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------ Cooking Methods in Chinese Cuisine ---------

You may get confused by terms such as sauteing, marinades,
stir-fry and deep-fry for you just start learning Chinese
cooking. In fact they are all cooking methods in Chinese
cuisine. In this tip, you are going to be familiar with the
following 8 basic cooking methods. In the following tips,
we will talk more about stir-fry and deep-fry.

Frying
Sauteing
Steaming
Flavor-potting
Smoking
Marinades
Sugar and Syrup Coating
Sauces and Gravies

Today we will talk about frying and sauteing.
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-------- FRYING --------

Chinese cooking uses many methods of frying, including
several types of deep-frying, "slippery-frying,"
"quick-frying," and several types of stir-frying.

-- Deep-frying (zha)
In deep-frying(zha), ingredients are fried in four to six
cups of vegetable or peanut oil over a high heat.¡¡


-- Dry deep-frying (gan zha)
In dry deep-frying(gan zha), foods are given a thick coating
of cornstarch (corn-flour) before being fried. They come
out very crisp outside and tender inside.¡¡


-- Clear deep-frying (qing zha)
In clear deep-frying(qing zha), the foods are not coated
with cornstarch before being cooked.


-- Flaky deep-frying (su zha)
In flaky deep-frying(su zha), foods are parboiled or
steamed until they are almost cooked through. Then they are
dipped in a thick batter of cornstarch and water and cooked
in boiling oil until the coating turns crisp and flaky.
¡¡

-- Soft deep-frying (ruan zha)
In soft deep-frying (ruan zha), the ingredients are not
precooked, but are given a light coating of cornstarch
before being fried. They come out tender but not crisp.

Chinese cooking also uses two techniques for deep-frying
ingredients in wrappers.


-- Paper-wrapped deep-frying (zhibao zha)
In paper-wrapped deep-frying (zhibao zha), the food is
wrapped in sheets made of glutinous rice flour.


-- Crisp deep-frying (cui zha)
In crisp deep-frying (cui zha), the wrappers are made of
dry bean-curd sheets.

Both methods involve first deep-frying the packets of food
in moderately warm oil over a high heat and crisping them
by frying them briefly when the oil comes to a boil.


-- Slippery-frying (liu)
Slippery-frying (liu) involves two processes. The
ingredients are deep-fried and then covered with a
cornstarch-based sauce prepared in a separate pot during the
frying or immediately afterward. When the sauce is poured
over the food, it results in a texture as slippery as satin.
Foods prepared this way are fragrant, crisp, and tender.

¡¡
-- Deep-frying before stir-frying (peng)
In deep-frying before stir-frying (peng), foods are
deep-fried in very hot oil until cooked. Then the excess
oil is poured out and a sauce which unlike slippery-frying
does not contain cornstarch is added. The dish is stir-fried
for a few moments to blend the ingredients before being
served. Dishes prepared this way are crisp outside and tender
inside , with each morsel covered in a velvety sauce.
¡¡

-- Quick-frying (bao)
In quick-frying (bao), foods are deep-fried in very hot oil
over high heat and then the oil is poured out and seasonings
are added to the food, which is left in the wok.

Chinese cooking distinguishes four types of stir-frying (chao).
In all four types, ingredients are cut into small cubes,
strips, shreds, or slices, and cooked over high heat in a
few tablespoons of very hot oil in a wok. The technique of
stir-frying involves using a flat scoop to toss and turn
the ingredients so they cook evenly in the oil. Sometimes
the wok is also shaken. Stir-frying usually takes only a few
minutes. The food must be removed as soon as it is cooked to
guarantee its fresh flavor and crunchy-tender texture.


-- Raw stir-frying (sheng chao or bian)
In raw stir-frying (sheng chao or bian), raw ingredients
are quickly stir-fried, resulting in a fresh, tender dish
with little sauce.
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-- Stir-frying pre-cooked food (shu chao)
In stir-frying pre-cooked food (shu chao), the ingredients
are parboiled or precooked before being stir-fried.

