The one potential drawback with nonstick woks is that the coating may warp under higher temperatures. Be prepared to pay extra for hard-anodized aluminum or carbon steel woks with a nonstick coating that can take the high heats needed for stir-frying.
Wok Design
As a general rule, the type of stove you have will influence your choice of wok design. Traditional round-bottomed woks don't sit properly on an electric stove element. Originally, wok manufacturers tried to solve the problem by devising a round “collar” to sit on the burner and hold the wok in place. However, a better solution for an electric stove is a wok with a flat bottom. In addition to being safer, flat-bottomed woks ensure that the food cooks quickly and evenly. Both round and flat-bottomed woks work on gas stoves.
Purchase a wok that is too small, and you'll be spending extra time in the kitchen, stir-frying and deep-frying in batches. While fascinating to look at, the mammoth woks favored by Chinese restaurant chefs are designed to feed a crowd, and aren't necessary for home cooking. For most families, a 14-inch wok is a good choice.
Pay Attention to the Cover
Be sure that the wok you purchase comes with a lid. Unlike the conventional frying pan cover, wok lids are bowl-shaped, with a handle on top. Use them to cover foods during braising and steaming, and as a large bowl for tossing food prior to cooking.
Other Kitchen Accessories
Just because you're learning an ancient cuisine doesn't mean you can't take advantage of modern technology. Here are a number of handy tools and gadgets that will make your cooking go more smoothly.
Cleaver or chef's knife: It doesn't need to be a Chinese cleaver, but it must be sharp and able to cut everything from meat to mushrooms.
Mandoline: Great for cutting potatoes and other root vegetables julienne style. There are also miniature mandolines that do a nifty job of shredding garlic and ginger.
Food processor: Invaluable for mixing sauces and crushing ingredients. Wire mesh skimmer: A large wire mesh spoon that makes transferring deep-fried food from wok to plate much easier.
Cooking chopsticks: Longer than regular chopsticks, these are great for lightly beating eggs, mixing marinade ingredients, and maneuvering individual pieces of food in the wok.
Cutting board: Chinese chefs favor thick, round wooden cutting boards, but acrylic is also acceptable. Avoid plastic, as it can damage your knife.
Chinese spatula: With a wide handle shaped like a child's toy shovel, this utensil is the perfect size and shape for moving large quantities of food through the wok while stir-frying, ensuring that the food lands back in the pan and not on the stove or floor.
Peeling garlic is easy with a Chinese cleaver. Use the edge of the cleaver to separate one clove from the rest, then smash the clove using the side of the cleaver. Peel the garlic and chop or mince according to the directions in the recipe.
Cooking Techniques
While anyone can learn to prepare Chinese food, it helps to master a few basic techniques. Whether you're stir-frying chicken for four or making egg rolls for twenty, here are a few general tips to keep in mind when cooking Chinese food:
Start small. Try preparing a stir-fry entrée accompanied by steamed rice, or a vegetable side dish to serve with your main meal. Later, you can work up to an entire Chinese meal complete with appetizer, soup, and dessert.
Try to create meals that provide an interesting variety of textures, colors, and flavors. The goal of Chinese cooking is to strike a pleasing balance, with no one ingredient overpowering the others.
Use fresh ingredients wherever possible. If a recipe calls for a certain ingredient that is out of season, substitute whatever is available locally.
Think about texture as well as color when making substitutions. Zucchini stands in nicely for a Chinese gourd, while crisp broccoli makes a good substitute for bok choy.
Be creative with leftovers. Leftover vegetables can liven up a dish of fried rice, while chicken bones can be used to make chicken stock.
Leaving the meat partially frozen will make it easier to cut.
Always marinate fresh meat before cooking. Use the time while the meat is marinating to cut vegetables and mix sauces.
Keep a supply of paper towels on hand to drain stir-fried and deep-fried food.
Don't use dark soy sauce unless the recipe specifically calls for it. Light soy sauce has a higher salt content than dark; substituting one for the other will affect the flavor of the dish.
Never use more cornstarch than the recipe calls for; a little goes a long way.
Trust your judgment. Something as minor as varying salt levels between different brands of soy sauce can affect the flavor of a dish. Always do a taste test at the end of cooking and adjust the seasonings if you think it is necessary.
Stir-frying
It may look daunting when we watch a television chef skillfully maneuvering food in a wok, but anyone can learn to stir-fry. The key to successful stir-frying is high heat combined with vigorous stirring.
Make sure all your ingredients are prepared ahead of time. The average stir-fry takes less than seven minutes, leaving little time for last minute slicing and dicing. Always leave stir-frying until the end of cooking. Stir-fries are meant to go straight from wok to table.
Cut all the ingredients to a uniform size, to ensure that they cook at the same rate. If you're improvising instead of following a recipe, a good rule of thumb is to cut everything into bite-sized pieces.
If you are using a carbon steel wok, preheat the wok for 1 minute before adding oil. If you are using a wok made out of a different type of material, or a wok or frying pan with a nonstick coating, check the manufacturer's instructions first to ensure that preheating will not cause any damage.
