The Chinese Chicken Cookbook: 100 Easy-to-Prepare, Authentic Recipes for the American Table

Kitchen Tools, Techniques, and Processes

The equipment necessary for the Chinese kitchen is minimal, simple to use, and inexpensive. Once mastered, these tools and the methods in which they are used will be a delight. Let me give you an example. Here is what you need to cook authentically in the Chinese manner.

TOOLS

WOK This all-purpose cook pot is as much a part of Chinese culture as the Great Wall, and has remained unchanged for thousands of years. First made of iron, later of carbon steel, still later of stainless steel and aluminum, its concave shape places its round bottom right into the flame or heat source of a stove and makes it the ideal cooker.

A carbon steel wok is as perfect a cooking utensil as can be. It conducts heat virtually instantaneously. Though it is neither a pot nor a pan in the usual sense, it functions as such. The shape of a wok permits food to be stir-fried, tossed quickly through small amounts of oil so that food cooks yet does not retain oil. The wok is ideal for blanching and braising food as well.

The most useful carbon steel wok, the one I recommend most highly, is one with a diameter of about 14 inches. It is all-purpose, used for stir-frying, deep-frying, dry-roasting, and sauce making. With the addition of bamboo steamers it is also perfect for all manner of steaming. A carbon steel wok costs little and will be perfect when properly seasoned. A well-seasoned wok behaves very much like a nonstick pan. The more you use it, and the older and the more seasoned it becomes, the less oil is needed to cook.

Many other kinds of woks are available, made of stainless steel, aluminum, and various thicknesses of iron. None of these will perform as well as a seasoned carbon steel wok and all are far more expensive. (A stainless steel wok does work well in steaming.) Nor do I favor nonstick coated woks, the direct, intense heat can harm the finish and their heat cannot be controlled. No wok is as versatile as one of carbon steel. A flat-bottomed wok, of whatever material, is not recommended either, for foods cannot be whisked through it as smoothly as through one that is concave.

A carbon steel wok, when new, is coated with a sticky oil used as protection and a preservative. Once cleansed of this coating and seasoned, it is the ideal cooking pot and will last many years. A new wok should be immersed in extremely hot water with a small amount of liquid detergent, the inside cleaned with a sponge and the outside scrubbed with steel wool and cleanser. Then, after rinsing but still wet, it should be placed over a flame and dried with a paper towel to prevent rust. Discard the paper towel and, with the wok still over the burner, tip a teaspoon of oil into its bowl and rub it around with another paper towel. Repeat this oiling process until the paper towel is free of any traces of black residue. The wok is then ready for use. A new wok absorbs oil until it is properly seasoned. Once seasoned, very little oil is necessary to cook in it. After the first washing, detergents should never be used in the bowl of the wok. It should be scrubbed only in extremely hot water with a stiff-bristled wok brush. After rinsing, it should be dried with a paper towel, then placed over a flame for thorough drying. When you have finished cooking with it, re-season it with a very small amount of peanut oil rubbed around inside of the bowl with a paper towel. Repeat this for the first fifteen to twenty uses, until the wok bowl becomes shiny and dark-colored, which will indicate that it is well seasoned.

WOK COVER This cover, 12 to 13 inches in diameter, with a top handle, is usually made of aluminum. It nestles firmly into the wok, enabling the wok to be used for stews, for steaming, and for boiling. Stainless steel covers are adequate as well.

WOK BRUSH This wooden brush is oar-shaped, slightly oversized, with long stiff bristles. It is used with extremely hot water to remove all cooking residue from the seasoned wok.

WOK RING This is a hollow steel base that fits over a single stove burner. The round base of the wok settles into it, keeping the wok stable and ensuring that flames from the burner will surround the wok evenly.

CHINESE SPATULA Available either in hammered carbon steel or stainless steel and in different sizes, with a flat, shovel-shaped scoop at the end of a long handle. A carbon steel spatula is of one molded piece, the scoop is about 4 inches across. A steel spatula is about the same size, with the scoop and handle of a single piece of steel. The carbon steel spatula will become seasoned with use, and I prefer it, but it has become somewhat hard to find. A stainless steel spatula is an acceptable substitute.