¡¡
-- Soft stir-frying (ruan chao)
In soft stir-frying (ruan chao), the food to be stir-fried
is coated with a batter before being cooked.

There is also stir-frying without coating (gan chao).

¡¡

-------- SAUTEING --------

Chinese cooking uses three methods of sauteing, which is
also called "shallow-cooking." Sauteing uses much less oil
than deep-frying and is done at lower temperatures than
stir-frying. Ingredients are usually cut into slices or
flat pieces. Seasonings are added after the food is browned.

-- Sauteing on both sides (jian)
In sauteing on both sides (jian), foods are browned slowly
on both sides in oil but do not have a coating.


-- Sauteing on one side (tie)
Sauteing on one side (tie) means browning batter-coated
foods on one side only.


-- sauteing followed by cooking in sauce (ta)
In sauteing followed by cooking in sauce (ta), foods are
coated in a batter and sauteed on both sides. Then a sauce
is added and the dish is simmered until the sauce thickens.
The food will be soft inside, but with some crispness
outside, and the thickened sauce will be slippery.

Braising, Stewing, Boiling and Simmering

Chinese cooking has many methods of cooking foods in liquids.


-- Stewing one kind of meat (ao)
Stewing one kind of meat (ao) means slow-cooking chunks,
slices, cubes, or shreds of meat after first stir-frying
them briefly until the surfaces have lost their raw look
but before the insides are cooked. Seasonings and broth are
added and the liquid is brought to a boil. Then the heat is
turned down and the meat simmers slowly until done. The
sauce is not thickened.


-- precooking before stewing (hui)
In precooking before stewing (hui), several ingredients are
parboiled or precooked before being placed in one pot for
slow simmering. Unlike ao, the final step involves
thickening the sauce.


-- Stewing over low heat (men)
Stewing over low heat (men) resembles braising. The meat is
stir-fried briefly to brown. Then seasonings and a sauce are
added and the dish simmers over low heat until the sauce is
almost all reduced.


-- Stewing over medium, then high, heat (shoo)
Stewing over medium, then high, heat (shoo) means braising
foods over medium heat until tender, then turning the heat
to high to reduce the sauce.

Both of the above methods can be applied to "red-cooking,"
or braising in soy sauce. The soy sauce imparts the reddish
look that gives this technique its name.


-- Stewing meats with bones (ju)
Stewing meats with bones (ju) is similar to the above
methods, but the meat or poultry is first marinated in
rice-wine and soy sauce. Then it is deep-fried before being
simmered in sauce and water. The meat is not boned.


-- Stewing and adding thickening (pa)
Stewing and adding thickening (pa) is similar to stewing
meats with bones, but the sauce is thickened with cornstarch
instead of being reduced and thickened by simmering.
In quick-boiling in broth (cuan), thinly-sliced ingredients
are cooked quickly in a boiling clear broth, or in water.


-- Dip-boiling (shuan)
In dip-boiling (shuan), as with the "hot pot" dishes
referred to earlier, diners pick up morsels of meat, seafood
and vegetables and cook them by dipping them into boiling
water or stock in a fire-pot.


-- Boiling (zhu)
Boiling (zhu) simply refers to cooking ingredients in a
large amount of water over high heat. The sauce is reduced
and the food comes out tender. No cornstarch is used. The
gravy or sauce is rich but light and fresh.


-- Simmering (one of several forms of dun)
In simmering (one of several forms of dun), foods are put
into cold water and brought to boil. Then seasonings are
added and the heat is reduced for long, slow cooking.


-- Simmering over high heat (wei)
Simmering over high heat (wei) also starts with cold water,
as in dun, but the food is cooked at high heat over a long
period. This method tenderizes tougher meats and poultry
and yields a thick, heavy sauce.


-- Simmering over charcoal (wo)
In simmering over charcoal (wo), the food is cooked over
very low heat from a charcoal burner for three or four
hours. This gives it a delicate flavor and a soft, tender
texture.


Nicholas Zhou - Author
"Real and Healthy Chinese Cooking" http://www.chinesefooddiy.com/
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