Nowadays, food lovers are spoilt for choice when it comes to cooking skills and techniques, as well as cooking methods and style. These new advances provide an outlet for even more types of cuisine to be explored and shared with food lovers around the world.
With the latest methods available, cooks and chefs can discover the most perfect blend of aromas, essences, colors and food qualities especially with Chinese cooking. Even though most of the basic ingredients in Chinese cooking do not differ much, it is the style and preparation technique of foods that differ and thus make cooking all the more enjoyable.
The most common methods and styles of preparing food in the Chinese style are boiling, braising, stewing, frying, sauteing, smoking, simmering, and steaming.
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Frying is a key method in Chinese cooking and plays a major role in many recipes. That is why there are even more types of frying in Chinese cooking. The quick-fry, deep fry and slippery-fry are the three common types of frying utilized in Chinese cooking.
With many methods of frying, it all boils down to the type of food that you are dealing with, as different food calls for a different method to acquire the desired results. For example, frying is the best choice if you want flavorful and juicy meat, and if you prefer your vegetables crispy. In Chinese cooking, speed also comes into play, as one of the most common method is the stir-fry where as the name suggests, all the ingredients are swiftly stirred and then fried.
Another popular method in Chinese cooking is sauteing or also known as shallow cooking. The good thing about sauteing is that it uses less oil than frying or deep frying. It also requires a lower temperature than stir-frying. How is food sauteed? Food is sauteed by slowly browning food in a little oil. It could be done on one side or on both sides. Sauteing results in softer food on the inside and crispier on the outside. Generally, sauteing would be followed by sauce making.
Other Chinese cooking methods include boiling, braising, simmering and stewing.
Parboiling is also an option. In parboiling, food ingredients are chopped, washed and put into a pot where they can float. They are then cooked over a high heat. However, it is good to remember that parboiling slowly and for long periods of time can destroy the nutritional value of the food, not to mention the flavor. So, instead of prolonged parboiling, opt for cooking on a slow simmering heat as this can help in maintaining the nutritional value of your food.
In Chinese cooking, smoking and cold mixing is also popular. These two methods involved precooked food ingredients instead of raw food. Cold mixing uses parboiled or scalded ingredients which are then mixed into salads and chilled before being served. Roasting on the other hand lets the raw ingredients marinate before being barbecued over direct heat.
And finally, another Chinese cooking method is poaching, where ingredients are cooked in liquid a little below the boiling point. This style of Chinese cooking is highly recommended especially when cooking delicate fish where you want the fish to be cooked just till the meat is tender.
These methods are just some of the more common styles of Chinese cooking. Incorporate them into your routine and you might find that they make your food more appetizing and delicious.