Stir-frying may be China's most famous cooking technique, but it was not the first. Stir-frying came into vogue during the Han dynasty, when fuel shortages forced people to adopt a speedy cooking method that used oil sparingly.
When adding oil, pour it so that it swirls around the sides of the wok before reaching the bottom. Test to see if the oil is hot by standing a cooking chopstick straight up in the wok's center. If the oil sizzles all the way around the chopstick, you can start cooking. If you don't have a chopstick, a small piece of bread works also.
Before adding other ingredients, try flavoring the oil with a few slices of ginger and/or garlic. Stir-fry until they are aromatic. Then, add other ingredients. To stir-fry, simply move the spatula through the wok and stir the ingredients every few seconds.
When you cook meat, sear it briefly before stir-frying. To make sure all of it comes into contact with the pan, it's important not to overcrowd the wok. Cook meat in batches, if necessary.
When it comes to cooking temperatures for stir-frying, be prepared to do a bit of experimenting. Every stove is different, and it may take a few attempts before you find the optimum temperature for stir-frying on your make and model.
Never pour a cornstarch-and-water mixture directly over the food in the wok. Instead, push the food up to the sides of the wok and add the cornstarch and water in the middle. Turn up the heat and stir vigorously to thicken. Once it has thickened you can mix it with the other ingredients.
Most importantly, don't panic. If you feel things are moving too fast, just take the wok or frying pan off the heat and give yourself a moment to relax and refocus. Stir-frying is a very forgiving art.
Deep-frying
Deep-frying has gotten a bad rap in recent years, thanks to visions of oil-splattered stoves and concern over high cholesterol levels. But there is nothing like deep-frying for sealing in meat's juices and adding a crispy coating to dishes such as Ginger Beef (page 127).
The trick to deep-frying is keeping the temperature constant during cooking. Too low temperatures will lead to greasy food loaded with extra fat and calories. The following tips will help you prepare deep-fried dishes that are crisp and full of flavor.
First of all, make sure the wok is securely attached to th
e stand. Next, pour in enough oil to completely cover the food being cooked, while leaving a couple of inches of room at the top of the wok. Unless the recipe states otherwise, the temperature of the oil should rise to about 350–375°F.
Slide the food in carefully, so that it doesn't splatter when it meets the hot oil. Leave plenty of room in the wok for the food to move around. Deep-fry in batches, if necessary. As soon as the food is added, check the temperature of the oil. Turn and separate the individual pieces of food while they are cooking.
Continue to monitor the oil temperature while deep-frying. The easiest way to do this is with a deep-fry thermometer with a clamp that can attach to the side of the wok. That way, your hands remain free for cooking while you're checking the temperature.
Use a slotted spoon or a mesh skimmer to carefully remove the deep-fried food from the wok. Drain the deep-fried food on paper towels. If the recipe calls for food to be deep-fried twice, retest the temperature and make sure the oil is hot enough before you begin deep-frying the second time.
To reuse cooked oil, let it cool and then strain and store in a sealed container in the refrigerator. Cooked oil can be reused up to five times. Throw it out if the color darkens or it begins to smell rancid.
Even with these tips, you may find that using a wok to deep-fry is not for you. Wok deep-frying demands your undivided attention. If you have small children at home, or frequent interruptions are the norm, consider using a deep-fat fryer instead.
Steaming
Steaming, or cooking food by placing it over boiling or simmering water, is the third and the simplest Chinese cooking technique. The key to successful steaming lies in ensuring that the hot water never touches the food.
When it comes to equipment, a set of bamboo steamers is ideal. Bamboo steamers allow you to prepare multiple layers of food at the same time. In contrast to aluminum steamers, the natural texture of bamboo acts to prevent condensation from getting into the food. The cooked food can move straight from wok to table, with the steaming baskets doing double duty as cooking utensil and serving dish.
Steaming is the least intrusive cooking technique; the flavor, color, and texture of the steamed food remain closer to what nature intended. Nutritionally speaking, steamed food retains more nutrients and vitamins, and is generally lower in fat and calories, than food cooked by other methods.
Steaming with bamboo is easy if you keep the following tips in mind:
Before placing the food in the bamboo steamer, line the steamer with cabbage leaves, bamboo or banana leaves, or cheesecloth. This prevents the food from sticking.
Be sure to leave approximately an inch between the water and food to be steamed.
For smaller items such as dumplings, place the bamboo base or trivet in the water, with the steaming basket on top. Place the food in the basket, cover, and cook. For larger items such as meat and seafood dishes, either move to a larger set of bamboo steamers or substitute a heatproof dish. Also placed on the bamboo base, the heatproof dish can be anything from a dinner plate to an aluminum pie plate. The wok lid makes an ideal cover.
When choosing a bamboo steamer, inspect it carefully to make sure none of the parts are connected with staples. If you find staples, choose another brand.
Prior to its first use, give the steamer a thorough washing with soap and hot water. Dry completely before using.
For best results, always use the freshest ingredients possible.