CHINESE LADLE Made of stainless steel, bowl-shaped, with the bowl and its long handle fashioned from a single piece of steel, and a wood inset at its end. These ladles come in various sizes, but one about 15 inches long with a bowl from 4 to 4½ inches in diameter is perfect for all uses.

CHINESE STRAINERS One kind of strainer is circular, made of woven steel mesh and attached to a long handle of split bamboo. It comes in many sizes, from as small as a person’s palm to as large as 14 inches in diameter. For all-purpose use I prefer one 10 inches in diameter. The second kind of strainer is a rather large and shallow stainless steel bowl at the end of a hollow handle, and is made by punching round holes in the bowl. This, too, comes in a 10-inch size, which I recommend.

BAMBOO STEAMERS These circular frames of bamboo with woven bamboo mesh bases and covers come in various sizes, but those from 12 to 13 inches in diameter are preferred because they sit perfectly in the well of the wok. Foods rest on the woven bamboo, and steam passes upward through the spaces and into the food. These steamers can be stacked two to three high so that different foods may be steamed simultaneously. Steamers are also made of aluminum, stainless steel, and wood, with bamboo mesh bases. All of these steamers are often used to serve steamed foods. Bamboo steamer sets consist of two steamers, which can be stacked, as well as a cover.

In Chinese or Asian cooking supply markets, you can find steaming sets of stainless steel. These consist of a base pot, with a cover, into which two steamers are set, one of them with a base of crosshatched steel strips, the other of bamboo interwoven strips. This set is valuable for those with limited storage space, because the set’s base is an 8-quart pot, useful on its own. The same set comes in aluminum with components that are slightly larger. I prefer the steel.

Also useful for steaming are the steel insets that fit into pots and are usually used for steaming such foods as asparagus, corn, and pasta. Clam steamers substitute well, too, and many 8-quart pots come with strainer insets that can be used to steam food.

Alternatively, the wok itself can be a steamer. Simply set a cake rack firmly into the wok bowl, place the food in a steamproof dish, and set the dish on the rack. Cover with a wok cover and steam.

CHINESE CLEAVER Like the wok, an all-purpose tool for the Chinese kitchen is the cleaver. It cuts, dices, slices, and minces. Its flat blade and its handle can mash. Usually made of carbon steel with a wood handle, it is also available in stainless steel, either with a wood handle or with a blade and handle of one continuous piece of steel. The blades of cleavers are rounded at their ends. They come in different sizes and weights, from 12 ounces to 2 pounds. I prefer a 12-ounce stainless steel cleaver with a wood handle, the blade about 8 inches long and 3½ inches wide, a professional cleaver made by Dexter in the United States. I think it is superior for slicing, cutting, dicing, or mincing and it should be used only for those purposes.

A heavier cleaver made of carbon steel with a wood handle and weighing one pound with a 8¼ by 4-inch blade is ideal for cutting up a whole chicken and chopping its meat and bones. Often those using a cleaver for the first time are fearful that they might cut off a finger (or two). That should be of no concern. When held correctly so that its weight and balance are properly distributed, the cleaver can do virtually anything a handful of lesser knives can. It slices, shreds, dices, and hacks, all with ease. It also scoops and functions quite well as a dough scraper. When the cleaver is held properly, the weight will do the work.

Two grips are helpful: to chop and mince, in particular for the minced chicken recipes in this book, grasp the handle in a fistlike grip and swing it straight down. The strokes should be long and forceful if cutting something thick such as a chicken cutlet. When mincing, the strokes are short, rapid, and controlled. The wrist dictates the force.

To slice, dice, and shred, grip the handle as you would to chop, but permit your index finger to stretch out alongside of the blade. This provides guidance. The wrist, which barely moves with this grip, is virtually rigid and becomes almost an extension of the cleaver as the blade is drawn across the food being cut. Your other hand should anchor the food being cut, with the knuckles guiding the blade. (The blade will brush your knuckles slightly as it moves across the food.)

