Читать книгу Easy Chinese Recipes - Bee Yinn Low - Страница 12

The Basics

This is a collection of basic recipes that will make this cookbook more accessible for you. This is by no means the most comprehensive list of basics for Chinese cooking, but sauces such as Sweet-and-Sour Sauce (page 30), Chinese Barbeque Sauce (page 29), Cantonese-Style Steamed Fish Sauce (page 28) are very versatile because they can be easily adapted to create vegetarian or vegan dishes. I have also included simple flavored oil recipes—Chili Oil (page 27) and Sichuan Peppercorn Oil (page 27)—two wonderful infused oils for authentic Sichuan dishes. Condiments and dipping sauces such as the Pickled Green Chilies (page 28) and the Sweet-and-Sour Sauce complement freshly made dumplings and noodle dishes beautifully!

Steamed Rice Mi fan

Steamed rice is the foundation of Chinese cooking—it is the staple of almost every Chinese meal. The Chinese words chi fan, which literally means: “eat rice” are probably two of the most beloved words in the Chinese language. Chi fan evokes many happy visual images in my mind: when a father comes home after a hard day of work and greets his family over the dinner table; a hungry child eagerly shoveling a bowl of steaming hot rice to his mouth using a pair of chopsticks; fond memories with my late parents when I piled their favorite foods on top of their rice as they smiled contently at my loving gesture. You can’t make Chinese food if you don’t know how to prepare moist, soft, and fluffy steamed rice. Here is my steamed rice recipe for use with an electronic rice cooker or stovetop preparation.

Serves 4

2 cups (400 g) rice, long grain or jasmine rice

2 cups (500 ml) water

Using an Electronic Rice Cooker

1 Place the rice inside the cooking pan of an electronic rice cooker.

2 Rinse the rice with cold running water, swishing and stirring quickly by hand. When the water turns murky, drain the water immediately. Repeat the same for 3–4 times until the water becomes almost clear. Drain the excess water and leave 2 cups of water in the cooking pan.

3 Turn the heat on the rice cooker to boil the rice (according to your rice cooker’s manual).

4 Stir and loosen the rice immediately with the rice spatula after cooking has completed.

Using the Stovetop

1 Place the rice inside a pot.