Cooking Chinese at Home

[Rachel Perlow]

I know your latest book will deal with how to make well known dishes, but are there a few most important tips you could share on how to best make Chinese food at home?

[Stone]

Please, any help would be greatful. I've tried a lot of recipes and have never been able to mimic the tastes or textures of restaurant cooking.

How important is it to blanche (sp?) the veggies? For example, most Chinese restaurant kitchens I see have large pot of simmering water into which they plunge the veggies before stir-frying.

Is there a way to compensate for the fact that home stoves can't give out the BTUs of a restaurant stove?

Is peanut oil a must for Hunan/Sichuan cooking?

[eatingwitheddie]

I know your latest book will deal with how to make well known dishes, but are there a few most important tips you could share on how to best make Chinese food at home?

Dear Rachel

To my mind learning to cook proper Chinese is food is akin to learning a craft. Once you have mastered the techniques you can move ahead and apply your knowledge to create a series of basic preparations and their variations. Unfortunately I don’t think there are just two or three supreme tips. I have a philosophy about how to approach and think about this way of cooking and hope that it will be helpful in guiding you as well as others.

1) Learn how to select the correct cuts of meat and vegetables and how to prepare, cut, and flavor (marinate) them for cooking.

2) Learn how to cook these meats and vegetables so that they are properly cooked through and exactly the right texture.

3) Learn how to season the food you’re preparing.

Time after time my cooking seems to reinforce this approach.

For example when you’re making beef and broccoli, you start by purchasing the right cut of meat and learning to slice it to the desired shape. Different cuts lend themselves to different shapes. Of course you’ll need some really fresh broccoli. Make sure it isn’t too old and tough. When we start to cook this dish we fry the meat so that it is just cooked through and quite tender, and cook the vegetables so that they aren’t raw, but bright green and crisp/tender. Finally we create a sauce and then toss the whole thing together, for just 20-30 seconds, so that the meat and vegetables are properly seasoned. We quickly dribble in a touch of sesame oil, to create a great smell, and then remove the food from the wok and plate it. Should you toss the meat in the sauce for more than a few seconds it will toughen and your dish will lose some quality.

This 3-step technique of preparing the food, then cooking it to the right texture, and then flavoring it, recurs in recipe after recipe. Most importantly, when you start to think about stir-frying this way, it provides an approach for dealing with all sorts of Chinese and Asian recipes.

Beyond this here are some other basic pieces of advice:

For home cooking I suggest cooking in a 14” flat-bottomed wok.

Get a wok strainer

Use a Chinese spatula and a Chinese stir-fry spoon

Get good recipes

Use really fresh food

Use good homemade chicken stock

As a practical example I have included a fairly detailed recipe for your perusal.

Ed

Sliced Beef with Broccoli

Ingredients:

1 lb. flank steak, trimmed and partially frozen

NOTE:you could also use other cuts among them boneless sirloin or filet mignon or my favorite poor man's cut: chicken steak (also know as beef blade chuck steak - it first needs to be trimmed of exterior silver skin and interior gristle)

for the beef marinade:

1 egg white

1 T dry sherry or Shaoshing wine

1/4 t salt

2 T cornstarch

1/2 head broccoli, washed and cut into 2”pieces

2 scallions, cleaned and cut in 1/3” pieces

1 t minced garlic

1 t thin sliced ginger, cut in 1/2” pieces

for the seasoning sauce:

1 1/2 T Kikkoman soy sauce

2 t oyster sauce

1 t dark soy

1 T dry sherry or Shaoshing rice wine

1/2 t sugar

1/4 t MSG (opt)

dash white pepper

1 T cornstarch dissolved with 1 1/2 T water

3 cups vegetable oil

add at the last moment:

1/2 t sesame oil

Prepare Ahead:

1. To slice the beef: Holding your cleaver at a 45-degree angle to the cutting surface and cutting across the grain, slice the partially frozen flank steak into 1/3” thick pieces, each 2”- 3” long and 1/2” wide.

2. To marinate the beef: Put the beef slices in a mixing bowl and add the egg white, wine and salt. Using your fingers briskly mix for about 30 seconds until the beef is evenly coated. Next add the cornstarch and continue mixing until it is just dissolved. Transfer the beef to a clean mixing bowl, discarding any extra marinade clinging to the first bowl. Cover and refrigerate until ready to cook. The beef may be cooked immediately though its texture is best after 12 hours. If well refrigerated it will stay fresh for at least 48 hours.

To Cook:

3. To cook the beef: Heat 3 cups of oil in a wok until it is moderately hot: 280-300 degrees F. With the heat turned to it’s highest level, add the sliced beef to the hot oil, and using a pair of chopsticks or a slotted spoon, gently swirl the beef in the oil so that the slices separate from one another. Cook, stirring gently, until no trace of pink remains and the beef starts to bubble vigorously in the oil: about 60 seconds. Using a slotted spoon transfer the beef slices to a strainer suspended over a pot to catch the dripping oil. After removing the beef from the oil continue to leave your wok full of oil over high heat.