To flatten, hold the handle of the cleaver tightly in the same grip as for chopping. With the flat of the blade, come down hard on food that you want flattened, such as garlic, ginger, scallions, and leeks. To mash, use the cleaver handle. Hold it firmly with the index finger and thumb where it meets the blade, and clench the other fingers. The handle thus becomes a hammer that can be used, like a mortar and pestle, to make a paste such as a fermented black bean and garlic paste.

These days electric food processors and mixers are common. Slicing and chopping can be done in a processor if you wish, but I find that using a food processor removes moisture from foods and they dry out and lose their taste. I prefer the control I can exert with my hand on the cleaver and the uniformity of size that I can maintain, a characteristic important in preparing Chinese food. Once you have practiced and become adept at using the cleaver, you will prefer it as well.

CUTTING BOARDS The best for Chinese cooking are those of a rubberized composition sold in Chinese and Asian cooking supply stores. These beige to yellow boards are round, square, or rectangular, of various sizes, and are quite heavy. Their advantage is that they will never warp and are used in all professional Chinese kitchens because they are dense and their surface is easy to scour clean and will not dull the blades of cleavers. If you cannot obtain one of these, I suggest a cutting board of wood. Wood does not dull blade edges.

I do not recommend cutting boards made of opaque white plastic, since they tend to dull blades quite easily. Whichever cutting board you choose, however, clean it thoroughly after use with hot water and detergent. I stress this particularly when it comes to working with chicken.

CHOPSTICKS Bamboo chopsticks, in addition to being the basic eating utensil of the Chinese, are excellent cooking tools. With them you may mix, stir, and serve. They come usually in packages of ten. Avoid plastic chopsticks, which should never be used for cooking and are more difficult to manipulate than bamboo when eating. Chopsticks, are you might expect, are decorative as well and come in a variety of materials—ivory, jade, teak, ebony and palisander woods, gold and silver. In one imperial court, according to a bit of folklore, ivory chopsticks were used exclusively to test foods for poison, for ivory tended to blacken if touched by poison.

To complete your Chinese kitchen you will also need:

Frying pan, cast iron, 10 inches in diameter

Nonstick skillet, 10 inches in diameter

Round cake pan, 9 inches in diameter

Selection of tempered dishes for steaming

Selection of stainless steel dishes for steaming

Mesh strainer (all-purpose)

Small single panel hand grater

Garlic press

Kitchen shears

Cooking thermometer (for deep-frying)

Once you have added these Chinese cooking tools to your kitchen, you should use them to your advantage. The techniques for using these tools are as simple as the tools themselves. So much of the success in Chinese cooking depends upon proper use of equipment and adding the proper ingredients in their proper order.

TECHNIQUES

STIR-FRYING The aim of stir-frying is to cook foods to the point at which they retain their flavors, colors, textures, and nutritive values. All these elements are essential to any good cooking. All foods to be stir-fried should be cut to sizes indicated and placed in a spot convenient to the wok. Sauces should be mixed and ready as well. This is simply organization, so that as you cook, everything will be within reach and the rhythm of the stir-fry will not be interrupted. The best stir-fried foods are those that retain their essence while at the same time absorbing and retaining the heat of the wok.

The stir-fry is surely the most dramatic of all Chinese cooking techniques. Hands and arms move in rhythm as foods are whisked through oil. When I am ready to stir-fry, I heat the wok for a specific time, usually 30 seconds or more. Temperature is most important when stir-frying. I pour oil into the wok and coat its insides by spreading the oil with my spatula. The wok is ready to use when a wisp of white smoke can be seen rising from the oil. Another test is to drop a slice of ginger into the oil; when it turns light brown the oil is ready.

