Chinese food cooking methods and natural health

Discover different of Chinese food cooking methods 

Chinesefood cooking methods

Therealization of the vast majority of Chinese recipes looks like a good piece ofclassic theater. The work of preparing the ingredients , which is often longand painstaking , is the denouement of the plot. Cooking, as the outcome of theaction must be done quickly ; this is generally a matter of a few minutes. Withfew exceptions , we should start to cook a dish when guests are already at thetable or they expect to consume . This is even more true that most Chinesedishes should be served hot .

Itis often ignoring this fundamental need of Chinese cuisine that novice can haveunfortunate and discouraging experiences .

Important recommendations

Allingredients must be ready and willing to hand before starting cooking. Once thefire is lit , the process must take place quickly and smoothly. If you have tostop looking for something , even lowering or fire extinguishing , failure isalmost inevitable ; your preparation will not be Chinese .

Rememberthat in general the food should not be overcooked. Vegetables, in particular,should be crunchy , which is still quite difficult to admit to unsuspectingWesterners.

Ifvegetables of different textures must enter into the composition of a dish, hemust respect the order of incorporation specified in recipes. Thus, the carrotsmust be made before the cook mushrooms, celery before bean sprouts , etc. . Thecoasts of the leaves must be to cook a little before the green parts . Tofacilitate the decision , put different ingredients in different containersclose to the stove.

Youcan also blanch in advance hard and fibrous ingredients. Bring water to a boilin a saucepan, then dip the ingredients to whiten. Cover carefully to preservevegetables their beautiful natural colors. When the water returns to boilingpoint, remove the pan and place the ingredients immediately with plenty of coldwater tap. Drain well before letting awaiting the actual cooking.

The curing agents of Chinese food cooking methods

Water

Cookingwater presents no problem. It is only necessary to put nothing to cook beforeit reaches the boiling point. Except in the case of braising, the fire muststay strong. One could criticize this practice, saying that the water can notbe heated over 100 ° C. In reality, the lamp is not the function of the wateroverheating, but maintaining all the water in the container to the maximumtemperature constant. And all the ingredients are cooked evenly and well seizedby heat. This applies particularly to the pasta.

Oils

Wecan only use corn oil, peanut oil or olive oil in Chinese cooking as most otheroils decompose or burn at high temperatures. Butter, margarine and sunfloweroil are totally unsuitable as curing agents. Sesame oil is too precious andgenerally serves as a condiment; incorporated a few drops at the end of cookinga dish gives it a great taste.

Dishescooked with vegetable oil can be eaten cold or reheated while those cooked withlard are good that right after the first firing.

Animal fats

Porkfat or lard, is often used in Chinese cuisine . You can always use it in placeof oil and vice versa. But we must bear in mind that animal fat has a highercaloric content and is less suitable for people concerned about their weight.The best lard is that obtained bacon sheet . Cut the bacon into cubes of 2 cm and fry in a dry pan . When they aregolden brown , squeeze them to extract all the liquid.

Theflesh is good to eat when it is hot and crisp , and can be cooked withvegetables. The fat can be stored for several months in an airtight jar in therefrigerator .

Fatchicken or duck is good. It is necessary for the preparation of some dishes.

Younever uses fat sheep or beef.

Animalfats tenaciously retain the smell of ingredients. Also, after a fish fry forexample, you can not use the same lard for frying something else, unless it isthe largest fish odor.

Lardsuffers no change.

Sand

Sandis an excellent curing agent for things like chestnuts, corn and peanuts.Chestnuts  are almost always gutted andgrilled irregularly because they are subject to irregular and intermittentheat. They are intact, tender and delicious if they were roasted in hot sand,stirred constantly, the envelope of a uniform and consistent heat.

Flours

Itis regularly used starch peas or soybeans to bind the ingredients. But thesemeals are not yet on sale in France.You can still use without inconvenience starch potato or corn.

