Tag: Chinese Recipes

Chinese Recipe Cookware Substitutions

So, you have got a great Chinese recipe you want to try out but you realize you are not prepared at all for the demands of Chinese cooking.

Well, there are many ways you can recreate what you should have with what you might have on hand. This goes for cookware as well as actual food ingredients.

An important part of cooking any Chinese recipe to perfection is to use the right cookware. Many people dont own a wok or rice cooker however and will have to use what they have in the kitchen.

A normal frying pan can work as a wok but its best to use a very deep frying pan that is at least 1 and a half inches deep.

Woks rely on oil and high heat to cook meat and vegetables and if you use a shallow pan, grease will get all over and might even spill out and start on fire. Thats no good at all.

For rice, a normal saucepan will work but you need to make sure you have a tight fitting lid. Tin foil over the top will work in an emergency but can burn you and is not recommended.

Many Chinese recipes call for a meat or seafood to be breaded and deep fried. Without a deep fryer, you are going to have a mess no matter what.

The deepest cooking pot or saucepan you have will work but will probably splash all over no matter how you try to contain it.

These are basic solutions but having the proper equipment can really make a difference. An electric wok is very easy to clean and can also be used to deep fry.

A rice cooker really isnt necessary unless you truly cant cook rice. Buy what you need and have fun with your new recipes.

Chinese Noodle Recipes

Chinese noodle recipes can be very fun to make and the entire family can get involved. Many Chinese noodle recipes call for fresh homemade noodles.

These are very easy to make. They usually use wheat or rice flour mixed with water and maybe some egg or milk (depending on the recipe) and then they get rolled out and cut.

Of course, before you start on a recipe that calls for these types of noodles, you might want a recipe for the noodles themselves.

These are in most cookbooks and all over the Internet. You should be able to find the perfect one in just minutes.

In addition to rice, noodles are very important to Chinese culture and are a part of many different types of Chinese recipe.

From very easy dishes that are just noodles, meat, vegetables and sauce to complex dishes that use very specific types of noodles, they are usually delicious.

Noodles are typically boiled after they are made. Sometimes, a recipe might call for them to be fried in some kind of oil until they are crispy.

Chinese noodles cook a lot faster than Italian pasta because the ingredients are different and the shapes vary greatly.

The boiled noodles can be used in soups, stir fry, with a hearty sauce, or almost anything. Noodles can also be substituted for rice in many different dishes.

You can always buy noodles from the store or an Asian market for your cooking and this decreases the time you will spend in the kitchen and is a lot less mess.

For families with kids, making the noodles from scratch can be a fun bonding experience and might help get your kids interested in all types of cooking.

Where to Find Chinese Recipes

Finding Chinese recipes is usually pretty easy. Chinese food is loved all around the world and many people are more than willing to pass on their favorite recipes.

These can be in cookbooks, on television shows, and on the Internet. If you are new to Chinese cooking, you might want to try out a few free recipes before spending any money on a new book though.

For a beginner who really wants to learn the basics of Chinese cooking and find some great and easy recipes, nothing can beat the Internet. There are tons of websites out there that have nothing but recipes for all kinds of cuisine.

Many are specially geared toward Chinese food. Some might make you register with the site but most give you recipes for free. You can print them out or save them for when you are ready to start cooking.

Television is a great way to learn about Chinese recipes and what it takes to make them. The food networks get a lot of ratings with Chinese cooking shows and competitions.

The food is interesting to watch being made and always looks delicious. It can be hard to write down a recipe while watching someone cook it so a digital recorder can help make sure you dont miss anything.

The old fashioned way is sometimes the best way. A nice Chinese recipe cookbook cant be beat most of the time. If you get a very large one, you can pick and choose from any Chinese dish you can imagine.

They often include common substitutions and cooking tips as well as helpful advice for the beginner.

Types of Chinese Recipes

Chinese recipes come in thousands of different varieties. Everyone has their favorite dish but every restaurant you go to will have a different recipe for it.

This can be a pain if you are trying to recreate it and you might have to try a couple different times to get it just right. The best recipes have been handed down through family lines and it may be hard to get them without shelling out some cash for a cookbook.

The standard types of Chinese recipes are rice, noodle, meat, seafood, and vegetable. There are also recipes that belong to the many different regions of China. Your Lo Mein in Beijing might taste nothing like your Lo Mein in Shanghai.

Regions play a very important role in different Chinese recipes. Many restaurants incorporate the various regions into their menu so you can get a feel for what is popular all over the different areas of China.

The Northern regions use more wheat and noodles as opposed to the Southern regions which use a lot of rice and rice flour in their dishes. China is a huge country so the climate in the North is much different than the South.

Spices play a key role in many types of Chinese recipes as well. A familiar spicy dish is the famous Kung Pao. Used with shrimp or chicken usually, this type of recipe is made with pepper sauce and the level of heat can vary.

Even with the regions and spices involved, Chinese recipes still usually are rice or noodle based and have a meat and vegetable accompanying or mixed with it. Soups and pancakes are an exception and are great recipes to try out.