Chinese Cooking Techniques

Before you start cooking Chinese cuisine at home, one thing you need to know is Chinese cooking techniques. Knowing how to cook and using different cooking techniques to cook different dishes are very important for you to cook an authentic Chinese cuisine. We have listed the most frequently used Chinese cooking techniques as the follows.

Stir Frying

This is the most basic Chinese cooking techniques. It means cooking ingredients with hot oil and stirring them quickly to completion.

Deep Frying

It means full or partial immerse ingredients into hot oil or fat. Deep frying is usually used with other techniques.

Pan Frying

Heat the pan, and brush the pan with small amount of oil, then cook the ingredients and allowing the food to brown. Pan frying is often applied in cooking fish and pancake.

Steaming

Put the flavored ingredients over boiling water and steam the food to its completion. Chinese bun, dumplings and some flavored dishes are normally cooked through steaming.

Stewing

Stewing is similar with braising, the difference is that stewing needs more soup and will cook longer, and stewing normally has light soup. Chicken, duck,pork ribs, corn, mushroom and turnip are common ingredients for stewing

Braising

It means braising ingredients in a small amount of sauce or broth over medium heat, and simmering for some time until the completion. Dark soy sauce and Pixian Douban are two necessary seasonings in Sichuan-style braising.

Boiling

Adding ingredients into a boiling water or broth, use high heat to boiling it, and then use medium heat or low heat to its completion.Most of Chinese soups and congees are cooked using the technique of boiling. Boiling is also used together with other cooking techniques.

Roasting

Through convection of hot air or broiling in an enclosed space to cook the ingredients. Due to roasted in dry air, the ingredients’ surface water will be evaporated, and the inner water will keep inside, thus, the ingredients will taste crispy outside and tender inside.