When I want to stir-fry chicken, I first cut it into uniform pieces, usually bite-size, before cooking. As you will see with the individual recipes, chicken morsels should generally be placed in the oiled wok in a thin single layer, cooked for a specified time, then turned over and stirred briefly. At this point the chicken will be cooked to about 70 percent of doneness. When the accompanying ingredients, usually vegetables, are added and stir-fried, the chicken is cooked through.

When cooking vegetables, I usually add a bit of salt to the oil to bring out their flavors. I occasionally blanch vegetables if they tend to be very firm. Place what is to be cooked in the wok and begin tossing them through the oil with the spatula, 1 to 2 minutes for soft vegetables such as bok choy and scallions, perhaps a minute longer for firmer vegetables such as cabbage, carrots, and broccoli. Scoop out the vegetables and serve.

Cooking on a gas range is best for Chinese food because of the range’s greater heat and the height of its flame, particularly for stir-fries that require direct, high heat. There is a technique, however, for obtaining high heat as well as necessary variance using an electric range. It is a method I devised and one that I teach with success: I use two electric burners, side by side. I turn one burner to its highest setting and allow it to heat for 10 minutes. After 5 minutes, I turn the other burner to medium. Place the wok on the highest heat and allow it to heat for 1 to 1½ minutes, until the wok is very hot. At this point add the oil, and when a wisp of white smoke appears the wok is ready. Place the food in the wok. If it begins to cook too quickly or looks as if it is about to burn, move the wok to the burner on medium heat. Move the wok back and forth between burners as necessary. Once you have become accustomed to this technique you will cook Chinese foods perfectly without a gas range and with ease.

As a general rule, never double a recipe for stir-frying unless you have a range of restaurant quality. Otherwise, cook in two batches, or the heat will be inadequate.

DEEP-FRYING To deep-fry is not to simply plunge foods into boiling oil. Proper deep-frying should produce foods cooked thoroughly inside, yet moist, while outside they are golden, tender, or lightly crusted. Correct temperatures are important, for if the oil is not at a precise temperature the oil will permeate the food rather than cook it well. The taste of oil should never dominate.

When I want to make a wok into a deep-fryer, I heat it briefly, pour in the required amount of cooking oil (usually 4 to 6 cups), and heat it to 325° to 375° F, depending on what is being cooked. The individual recipe for chicken will determine the oil temperature. In general the oil should be heated to a few degrees higher than required because when the food is added, the oil temperature will drop before rising again. Use a frying thermometer, which is placed in the oil, to maintain proper temperature. When the proper temperature has been reached, slide the food into the oil.

The best utensil for deep-frying is the Chinese mesh strainer. Its large surface and stout bamboo handle are ideal for removing foods from oil and straining them as well. The strainer is far more useful than a slotted spoon.

OIL-BLANCHING This simple cooking technique is basically a sealing process. The aim is to retain flavor, color, and moisture in the food. Heat the wok, add the required amount of cooking oil, and heat the oil to 300° F (the temperature will vary with individual recipes). Vegetables should usually be blanched for no longer than 30 to 45 seconds, then removed and drained with a mesh strainer. Chicken usually requires longer blanching times, depending upon the individual recipe. It is most important that after oil-blanching, the food be thoroughly drained.

WATER-BLANCHING This process removes water from vegetables. It is an odd concept that to remove water you place vegetables in water, but it works. Pour 3 to 4 cups of water into a wok, add ¼ teaspoon of baking soda, and bring to a boil. (The baking soda is optional; it ensures a bright color for whichever vegetable is blanched.) Place the vegetables in the water. When their color becomes bright, usually no more than 30 seconds, remove them, place them in a bowl, and run cold water over them to halt the cooking process. Alternatively, the vegetables may be placed in a bowl of cold water with ice cubes. Drain well.

Occasionally foods may be blanched in stock. Simply heat stock in a wok, usually 1 to 2 cups, until boiling. Place the food in stock for 10 to 30 seconds, depending upon the recipe. Remove and drain well. I cannot stress enough that all blanched foods must be drained thoroughly.

DRY-ROASTING With this process there is no need for oil, salt, or anything else in the wok