Tea Time
Dine at a Chinese restaurant, and chances are that before you've placed your order, the waitress will appear at your table with a steaming pot of tea. In China, tea is more than merely a hot drink. Over centuries, tea drinking has gone from being a refined pastime stretching several hours to an essential part of every meal.
A Brief History of Tea in China
According to a charming legend, tea was discovered when an Emperor fell asleep underneath a tea bush and awoke to find that a brown leaf had drifted into his cup of boiled water. This legend places the discovery of tea to 2737 B.C. Whether or not the story is true, there is no doubt that the Chinese were cultivating tea by A.D. 350.
However, it took the publication of a scholarly work to transform tea from merely a hot brew into China's national drink. Late in the eighth century, Lu Yu published The Classic Art of Tea Drinking. A poet and performer who had been educated by Buddhist monks, Lu Yu attempted to provide a complete overview of the history, cultivation, processing, and drinking of tea. The result was a definitive tome that is still consulted by tea experts today.
Brewing the perfect cup of green tea is a tricky process. With improper handling, those same polyphenols that protect the body against cancer and other diseases can ruin the tea's flavor. Allow boiled water to cool to a temperature of no more than 175°F before pouring over the tea. Steep for 2 to 3 minutes before drinking. Plan on using 1–2 teaspoons of green tea per cup.
Tea's popularity skyrocketed following the publication of Lu Yu's work. Buddhist monks introduced tea to the Japanese, although its use in Japan didn't become widespread until the 1200s. Today, teahouses are scattered throughout cities in China. Each has its own atmosphere; you can play chess at one, listen to music played on ancient Chinese instruments at another. The one thing that remains constant is the quality of the tea.
Tea Tapping
When dining at a Chinese restaurant, you may have noticed diners tapping the table each time their teacup is refilled. “Tea tapping” is a charming custom that originated during the Qing dynasty. According to legend, one of the emperors during this period was fond of traveling throughout the country incognito with his servants. During one trip they stopped at a teahouse. In order to preserve his disguise, the emperor took a turn at pouring the tea.
His traveling companions wanted to thank the emperor by bowing. However, this would have revealed the emperor's true identity. Instead, the emperor asked his companions to show their appreciation by tapping their fingers on the table each time he poured the tea. He suggested they tap the table three times, with one tap representing their bowed head and the two remaining taps their outstretched arms.
The custom has survived to this day. It's an easy way to thank someone for refilling your teacup without disrupting the conversation at the table.
Types of Tea Available
When you consider the different types of teas available, it's easy to believe that they come from different plants. In fact, all tea comes from the Camellia sinensis plant. In general, tea is categorized both by the way it is processed and its country of origin.
When it comes to tea, not all water is created equal. Tea just won't taste the same if it is made with water that contains impurities or has been treated with chlorine. A good water filter helps here, and bottled water is always preferable. According to the sage of Chinese tea, Lu Yu, pure water from natural springs is best for making tea, followed by river water and well water, in that order.
There are literally hundreds of varieties of Chinese teas, many named after the region where they were first cultivated. However, the majority fall into one of these five categories:
Green tea: Probably the most famous Chinese tea due to its reputed health benefits, green tea is made from unfermented tea leaves. The leaves are dried immediately after picking. This prevents oxidation, leaving the chemical properties of the tea intact.
Oolong tea: Made from larger tea leaves, this is a tea that has been partially fermented, so that full oxidization of the leaves does not take place. After drying in the sun, the leaves are heated to stop the oxidation process. This gives them a greenish-black color. Because fermentation can be stopped at any point, the flavor of different types of oolong tea vary.
Black tea: Black tea consists of tea leaves that have been rolled and then fully dried and fermented, giving them a darker color. Black tea is more popular in the west than in Asia. It is often used in cooking dishes, such as Tea Smoked Chicken (page 175).
Scented teas: These are made by adding flowers
to the tea leaves during the fermentation process. The most popular scented teas are jasmine and chrysanthemum.
White tea: Like green tea, white teas are unfermented. However, instead of steam drying, the tea leaves are dried naturally in the sun. White tea is believed to have even more health benefits than green tea.
Health Benefits of Tea
In recent years, scientists have been paying a great deal of attention to the health benefits of drinking green tea. What sets green tea apart from other teas? Green teas contain a polyphenol called epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), which is known to be a powerful antioxidant.
Since antioxidants inhibit the growth of free radicals found in cancer cells, it's not surprising that most of the research on green tea has focused on its ability to prevent cancer. However, EGCG has other health benefits as well. Green tea has been shown to lower blood pressure and reduce high cholesterol levels. It is also believed to lower the risk of stroke.
Which is better, tea bags or loose-leaf tea?
Loose-leaf teas are preferable to bagged tea. Made with a lower grade of tea leaves known as “fannings,” bagged teas tend to have less flavor. Many higher quality teas aren't available in bags. Still, bagged tea does have its advantages if you're in a hurry or want a quick cup of tea at the office.
THE EVERYTHING® CHINESE COOKBOOK Page 2