| A British-Born Chinese Guide to the Essential Chinese Kitchen |
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| Thursday, 31 January 2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Lessons from My Parents:
I confess I took many things for granted when I lived in the UK - my father's cooking for one. I dream about his stewed pork in yellow bean sauce (a home-cooked Hakka dish) and can smell the aromas of this classic, comforting dish. It took coming to a small town in America and having a family for me to plan my meals and cook. Before that, I lived in London and was definitely "Girl about Town." I'd go straight from work to meet friends and easily blow £50 to £100 on myself for an evening out and that was in the 1990s. I forgot the hard lessons learned growing up. My parents arrived in Britain in the early 1960s with nothing but the suitcases they carried. They worked long hours in the food industry to make a better life for me and my siblings. On their days off, they'd shop at food markets just as they were closing and buy sacks of produce for pennies for our family meals. Now it's my turn to feed my family. I don't go as far as my parents in recycling my cling film, but I do recycle chicken bones to make stock. I put the bones (cooked or raw) in a pan of water, bring them to a boil and simmer and that's it - Chinese believe in having unadulterated stock with no other ingredients. I can certainly do this to save a fortune on cartons of organic stock and it tastes much better. Three Hours for Roast Duck! When I lived in London, I never bothered to learn to make traditional dishes as London Chinatown was a mere tube ride away. I could have a big plate of wholesome Chinese food for lunch or dinner whenever I wanted. Now it takes almost three hours to drive to New York City's Chinatown if we want to eat authentic roast duck or Dim Sum. Older and Wiser: After years of turning my nose up at my parents' medicinal or replenishing soups, I now make them regularly ("Bou Tong"). Maturity has brought me patience and an openness to learn and try. And I've felt the healing qualities of natural ingredients to tackle my coughs, colds and imbalances in my body like too much "Hot Air" ("Yeet Hei") because of stress and eating dehydrating foods. It's easy to forget flavours and textures being away from the familial home; that's how traditional dishes can be lost in a few generations. We didn't want to forget the taste of certain dishes as food is a huge connection to our heritage. At the beginning, much of our cooking was done with the phone to our ears with our parents (my husband, Yiu-Yin, is a really good, self-taught cook this way). That's how family recipes get handed down, but with a twist. Remember, our parents never learnt to cook from a book; it's all down to touch and taste, and hard to replicate sometimes. We've become resourceful out of necessity and creative about learning to cook traditional dishes. The last time my parents and in-laws visited, we used the camcorder to film them cooking as if they were the celebrity chefs and we were the investigative journalists. We have a varied diet and love to try different cuisines, but after so many days without rice, I really crave the comfort of home-cooked Chinese food. Besides which home-cooked Chinese food is healthier for my children and, even though they're American, I don't want them to only know the American staples of "Mac ‘n' Cheese" and grilled cheese sandwiches! What is a Chinese Kitchen? As well as referring to family for advice, I Google recipes and experiment a lot. Cooking is something that gets better with practice. To the novice or nervous cook, I say, "You can do it!" Trust me, I've made many mistakes - combinations that didn't work and dishes that were under- or over-seasoned. Now I can say hand on heart that I'm a competent cook of Chinese food. From experience, the first thing you need to do is to set up your kitchen ready to cook Chinese food. I asked my friend, Helen Yuet Ling Pang, for some of her ideas. Helen Yuet Ling is British-born Chinese, a Film Examiner at the British Board of Film Classification, who writes about her restaurant experiences and food facts for fun on her blog, World Foodie Guide. She also writes reviews for DimSum.co.uk (check out her posts under the "Food" section). I'll be featuring Helen Yuet Ling's interesting background, fascinating career and her love of food in an upcoming article for my "Features" column. I asked Helen Yuet Ling, "Many of the second generation are clueless about traditional home-cooked Chinese foods; what would you say are essential things we need in the kitchen (ingredients and equipment) if we want to have a go at making real Chinese food?" She describes herself as one of those "second generationers" who know very little