Chinese Rice Recipes
May 14, 2008 by Administrator
Filed under Chinese
Rice has always been a traditional part of Chinese life. Its cheap, filling, tastes great, and can be used in many different ways.
Everyone has had steamed rice and fried rice and those two very simple dishes are a great addition to many different meals. More popular in the warmer Southern China, rice is grown all over the place and it has been for thousands of years.
If you have a Chinese rice recipe that sounds great, just take your time and learn to cook rice first.
Many people think rice is simple to cook and very hard to mess up. That couldnt be farther from the truth. Rice can be completely ruined in many ways.
There could be too much water, too little water, it can be overcooked, undercooked, and burnt. Anyone who has had restaurant quality rice and then tried to recreate it has learned this lesson.
Chinese recipes usually call for a specific type of rice that is cooked a certain way. If you think your jasmine rice will taste just as good a little crunchy, you are very wrong.
Improperly cooked rice can annihilate even the most delicious Chinese recipe and the reaction from friends and family might turn you off from cooking Chinese food for a long time.
The easiest way to cook rice is with a rice cooker. These are fairly cheap and automatically shut off when the rice is finished.
You can never mess your rice up again as long as you follow the directions of the machine and the rice itself.
By adding perfect rice to accompany a great Chinese recipe, you will have a much better reaction from everyone who eats it.
Chinese Recipes
May 14, 2008 by Administrator
Filed under Chinese, Cooking Tips
Chinese recipes for cooking are some of the most interesting and delicious types you can find.
From your standard stir fry to more exotic dishes with shrimp or duck, Chinese recipes are sure to be a big hit at your dinner table or any type of get together.
There are thousands of Chinese recipes out there you can find in cookbooks, on television, or on the Internet.
Chinese recipes are often handed down throughout the generations and some have origins that date back thousands of years. Granted, there wasnt near the technology we have today with electric woks, rice cookers, and deep fryers but the recipes remain unchanged.
Chinese recipes have a very rich history and cultural heritage but many were created by the lower class who worked very hard and needed to have a good meal. This is why so many Chinese recipes revolve around Chinas main food staple. Rice.
Rice is a very important part of Chinese recipes. Not just for its filling properties but because the climate in China is perfect for rice.
It grows fairly fast and has a high yield making it the perfect food to accompany a meat or seafood dish. By adding rice, a meal for two can easily become a meal for five. This is accomplished in the same way by using another staple of Chinese food which is noodles.
Chinese recipes vary from being easy to taking hours upon hours to prepare. If you are not used to Chinese cooking, you may need to buy some new cookware that is suitable for what you will be making.
A wok is very handy for stir fry and deep fried dishes and is a lot less messy than your standard frying pan. With a little trial and error, you can make many different Chinese recipes a fun new addition to your menu.
Chinese Recipe Tips
May 14, 2008 by Administrator
Filed under Chinese, Cooking Tips
Chinese recipes usually call for very specific ingredients and ways to cook everything. There are many tips you can use to save time and money and still have a top notch meal or add ingredients to make a good meal great.
You can cut corners on rice, kinds of oil, even the kind of meats you use. Many people take the meat out of a recipe and call it vegetarian.
A delicious alternative to regular cooking oil is sesame oil. Just a few drops mixed with your normal oil or used by itself, sesame oil makes any dish have a very unique flavor.
Shrimp cooked in vegetable oil tastes like greasy shrimp but shrimp cooked in sesame oil taste like a Chinese treat. Sesame oil has a strong and unique flavor that many people automatically associate with Chinese food.
It is higher in fat so if you are on a diet, it might not be a good choice.
Rice is common in all kinds of Chinese recipes. If you make a lot of Chinese food, you can cook a lot more rice than you know you will use.
You can freeze this excess rice and use it later on for fried rice. This will save you the trouble of cooking a whole new batch and it tastes just as good.
Dont be afraid to change recipes. If you have a great recipe for chicken, try using crab or shrimp next time or changing some vegetables around.
You might have just created your own unique recipe! This can be a lot of fun and the more familiar with Chinese recipes you get, the better your creations will be.
Chinese Recipe Cookware Substitutions
May 14, 2008 by Administrator
Filed under Chinese, Cooking Tips
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.






