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05- The Ingredients |
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Print this Recipe Chinese cooking calls for ingredients which are both familiar and strange. About eighty percent are familiar, the rest uniquely Chinese. The familiar ones are available in any supermarket; the others are sold mainly in Chinese food stores. Good Chinese cooking, however, does not depend on rare or unusual ingredients. It depends rather on understanding Chinese cooking methods and knowing which methods are best for cooking the ingredients on hand. Thus, authentic Chinese dishes can be prepared when the only ingredients available are meat, fish, vegetables, soy sauce and peanut oil. Organize all of your own recipes with the Cook'n Recipe Software. Watch and see how easy it is! MEATS Pork is the staple and supreme Chinese meat. When cooked the Chinese way, it's more succulent than either beef or lamb. It also has a finer grain than beef, a more delicate flavor, and can be used in a greater variety of dishes. Pork, already roasted or barbecued, is sold by the pound in Chinese food stores. Ham is used more as a garnish than for its substance. The high-quality two-year-old Smithfield variety is preferred, both for color and texture, since it most closely resembles Chinese ham. Beef originally was not eaten much in China because cattle were more valued as beasts of burden. (The buffalo was so useful in the field that both the Taoists and followers of Confucius considered it cruel and sacrilegious to eat its meat.) Contact with the West, however, made beef more popular. Lamb is used only in the North, mainly in Manchuria, where many of the people are Moslems and do not eat pork. Veal is almost never eaten. POULTRY Poultry is second to pork as a Chinese favorite. Duck leads, followed by chicken, squab, pheasant and occasionally turkey and goose. Poultry, like pork, can be purchased already cooked in Chinese food stores and eaten as is, or reheated. FISH Since China has more than three thousand miles of coast line, several mighty rivers, thousands of tributaries, streams, lakes and ponds, it's not surprising that the Chinese are great fish and seafood enthusiasts. Both fresh· and salt· water varieties are used, with the fresh-water most favored. VEGETABLES The Chinese use nearly every vegetable known to Americans, as well as a number of others, such as bean sprouts, bamboo shoots, water chestnuts, which are uniquely Chinese. GRAINS Rice grows predominantly in southern China, which has a warm climate and plenty of rain. It is usually eaten as a staple food. Among the poor, rice forms the bulk of each meal (being accompanied, at best, by soup, vegetables and a few bits of meat or fish). Among the wealthy, rice serves as a buffer to offset and neutralize rich foods. In the North, wheat, not rice, predominates. The northerners eat wheat flour noodles much as the southerners eat rice. (The southerners also eat noodles, but as a snack or luncheon dish rather than as a staple.) Because of their length, noodles literally symbolize longevity and are also served at birthday celebrations. Other northern grains include barley, maize and millet. These, as well as wheat, are ground into flour and made into steamed breads, buns, pastries, and pancakes similar to tortillas. In both North and South, rice, which has an almost sacred character to the Chinese, is always served on special occasions, at feasts and banquets. It is the symbol of all food and a good omen that there will always be something to eat. FRUITS AND NUTS Fruits are taken as between-meal snacks and sometimes at the end of a meal. They're eaten fresh, cooked and preserved. (The latter, prepared with sugar and honey, are flavored with ginger, clove, licorice, etc.) Some uniquely Chinese fruits, such as loquats and lichees, are used also to flavor meat and poultry dishes. Canned pineapple turns up in sweet-and-pungent sauces. Nuts are eaten between meals as sweetmeats and used also as flavorings and garnishes. Walnuts and chestnuts are cooked in both sweet and salt dishes; nut-like lotus seeds are used in sweet dishes and soups. Walnuts, cashews, almonds and peanuts, when blanched and toasted, become garnishes for meat, poultry, seafood and vegetables. (Other characteristic Chinese garnishes include: mushrooms; scallion tops; dried shrimp; bamboo shoots; Chinese parsley; sesame seeds; deep-fried rice-flour noodles; and ham, lettuce or fried eggs, cut in narrow strips.) SEASONINGS AND CONDIMENTS The basic ingredients that give Chinese cooking its characteristically subtle taste are soy sauce, peanut oil, sherry, garlic, ginger root and scallions, salt, pepper and sugar. (Chili sauce and catsup, now used frequently, were not introduced to Chinese cooking until this century.) In addition, there are a