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Basic Cooking Techniques and Tips

Chinese cooks place a heavy emphasis on basic cooking techniques and tips. In fact, they are as important as the recipes—a great recipe might turn into a complete failure without proper execution during the preparation and cooking process. This chapter covers some basic Chinese cooking techniques and kitchen tips that I have learned from professional chefs, my late mother, and other experienced home cooks. These are my golden rules for making scrumptious Chinese food at home.

How to Tenderize Meat

This technique is best used for chicken breast, which is usually dry, coarse, and chewy. For the illustration here I use chicken breast, but this technique also works for beef and pork. If you already have a tender cut of beef, this technique is not necessary unless you want the texture to be silky smooth like the ones served at Chinese restaurants. If you like the natural meaty taste of beef, please also take note that this technique will result in losing that beefy flavor.

8 oz (250 g) chicken breast

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 Cut or slice the chicken breast per the recipe instruction. Make sure it’s cut or sliced into uniform pieces.

2 Mix the baking soda with the chicken. Make sure the chicken breast is evenly coated with the baking soda. Set aside for 15 minutes.

3 Place the chicken in a colander and rinse thoroughly with cold running water. Rinse a few times if desired. Pat dry with paper towels. The chicken is now ready for the marinade or whatever preparation is called for in the recipe.

TENDERIZING MEAT Texture is a highly prized component in Chinese cooking, especially when it comes to proteins. Meat—especially chicken, pork, or beef— is always cooked so that the result is a silky-smooth mouthfeel that is succulent and tender, with a glossy sheen. Traditionally, velveting is a technique used in professional and home kitchens for tenderizing meat. Meats are cut into uniform pieces, coated with an egg white and starch mixture, and then cooked to the desired satiny consistency. A few years ago, I learned a quick tip from a Chinese chef, who uses baking soda as the secret ingredient in his restaurant. He taught me the following technique, and I have been producing the most amazing, tender, and juicy stir-fried meats at home ever since. Baking soda, or sodium bicarbonate, is an alkaline agent at pH8.2. As such, it neutralizes the acids and breaks down the proteins in the meat and therefore makes a superb tenderizer. Another plus, it also acts as a deodorizer to rid the meat of any potential foul smell it might have. If you are skeptical about using baking soda in home cooking, please don’t be because it’s an essential ingredient in baking. My technique calls for baking soda as a “dry rub,” it’s rinsed off thoroughly before cooking. Of course, this meat tenderizing process is optional, so it’s up to you. However, if you want to impress your family or guests with perfectly tender, smooth, and succulent meat, here is how you can do it.

How to Cut Beef Against the Grain

Examine and identify the direction of the muscle or the grain on the beef carefully. The grain will run in one direction. Using a cleaver or sharp knife, slice the beef crosswise, or against the grain, into bite-sized slices. Personally, I get the best results when I cut or slice the beef at a slightly slanted angle. This ensures that I get a bigger piece of the tender, soft, and melt-in-your-mouth meat after it is cooked. It makes a big difference, so do not slice or cut the beef parallel to the grain or you might get a piece of meat that’s as tough as jerky after cooking.

CUTTING BEEF Have you ever wondered why the same cut of beef would yield a completely different texture if cut incorrectly? Cutting or slicing beef against the grain is a basic technique that a home-cook should learn. The difference is tender and juicy beef versus rubbery and chewy beef. Cutting beef against the grain is the most critical step in preparing beef dishes.

How to Make Your Shrimp "Bouncy"

8 oz (250 g) shelled and deveined shrimp

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 tablespoon egg white

¹/₂ tablespoon tapioca starch (preferred) or cornstarch

1 cup ice cubes

1 Rub and massage the baking soda on the shrimp and put in a bowl. Add cold water until the shrimp is submerged. Add the ice cubes to the water. Set aside for 30 minutes.

2 Place the shrimp in a colander and rinse thoroughly with cold running water. Rinse a few times if desired. Pat dry with paper towels.

3 Add the egg white and starch to the shrimp and mix well. Leave the shrimp in the refrigerator for at least 4–6 hours or best overnight. You will notice that the flesh of the shrimp firms up and becomes denser. The shrimp is now ready for use.

"BOUNCY” SHRIMP Have you ever had Chinese shrimp dishes or dim sum where the shrimp are so crisp and crunchy that they literally “bounce” in your mouth? In Chinese, this revered texture is called “ shuang cui.”

My uncle told me that Cantonese chefs—especially those specializing in dim sum—treat and drain their shrimp with cold running tap water (water massage) for hours, which eventually results in that dense and bouncy texture that we all love. This technique certainly works but it’s not sensible for a home kitchen because gallons of water will be wasted.