about traditional home-cooked Chinese food, but says it's never too late to learn. She also recommends asking parents and relatives for tips. In her case, she never used to really talk about food in detail with her mother, but now they exchange cooking tips in emails (as her mother lives in another country). For Helen, the difference between home-cooked and restaurant food is home-cooked food is simpler and, more importantly, made with love. "I'm not sure I'm the right person to ask about essential things for the kitchen! I can tell you what I have in my kitchen cupboards, which has been enough to make a few Chinese dishes. Basic ingredients include soy sauce (I like Kikkoman as it's light), sesame oil, chilli sauce (it's too hot for me, but my husband and visitors love it), XO sauce (an essential for me), corn flour, vegetable oil, Sichuan peppercorns, sea salt and white peppercorns. My mother always cooked with white pepper rather than black, so we do the same. Dried noodles (any kind that you like), rice vermicelli and rice are other staples. Fresh ingredients can be bought when you know what you're going to cook - ginger, garlic, spring onions, coriander, tofu, fresh noodles, any kind of Chinese greens, fish, seafood, etc. In terms of equipment, one needs very few specialist items. We have one wok, two bamboo steamers for dumplings and a metal rack to steam things on that goes inside the wok or large saucepan. Then we just use our normal kitchen pots and pans. We make rice in a saucepan, but if you wanted to, you could buy a rice cooker if you were going to use it on a regular basis." From my perspective, here's what we use on an everyday basis: Seasoning: salt; sugar; corn oil; light and dark soy sauce (the best brand I've found is Pearl River Bridge Golden Label); Chinese cooking wine; sesame oil; oyster sauce (I recommend Lee Kum Kee premium oyster sauce) and corn flour (for thickening). You could stop at these basic seasonings, but to truly make authentic dishes you also need: fermented red bean curd; hoisin sauce; ground bean paste; some kind of chilli or chilli-garlic sauce or oil and XO sauce (because it can really make a dish zing!) Fresh Ingredients: root ginger; garlic (one shortcut is to have a shop-bought jar of minced garlic in the fridge for speed); spring onions; coriander; carrots and daikon (for soup and stock) and some kind of Chinese greens (or you can just as easily use broccoli, lettuce or cabbage). Dried Ingredients: Any kind of dried noodles -egg noodles; hor fun; mei fun; glass noodles & shitake mushrooms (a staple for us). Utensils: A good wok (not non-stick) with a lid; a metal rack to steam things in the wok: a rice cooker (essential, as it frees up a ring for cooking); a pair of wooden chopsticks to use in cooking the food. Besides these things you can use your regular pots, pans and heat-proof dishes. Chinese New Year's Eve Feast: I write at length in my "Features" column about Chinese Lunar New Year and how I've adapted the celebrations, including food, to my life in the US. As for the symbolisms of New Year's foods, you can find out more in the article Chinese New Year Food, so I won't expand here. However, I want to bring two things to your attention:
Helen Yuet Ling gives step-by-step directions on how to make Chinese Hot Pot in her blog, World Foodie Guide: http://worldfoodieguide.wordpress.com/2007/11/11/how-to-make-chinese-hot-pot/ Secondly, in Northern China, dumplings are often eaten during the Lunar New Year because their shape is said to resemble gold ingots used in ancient times. I love dumplings and Helen Yuet Ling shares a recipe for Chinese dumplings that I can't wait to try. This could be another great idea for something you can make with loved ones and friends for your New Year's Eve meal. She says, "I know it might sound daunting if you haven't cooked much Chinese food before, but my husband and I have only made them three times in our entire lives, in the last few months. It becomes easier each time, and now I'm really looking forward to making the next batch. You can use any fillings that you like, as there are no rules about what you can and can't use. It's fun to make dumplings with friends and family, and you just learn and experiment as you go along. The sealing and wrapping is the most creative and enjoyable part for me. I've written about three ways to prepare Chinese dumplings - steaming, pan-frying and boiling them - and I'd love to hear about your experiences!" "Fasting" on New Year's Day: Many Chinese think of New Year's Day as a cleansing or "fasting" day before the feasting begins (a custom rooted in Buddhism). Fasting doesn't mean you don't eat, but it means you eat a vegetarian meal based on root and fibrous vegetables and gluten ("Jai"). Many people attribute superstitious aspects