Forfrying fish fillets or other ingredients must bind with a paste made of beateneggs and wheat flour, as the starch becomes very hard by the action of hot oil.

Chinese food cooking methods–Fry

Fryis the most popular Chinese food cooking methods , because it is both practicaland economical. It preserves the natural colors, vitamins and dietary qualitiesof food. I can not overemphasize the need to have all the ingredients on hand,so that once the cooking process started, it can continue with the regularityand precision mechanical.

Chinese food cooking methods–Deepfrying

Deepfrying is a food cooking methods very common in Chinese cuisine . She has noparticular difficulty for the mistress of French house. The ingredients areusually coated with batter flour or a batter . The Chinese are also friedvegetables a little hard because they like them crispy.

Remarks

Itis important to heat the frying pan , the pan or skillet before adding fat .

Oilor lard must be boiling ingredients before incorporation pan. Whether the fatis hot enough , put in the end of a stick of bamboo or wood ( not plastic !) ifsmall bubbles form at this end and then rise to the surface , the temperatureis already good . It is also good if , by throwing a piece of bread , you cansee down to the bottom and then immediately back , surrounded by a cluster ofsmall bubbles furious .

Todestroy the smell left in the frying oil by the previous , let it fry an onionin advance or tuber minced ginger , or heat the oil up and then let it cool tothe desired temperature before bring it to the ingredients.

Thefat must be constantly maintained at an elevated temperature . Electric fryerthermostat would make a good instrument.

Thebatter should not be too thin or too heavy pieces around the pan.

Donot put too many pieces to be fried at a time because they must have enoughroom to be exposed to contact with oil on all sides .

Thefried ingredients must be carefully drained on absorbent right out of the oiland then reheated meals served in paper or put on hold warm.

Anelectric fryer thermostat is always recommended. Failing thermostat , use afrying thermometer .

Chinese food cooking methods–braising

Partsbraising should be left whole or cut into fairly large pieces and not as smallbites for skipped. Vegetables are browned and scorched meat beforehand. This isdone as if it were the beginning of a flat skipped.

Agood food cooking methods broth from bones or poultry carcasses will then be incorporated . Thepreparation will cook on low or medium heat for one to three hours or moredepending on the chosen recipe .

Ifnecessary, add broth ( or water ) during cooking , but it must be hot,otherwise the whole preparation would temporarily cooled and quality is more orless compromised.

Thepot temperature should be constant . Irregular temperature could permanentlyalter the flavor of the preparation. Hotplate would be ideal for this method ofcooking .

Afew drops of sesame oil added during the last seconds of cooking give a uniqueflavor .

Chinesebraising preparations comprise, generally several kinds of vegetables and otheringredients in accordance with the principle of association Chinese flavors .

Chinese food cooking methods–Thesteaming

Chineseavoid, wherever possible, cook something in the water because they are afraidof losing the natural flavors of food. They prefer to enter by direct heat orsteam . In this respect, the steaming takes almost as important as the jumpedup .

Thiscooking method favors fresh and delicate foods such as fish (especiallyfreshwater fish ) and shellfish (Chinese never eat oysters and clams raws) .

Remarks

Thebest tool for steaming is probably a pressure cooker or steamer .

Withoutpressure cooker, place the ingredients in a baking dish or on a grid asappropriate. Place the container on a support (eg , a small inverted bowl or atin without funds) in a Dutch oven or large pot when the water is alreadyboiling . The water level must not exceed two thirds of the height of the stand. Cover and constantly hold water at the boiling temperature . If you need toadd water , it must be boiling water .

Chinese food cooking methods–Roast

Chineseroast is done on charcoal or less often in an oven. It does not differsignificantly from Western roast.

Theroasts should generally be marinated for several hours in advance inpreparation of sauces. During cooking, they are often badigeonnera with thispreparation to prevent them from drying out. The skin will then be smooth,shiny and crisp and juicy meat.

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