After extensive research and many conversations with Chinese chefs and restaurateurs, I eventually came up with the technique that delivers a satisfactory result for home cooks. Again, the secret ingredient is baking soda, which is used to treat the shrimp before they are coated with an egg white and tapioca starch or cornstarch mixture, a process my Chinese chef friend, Mr. Wong, called “ shang jiang. ”

As most shrimp sold in the United States are previously frozen, I find this technique rewarding when I make shrimp dumplings, dim sum, or Shrimp Wonton Soup (page 56). If the shrimp you get lacks the bouncy texture, use the steps (see left) in recipes where the perfect mouthfeel of the shrimp is highly desired. Please take note that this process is time consuming, so it’s an optional step.

Deep-frying Tips and Tricks

Everyone loves the golden-glory of perfectly fried foods—crispy, crunchy, yet tender and moist on the inside. Ironically, deep-frying is probably one of the most dreaded cooking methods. It’s also one of those kitchen techniques shunned by home cooks, including the experienced ones. Many people are afraid of deep-frying mostly because of the hot and splattering oil, which everyone has experienced at some point in their cooking life. Those who are not familiar with how to control the heat of the oil will risk ruining a dish. Here are my tips and tricks that make deep-frying easier and a lot less intimidating.

1 The perfect temperature for deep-frying is between 300°F (150°C)—360°F (180°C). Deep-frying within this range of temperature will make sure that foods are cooked properly—the outside of the food will be browned evenly while the inside remains tender and juicy. The deep-fried food will become crispy but not excessively greasy. The oil penetration is confined to the surface of the food and the moisture content of the ingredient is not lost. I always deep-fry at 350°F (175°C).

2 If the oil temperature is over 360°F (180°C), it might be too hot because the outside of the food will overcook quickly but the inside will be undercooked. Turn down the heat or add more oil to lower the temperature.

3 If you don’t have a thermometer, use visual cues. One visual cue is when the oil is ready for deep-frying, you will see small oil bubbles continue to float towards the surface of the oil and a faint haze will appear. You can also use a pair of wooden chopsticks to test readiness by dipping the chopsticks in the oil and as soon as bubbles form, it’s heated enough for deep-frying.

4 Don’t skimp on oil. For the best results, the oil should cover and submerge the fried food. Ideally, the oil level should be at least 2 inches (5 cm) above the food.

5 Pat dry the ingredient before deep-frying. Food with excessive moisture or water is the number one reason for splattering. You can use a large stockpot (instead of a wok or stir-fry pan) for deep-frying. A deep stockpot can help prevent excessive splattering.

6 If you are deep-frying food coated with a wet batter, add some oil into the batter before deep-frying. The oil helps loosen up the food so it doesn’t clump and stick together. Want extra crispy battered foods? Increase the temperature of the oil and return the food into the wok or stockpot and deep-fry a second time.

7 If there’s too much food in the oil, the temperature will drop significantly and the result will be soggy and greasy food. So it’s best to deep-fry in batches.

8 Remove the fried food with a strainer or slotted spoon and drain the excess oil by placing it on a wire rack. Alternatively, you can also place the food in a dish lined with paper towels.

9 Some foods tend to cause splattering regardless of moisture content, so use the wok lid or stockpot cover to fend off any potential splattering.

10 After deep-frying, transfer the oil to an airtight container after it completely cools down. You can reuse the oil but repeated usage will cause the oil to darken or turn rancid leaving an unpleasant smell and taste. Discard the frying oil after using it 2 or 3 times.

Perfect Stir-frying Techniques

Stir-frying is one of the fundamental techniques of successful Chinese cooking, one that you ought to master if you wish to make Chinese food at home. Here are my quick techniques and tips for perfect everyday stir-frying.

1 The wok or skillet must be fully heated before stir-frying. You’ll know if the wok or skillet has reached the optimum heat when a swirl of white smoke starts appearing on its surface.

2 Add the oil after the wok or skillet is fully heated. Make sure that the oil completely coats the bottom surface of the wok or skillet.

3 Cut the ingredients, such as chicken, beef, pork, or seafood, into uniform pieces. Also, it’s very important to have all the ingredients prepared, measured, and placed close to the wok or skillet. Once in the wok or skillet, spread the ingredients in one layer to ensure even cooking.

4 Stir-fries are generally prepared with a light sauce. Mix the sauce in advance in a small bowl by combining all the ingredients in the sauce. If cornstarch is used, make sure that it’s completely dissolved. Before adding the sauce into the stir-fry, quickly stir the sauce one last time to ensure that nothing settled at the bottom of the bowl. An authentic Chinese stir-fry dishes shouldn’t be doused in too much sauce; the sauce should barely cling to the ingredients.

5 The spatula should play an active role in stir-frying. Use it to continuously stir and toss the ingredients in a back and forth, circular, turning, and/or flipping motions.