4. Cook the broccoli: With the flame still at its highest level, reheat the oil for about 2 minutes: until it is 325-350 degrees. Now add the broccoli to the oil and cook stirring gently for 30 seconds. Immediately stop the cooking by draining the contents of the wok over the beef and into the same strainer that’s suspended over a pot to catch the oil. If any of the beef marinade has stock to the wok scrape it out and discard it. Wipe out your wok and return it top the heat. Note: If a great deal of marinade has stuck to the pan you may have to wash out the wok and reheat it.

5. To sauce the food: With the heat turned to its highest level add 1 T vegetable oil to the wok followed by the garlic,

ginger, and scallion. Cook, stirring for 10 seconds, then add the seasoning sauce that has first been briefly mixed to redistribute the cornstarch. Stir constantly until the sauce comes to a boil and thickens. Working quickly add the beef and broccoli to the wok and continue stirring until the food until it is completely coated with the sauce, about 30 seconds. Don’t stir the meat in the sauce any longer than necessary: boiling it in the liquid will toughen it. Immediately sprinkle with the 1/2 t of sesame oil and serve.

[Suvir Saran]

Ed,

I was waiting to buy your book. And did not think I would see a recipe in a Q&A. Thanks for being so generous. I will now be spoiled thanks to you and Rachel. In fact I shall cook the recipe. I am inspired.

As a friend I am partial to you... but believe me, I am impressed beyond words by your generous sharing of information. Thanks! Your food is special for the same reason. Your generosity is what humbles even the most arrogant of people you bring to your home. I have seen some of our friends who could not be charmed by millions of dollars become innocent babies seated in your kitchen.

I cannot wait to lay my hands on your book. And I hope you will share even after this Q&A on eGullet. What a treat that will be for our community. Now that you have teased us, I hope you will linger and post long after this Q&A.

[Bux]

If I were to focus on anything you're said here so far, I think it would be on your reminder that cooking is a craft. It's not about following a recipe as much as it's about the craft and the philosophy. Knowing how to cook French or American food well can be a help, but sometimes knowing the craft of one cuisine can get in the way of learning another quickly. I suppose it's like learning a language. The first one you learn always seems like the easiest. At some point you have to learn how to think in the second language before you actually become proficient in it. Of course you have to start somewhere and not be afraid if the wrong accent shows up in your early attempts.

[eatingwitheddie]

Ed,

I was waiting to buy your book.  And did not think I would see a recipe in a Q&A.  Thanks for being so generous.  I will now be spoiled thanks to you and Rachel.  In fact I shall cook the recipe.  I am inspired.

As a friend I am partial to you... but believe me, I am impressed beyond words by your generous sharing of information.  Thanks!  Your food is special for the same reason.  Your generosity is what humbles even the most arrogant of people you bring to your home.  I have seen some of our friends who could not be charmed by millions of dollars become innocent babies seated in your kitchen.

I cannot wait to lay my hands on your book.  And I hope you will share even after this Q&A on eGullet.  What a treat that will be for our community.  Now that you have teased us, I hope you will linger and post long after this Q&A.

Oy, the bullshit!

[eatingwitheddie]

If I were to focus on anything you're said here so far, I think it would be on your reminder that cooking is a craft. It's not about following a recipe as much as it's about the craft and the philosophy. Knowing how to cook French or American food well can be a help, but sometimes knowing the craft of one cuisine can get in the way of learning another quickly. I suppose it's like learning a language. The first one you learn always seems like the easiest. At some point you have to learn how to think in the second language before you actually become proficient in it. Of course you have to start somewhere and not be afraid if the wrong accent shows up in your early attempts.

On the other hand once you learn how to cut up a chicken it's a skill that goes a long way in many different cuisines.

[Bux]

On the other hand once you learn how to cut up a chicken it's a skill that goes a long way in many different cuisines.

I thought I implied that certain basic skills are useful across the lines that separate different cuisines, but since you've brought up the art of butchering, there's one area in which the nature of the cuts varies considerable from the French to the Americans to the Chinese. Do you not agree? This is not to imply the anatomy of the chicken changes from culture to culture.

[eatingwitheddie]

On the other hand once you learn how to cut up a chicken it's a skill that goes a long way in many different cuisines.

I thought I implied that certain basic skills are useful across the lines that separate different cuisines, but since you've brought up the art of butchering, there's one area in which the nature of the cuts varies considerable from the French to the Americans to the Chinese. Do you not agree? This is not to imply the anatomy of the chicken changes from culture to culture.

Sorry if I misunderstood.

Sure, Chinese are primarily pig butchers and have their own method for seaming muscles and creating particular cuts of meat. Not so much with poutry, but with pork (and goat and beef).

This is true of many cultures. The butchers in Italy do it differently than those in France for instance. Very often it seems to reflect what dishes the people cook, and the butchers create and market their products with this in mind.