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Chinese Food Recipes

In recent years, Chinese food has gained increasing popularity in the world. China is a vast country with pronounced differences in regional cuisines.

Whilst the Chinese use a variety of cooking methods, their unique contribution to the culinary arts is stir frying. A Chinese immigrant to USA described the process as "a big fire - shallow fat - continual stirring - quick frying of cut, up material with wet seasoning". The food to be cooked is first cut in a manner which exposes the maximum surface for cooking (e.g. cut into small pieces, diagonally into thin pieces etc) so that it requires the minimum time to cook. The items are then dropped in a small" quantity of hot oil and stirred constantly so that each item receives an even amount of heat. In this way, the process of cooking by stir frying can be completed in a few mintues whilst retaning the nutritional value and the crunchiness of the food.

Notes regarding Chinese cooking and ingredients.

HOW TO STIR FRY.

One of the 4 most important method of cooking Chinese food, it retains the natural color of the vegetables while keeping them crunchy. To stir fry, heat the oil in a wok on a high flame. Then add the vegetables in the hot oil and cook for a few minutes while stirring all the time. You may add the seasoning, particularly Ajinomoto, while frying as it helps faster cooking.

HOW TO DEEP FRY.

Cook the food in a deep layer of hot fat.

OIL FOR FRYING OR COOKING.

• In Chinese cooking, sesame (til) oil is generally used but some people prefer using refined corn oil.
• Use as little oil as possible while saureeing or stir frying since excess oil tends to kill the natural flavor of the vegetables.