to the various ingredients, such as black moss seaweed is a homonym for exceeding in wealth. To be honest, to cook "jai" from scratch with all the various ingredients takes time and preparation, so I always look for convenient alternatives where I can to save on time. Nowadays, you can get really good varieties of jai in tins at the Chinese grocery store. So a simple jai meal will consist of any style of rice noodles (but not egg noodles, as egg is considered to be not vegetarian for the purposes of the fasting meal) and you can use seasonings, such as soy sauce, salt, sugar and oyster sauce (conversely, dried oysters are considered vegetarian), but not fresh garlic (according to my in-laws). Remember, the noodles shouldn't be cut as noodles represent long life and the other ingredients should be prepared and sliced on New Year's Eve as some say to use a kitchen knife on New Year's Day means you cut off your luck. Let the Feasting Begin: Last Year, I made "Nian Go" (New Year pudding) from scratch for a party for close friends. It was a challenge and I was really happy with the results (thanks to my father and mother-in-law's combined recipe). Fuelled by my success, I'm going to make the classic "Baak Chit Gai" (White Cut Chicken) as it's customary to serve a whole chicken for the New Year's Eve dinner or on other occasions during the New Year period to symbolize togetherness of the family (although, I will dispense with presenting the head and feet as traditionally called for!) There are various recipes for white cut chicken that I've found online, such as this one: http://www.bareingredients.com/recipes/2001-01:whitechicken. However, contrary to what it says in such recipes, my father and my mother-in-law tell me no seasoning is needed to cook the chicken, apart from a little salt if you wish. They don't use salt because the chicken broth (the liquid resulting from cooking the chicken) can then be used for other dishes and can be seasoned accordingly without the liquid being too salty. Traditionally, white cut chicken is accompanied by salted, mashed ginger dipping sauce, which gives the chicken its great flavour. Here is my family's recipe and let me know if you try it and how it turns out or, indeed, if you have an alternative family recipe. Recipe for Baak Chit Gai: Heat a large pan of water and when the water is at a rolling boil immerse a whole chicken into the water, turn down the heat and simmer with the lid on for about twenty minutes or so. The chicken is cooked when you pierce the leg and no blood comes out. For the dipping sauce, you need fresh ginger, coriander, spring onions, salt, Chinese cooking wine. You finely chop and pound these ingredients into a mashed paste (the amount of ingredients you need is to fill a small bowl). The paste should be salty. Heat some oil in a wok and when it starts to get really hot, take it off the heat and pour over the paste and you'll hear a sizzle and smell a wonderful aroma. If you think hot oil is too dehydrating ("yeet hei") then my mother-in-law suggests you add some light soy sauce to the paste and steam it in the rice cooker (as the rice is almost done) or separately in the wok. Chop the chicken into small pieces and serve all the pieces together on a plate family style, warm or at room temperature, accompanied by the mashed ginger. The idea is that you eat a piece of chicken dipped in the sauce. Enjoy! Views Please: I'd love to hear your thoughts on ingredients and equipment to cook Chinese food, and your kitchen triumphs or nightmares. Perhaps, you have a New Year cooking story to tell us. Please share your thoughts below or email me directly at This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it . GUNG HEI FAT CHOI! Susan S. Cheung Food photos courtesy of Helen Yuet Ling Pang
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I'm
second-generation British Chinese, born in England to immigrant parents from
Guangdong and Hong Kong. I'm one of the many BBCs who've continued their parents'
pioneering spirit and left their hometowns to pursue their goals or for other
personal reasons - I moved to the United States eight years ago. 
Firstly, one of the
traditional dishes in some regions of China, which people ate on New Year's
Eve, was "Hot Pot." The Hot Pot was cooked in a big metal bowl with a hollow
tube in the centre. Soup made from bones was put in the bowl and different
sliced meats, seafood or seafood balls and vegetables were cooked in the soup
heated by the hot rocks or hot coals placed inside the hollow tube. Hot Pot is
still eaten today, but cooked on different equipment and this can be a good
alternative for a dish if you wanted to do something special on New Year's Eve:
it's great fun and very sociable. | < Prev | Next > |
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