number of special spices, sauces and seasonings available through Chinese food stores. DRIED INGREDIENTS Chinese dried ingredients include fish, poultry, fruit and vegetables. They are preserved either by salting or by drying in the sun and wind. These processes not only preserve the ingredients but make them more savory and flavorful. Most dried ingredients must be soaked before cooking: this reconstitutes them by restoring their moisture and also helps "develop" or bring out their flavor. Many dried, as well as canned, Chinese ingredients may seem expensive at first. However, since they're used sparingly, they go a very long way. Because they also transform ordinary ingredients into dishes of great interest, they prove quite reasonable in the long run. INGREDIENTS USED IN CHINESE COOKING *See 20- Glossary of Chinese Ingredients: A-K, L-S or T-Z MEAT AND POULTRY Bacon Beef Chicken Duck Duck Feet * Duck Liver * Duck, Preserved * Duck, Roast * Duck, Salted * Ham * Lamb Pig, Roast * Pork Pork, Roast * Sausage, Chinese * Sausage, Liver * Squab Turkey FISH AND SEAFOOD Abalone * Abalone, Dried * Bass, Sea Bass, Striped Bęche de Mer * Bluefish Bluegill Bream Butterfish Carp Catfish Clams Clams, Dried * Cod Crab Cuttlefish, Dried * Dogfish Eel Fish, Dried * Fish's Maw * Flounder Haddock Halibut Herring Jellyfish, Dried * Lobster Mackerel Mullet Oysters Oysters, Dried * Perch Pike Prawn Red Snapper Rock Cod Salmon Sand Dab Sardines Scallops Scallops, Dried * Shad Shark's Fins * Shrimp Shrimp Chips * Shrimp, Dried * Shrimp, Miniature * Sole Squid Squid, Dried * Sturgeon Trout Tuna Turbot Whitebait Whitefish VEGETABLES Asparagus Bamboo Shoots * Bean Curd * Bean Curd Sticks * Beans, Black * Beans, Red * Bean Sprouts (Mung) * Bean Sprouts (Soy) * Bitter Melon * Broccoli Broccoli, Chinese * Cabbage Cabbage, Chinese * Cabbage, Mustard * Carrots Cauliflower Celery Chives, Chinese * Corn Cucumbers Eggplant Eggplant, Chinese * Fuzzy Melon * Green Peas Green Peppers Leeks Lettuce, Boston Lettuce, Chinese * Lettuce, Romaine Lily Buds * Lima Beans Long Beans * Lotus Root * Matrimony Vine * Mushrooms,Black Dried * Mushrooms, Button * Mushrooms, Cloud Ear * Mushrooms, Grass * Mushrooms, Snow * Okra, Chinese * Onions * Parsley, Chinese * Potatoes Radishes Rutabagas Snow Peas * Spinach Squash, Bottle * Squash, Chinese * String Beans Sweet Potatoes Taro * Tomatoes Turnips Turnips, Chinese * Turnips, Dried * Water Chestnuts * Water Cress Winter Melon * SAUCES Brown Bean Sauce * Chili Sauce, Chinese * Hoisin Sauce * Oyster Sauce * Plum Sauce * Red Bean Sauce * Shrimp Sauce * Soy Sauce * SPICES AND SEASONINGS Anise, Star * Bamboo Shoots, Pickled * Bean Paste, Red * Bean Paste, Yellow * Beans, Black Fermented * Cabbage, Dried Chinese * Cabbage, Pickled * Cabbage, Salt-Cured * Cabbage, Salted * Catsup Cheese, Chinese Red * Cheese, Chinese White * Cinnamon Bark * Curry * Five Spices * Garlic * Ginger, Red * Ginger Root * Ginger Root, Preserved * Ginger, Subgum * Lotus Root, Dried * Monosodium Glutamate * Mustard * Olives, Dried * Pepper, Anise * Pepper, Black * Pepper, Chinese Red * Pepper, Szechwan * Peppers, Chili * Red Dates * Salt Sesame Paste * Soy Jam * Sugar Sugar, Brown Sugar, Rock * Tabasco Tangerine Peel * Tea Melon * Turnips, Preserved * Vinegar * Wine * FATS AND OILS Chicken Fat Lard * Oil, Peanut * Oil, Sesame * RICE AND NOODLES Rice, Glutinous * Rice, Long-Grain * Rice, Oval-Grain * Noodles, Egg * Noodles, Peastarch * Noodles, Rice-Flour * N oodles, Seaweed * Noodles, Wheat-Flour * FRUIT Apples Apricots Bananas Crab Apples Dragon's Eyes * Grapes Kumquats * Lichees * Loquats * Mangoes Melons Oranges Peaches Pears Persimmons Pineapple Plums Pamela * Strawberries Tangerines NUTS Almonds * Cashews Chestnuts Chestnuts, Dried * Coconuts Ginkgo Nuts * Lotus Seeds * Melon Seeds * Peanuts * Walnuts * MISCELLANEOUS Agar-Agar * Almond Paste * Bird's Nest * Cornstarch * Egg Roll Skins * Eggs Eggs, Preserved * Eggs, Salted * Flour, Glutinous-Rice * Flour, Rice * Flour, Water-Chestnut * Flour, Wheat Ginseng Root * Honey Lotus Leaves * Mung Peas * Pickles, Chinese * Red Berries * Scallions, Pickled * Seaweed, Dried * Seaweed, Hair * Sweet Root * Tea Wanton Skins * The Thousand Recipe Chinese Cookbook. ©1994 by Gloria Bley Miller. 05- The Ingredients is from the Cook'n in China collection. Click here to get this CD or download the recipes right now! Sign up for our free monthly newsletter, with recipes, cooking tips and more! Enjoy more recipes like this! 02- Food as Art: A Venerable Tradition 03- Chinese Cooking: The Spirit and the Essence 04- Regional Variations: The Schools of Cooking 05- The Ingredients 06- Techniques of Chinese Cooking 07- Cutting 08- Kitchen Equipment 09- The Basics: Stock 10- The Basics: Rice 11- The Basics: Tea 12- A Note on Quantities |
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