you are doing a large amount would a frying pan do the same job?
Have an extractor fan but it's not connected or anything yet once I do I'll do a right nice stir fry somehow opening the windows isn't enough lol.

There are so many Chinese places in the country how many are near to the real thing? Has anyone been to China and compared the food they do over there to any of the restaurants over here.
Is your average Chinese restaurant here pretty close to the real thing?

dudara

boodlesdoodles wrote: »

Just curious, are you saying sesame oil in general isn't used? Or just you've a recipe with the ingredients you've listed. As for cayenne pepper I've seen it suggested somewhere you can use it as a last resort for Sichuan pepper.

You only use sesame oil towards the end of cooking for flavour. It you use at the start and it heats too much, it loses flavour.

Sichuan pepper (or even prickly tree oil) has quite a unique flavour that is not familiar to our western taste buds. Use it sparingly until you acclimatise.

@Guineapigresuce - we have a fair few authentic chinese restaurants in Dublin now - Try somewhere like the Hilan on Capel Street or the M&L off O'Connell Street, or a few of the restaurants on Parnell Street. The cooking is so vastly different to your standard local Chinese restaurant (tasty as it may be). Here are some of the restaurants I've visited (from my blog): M&L, Charming Noodles, Chinese Ma Ma's, Fortuna (although I think that this place has changed since I wrote this review) and my favourite, the Hilan.

ems_12

After seeing this thread, I looked up "Chinese Food in Minutes", I find Ching-He Huang does great Chinese recipes that are not the usual stirfrys etc.

I tried the red-cooked fish (Hong Sao Yu) and it was easy to make, and really tasty! I don't cook regularly so it was an easy recipe to follow even for me

The Sweeper

Guineapigrescue wrote: »

There are so many Chinese places in the country how many are near to the real thing? Has anyone been to China and compared the food they do over there to any of the restaurants over here.

Is your average Chinese restaurant here pretty close to the real thing?

China's a very big place. That may sound like the bleedin obvious, but there are 22 provinces in the People's Republic of China (23 if you count Taiwan - contentious!). There is also a varied climate throughout China, and the foods in the different regions reflect the climate.

To the best of my knowledge (limited to reading a lot of books on chinese cooking, loitering in chinese supermarkets in various countries, learning some limited chinese characters and passing through and eating in China on my way to and/or from Australia), the Chinese food you get in Ireland and England, in the standard chinese takeaway, is comparable to what Britain serves as Indian food, versus what you get in India.

In short: six chicken balls, curry sauce and chips is an abomination before God.

Provinces and geography - Qinghai and Sichuan (north western corner of China) get very cold - subsequently the food served there can be very spicy, lots of chili, slow burning heat.

Guangdong is the home of Cantonese cooking - very healthy food, stir fried, boiled or steamed, with an extremely wide range of ingredients (there are over 100 million people resident in Guangdong at any one time, between permanent residents and migrants, so yeah, they eat everything).

Beijing is the home of the imperial palace and as a result some of the cuisine there has its foundations in what you'd expect from cooking for VIPs - dishes rich in both ingredients and complexity of cooking.

Stir frying originated because China was a heavily agricultural society and had cleared a lot of land for agriculture, so there was a shortage of cooking fuel. It is essentially one pot cooking. Because China relied on agriculture it was also subject to famine, and as a result there are lots of very, very peculiar and interesting ingredients in Chinese cooking (because when you're hungry, you'll try anything - and the good stuff stays on the menu when the lean times have passed).

If you're looking for an introduction to the more interesting and in-depth elements of Chinese cooking, (for the adventurous without being overly complex - you'll need to go to chinese grocers for some of the ingredients because Tesco just won't cut it) - I heartily recommend Fuscia Dunlop's book, The Revolutionary Chinese Cookbook.

My favourite ingredient I've found that I never came across in a chinese takeaway in either Ireland or the UK is chili bean paste - a combination of fiery chilis and fermented soy beans in an oily paste. It has a flavour not quite like anything else - hot, spicy and incredibly more-ish. It's now a cupboard staple for me and I'll throw it into anything I feel tastes a bit dull.

Minder

http://uktv.co.uk/food/homepage/sid/6676

Gary Rhodes did a series of Chinese cookery/travel programmes for UKTV Food. There are some very good recipes and some great examples of the regional diversity in the link above.