Chinese food preparation and nutrition
Authentic
Chinese food preparation often requires careful preparatory work. The ingredients used
in the composition of a dish can be cooked in three minutes, but must undergo
transformations for 30 minutes before going to the pan or pot. This applies
particularly to stir fry which occupy a large part of Chinese recipes.
It
is this work which often gives the impression that Chinese cuisine is
complicated and long to achieve. This is only partly true, because if you know
how to do it, the preparation may lose much of its tedious; secondly, it has
clear advantages.
Cutting
vegetables into small pieces, for example, you put off more or less. But you
are under no obligation to do so just before preparing food; let one or two
days in advance, your spare time or watching your soap on TV. You put the cut
in a sealed box and acid-resistant plastic vegetables (eg,
“Tupper-ware“) and keep in the refrigerator at a temperature of + 10 ° C. Most other ingredients can be
prepared and stored in this way.
Since
Chinese food preparation can be done in advance and the cooking is done very
quickly, the hostess has the opportunity to participate comfortably in the
evening while cooking; it will not be chained to her kitchen; she will feel
relaxed and in good shape.
Moreover,
for the Chinese, there is no more pitiable spectacle than a guest who is
struggling with his huge piece of meat, desperate to extract the bones and
nerves. We are at the table, they say, to enjoy and not to work again. The
preparatory work should be done only in the kitchen.
Chinese food preparation-Cutting
The
cutting is the most important mode of Chinese food preparation. It was that the quality of the vast majority of food
depends. It is essential in almost all cases, knives not in a Chinese covered.
As we eat with chopsticks, food must be cut beforehand into smaller pieces that
bite. One of the few exceptions is the “duck with eight treasures”
where the bird is served in full. But it is so soft that it can detach pieces
of his flesh with chopsticks. This is also the case of fish served whole.
Careful
cutting has other advantages. Small pieces of food can easily absorb the
seasonings that make them tasty. They can further be captured quickly by heat,
thereby maintaining all their flavors and dietetic qualities.
It
is necessary to cut a food into regular pieces, otherwise they would not cook
similarly flat and quality suffer. With a little patience, you can easily get
to cut as an expert. Wield an ax or a knife with a blade at least 3 cm wide. Also have a small sharp knife you
will use to seed vegetables or boning meat. Must be sharp cutting instruments.
Different
cutting
The
cutting into squares. Each square is of 1.5 cm to 2 cm
square. Case of compact food (meat, bamboo shoots, etc..), The thickness must
not exceed 5 mm.
The
cutting blades. The thickness is approximately 2
mm, width of 1 cm.
As for the length, it is up to 5 or 6 cm.
The
dicing. Each cube is 1 cm square.
The
cutting matches. Products can be obtained by cutting the strips matches. Some
foods (eg, pork rind) should be cut into thin filaments. But in this case, I
advise you to use a special grater to do; the result will be worse, of course,
but it will save you from excessive punishment.
Slicing
or washers. Each wafer should have a thickness not exceeding 2 mm.
The
cutting rice. For meat, you can chop with a cleaver as do the Chinese cooks, or
use an electric grinder grid. Electric grinder is not very suitable because it
tends to grind the meat instead of mince. As for other foods, including
vegetables, we must proceed to cut into strips, then into matchsticks, then
grains.
If
you chop even with a cleaver, they would be crushed and lose their consistency.
Chinese food preparation-Roasting and grilling
Large
roasts still need to be soaked in a marinade for several hours. To fully bring
the liquid, make incisions with a knife, or holes with an awl or a fork. For
the case of large birds, you can even use a puncture needle to inject the
marinade into large muscles.
Fry stir
Meat
or fish that enter into the composition of fry stir must first be cut into
pieces and soaked in a marinade for 15 minutes.
Chinese food preparation-Washing
As
food must be clean, most food will be washed before use. The dry product must
be soaked in water for several minutes or several hours depending on the case.
Drain well the ingredients before putting them in a pan to prevent oil splashes.
Remember that, in Chinese, it does not pay the oil when the pan is hot, and it
does not incorporate the ingredients when the oil is hot.
You
never wash noodles or vermicelli, but you can soak to soften or get rid of some
of their starch.
Rice
is typically washed two or three times in a large sieve or in a basin until the
wash water becomes clear.
Broth
The broth can
intervene effectively in the preparation of any dish, even stir fry (to
dissolve the starch, for example). There is always a pot of soup in a
restaurant or a Chinese health home. It is prepared with the bones of livestock or
poultry carcasses. This is an excellent practice to follow. Filter your broth
if it is not quite clear – the clearer it is, the better it is. You can keep
for several days in the refrigerator. If you do not use it after a few days,
boil it again then put in the refrigerator.
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