how to cook like a chef for beginners

7/30/2019 How to cook like a chef for beginners

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Cook Like A Chef

How to

Cook Like A ChefIn Just One Day

Learning the 16 fundamental cooking techniques to

quickly improve your culinary skills with Jim

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How To Cook Like A Chef In Just One Day

is 2002 Cooking With Jim TM

All rights reserved worldwide.

First edition 2002.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval

system, transmitted in any way or by any means, electronic, mechanical,

photocopying, recording or otherwise, including but not limited to

digital copying and printing without the prior agreement and written

permission of the copyright holder.

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The author Jim Yang and Quick and Easy Chinese VegetarianCooking With Jim made their best efforts to produce a high

quality, informative, and helpful e-book. However, they make no

warranties or representations of any kind with regard to the

completeness or accuracy of the contents of this book. They

accept no liability of any kind for any losses or damages caused or

alleged to be caused, directly or indirectly, from using the

information contained in this book.


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"I feel a recipe is only a theme, which an intelligent cook can play each

time with a variation."

~ Madame Benoit

"Cookery is not chemistry. It is an art. It requires instinct and taste rather

than exact measurements."

~ Marcel Boulestin

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Contents

FOREWORD......................................................................................................................6

BASTING............................................................................................................................7

BLANCHING.....................................................................................................................8

HOW TO BLANCHE VEGETABLES .......................................................................................8

BRAISING & STEWING ...............................................................................................10

CUTTING.........................................................................................................................12

BUYING A KNIFE .............................................................................................................12

GRIPPING THE KNIFE.......................................................................................................13

GENERAL CUTTING .........................................................................................................13SLICING...........................................................................................................................14

JULIENNE AND

SHREDDING

.............................................................................................15CHOPPING (GREEN ONIONS) ............................................................................................15PARALLEL CUTTING........................................................................................................15

DICING............................................................................................................................16

MINCING .........................................................................................................................16CRUSHING.......................................................................................................................17

ROLL-CUT .......................................................................................................................17

KNEADING DOUGH .....................................................................................................19

KNEADING THE DOUGH ..................................................................................................19

DEEP-FRYING................................................................................................................21

DETERMINING OIL TEMPERATURE..................................................................................21DEEP-FRYING TIPS ..........................................................................................................22

GARLIC - HANDLING ..................................................................................................23

PARBOIL .........................................................................................................................24

POACHING......................................................................................................................25

RICE COOKING..........................................................................................................26

PREPARING RICEWASHING AND SOAKING ...................................................................26COOKING THE RICE .........................................................................................................27

COOKING THE RICEMEASURING THE CORRECT AMOUNT OF WATER............................28

COOKING THE RICETHE OLD FASHIONED WAY.............................................................29COOKING THE RICEWITH A RICE COOKER....................................................................30

SAUT ..............................................................................................................................31

SKINNING TOMATOES AND PEPPERS...................................................................32

HOW TO EASILY SKIN TOMATOES:...................................................................................32

HOW TO EASILY SKIN PEPPERS: .......................................................................................32

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SOUP STOCK MAKING ............................................................................................33

MAKING VEGETABLE SOUP STOCK..................................................................................34

MAKING POULTRY STOCK...............................................................................................35MAKING MEAT STOCK.....................................................................................................36

STIR-FRYING .................................................................................................................37

THE WOK........................................................................................................................37

THE FIRE .........................................................................................................................38

THE SMOKING POINT .......................................................................................................38THE BIG SPLASH ..............................................................................................................39

STIR-FRY LIKE A REAL CHEF............................................................................................40

STIR-FRYING TIPS............................................................................................................41

STEAMING......................................................................................................................43

STEAMING TIPS ...............................................................................................................44

THICKENING SAUCES ................................................................................................45

TIPS FOR USING STARCH WATER......................................................................................46

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Foreword

Learning to cook is easy. It doesnt have to be complicated.All those fancy cooking styles and techniques you see ontelevision really arent that difficult. Learn the basics, and you caneasily master any and all of the following 16 fundamental cookingtechniques.

Are you always wondering what so many of the terms and jargonthey use on cooking shows mean? You dont have to beintimidated by all their fancy terms anymore, because I explain

each one of them in this cooking techniques book.

Its arranged alphabetically so you can easily and quickly find whatyoure looking for.

Each cooking method starts with a brief explanation anddescriptions. Key points will be highlighted, and many tips areprovided to make cooking quick and easy for you.

Enjoy cooking.

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Basting

Basting is a technique used to moisten food (usually meat) whilecooking with a liquid. The liquid could be melted fat, some typeof sauce, and pan dripping, or any other type of liquid.

For example, say youre grilling a few beef patties on a grill. Youadd some barbeque sauce on, and use a brush to smear it around

you are basting.

Basting is easily done. You can use a brush of some sort andsimply use it to brush on sauces to whatever you are cooking. A

bulb baster can also be used to drizzle the liquid over the food.

A bulb baster has a 5 to 7 inch long tube-like section with a pointytip. At the end, theres a round ball made of plastic where youstore the liquid.

You can baste when youre barbequing, roasting, grilling, orbaking.

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Blanching

Blanching is an excellent way to preserve the color, texture andflavor of your vegetables. Youre pre-cooking your vegetablesbefore cooking them.

Blanching is used primarily for vegetables. It serves severalpurposes. Before freezing vegetables, its best to blanche first tocapture their peak color, flavor and texture. Blanching slows theactions of the enzymes that cause the vegetables to ripen. Thisalso helps to preserve the vitamins and minerals of the vegetables.

A side benefit of blanching is the effect of killing off bacteria thatthe vegetables may have.

How to blanche vegetables

When blanching vegetables, immerse the vegetables in boilingwater briefly.

Fill a pot about 2/3 full of water. Add 1 to 2 tablespoonsof salt, and bring the water to a boil.

Add your vegetables into the boiling water. Do not cover

with lid. Depending on what type of vegetables youreblanching the amount of time will differ. For easy to cook

vegetables such as lettuce, blanch for only a few seconds.For more difficult to cook veggies such as broccoli, blanchfor 30 60 seconds. Also, the size of the individual

vegetable pieces also becomes a factor. The larger thepiece, the longer you should blanche.

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In my Chinese Vegetarian Cooking book, blanching is usedmainly to preserve vegetable colors, and also to soften the

vegetables somewhat before stir-frying. For example, in myOyster Broccoli and Stir-fry Gai Lan recipes, blanching isrecommended to pre-cook the vegetables.
http://chinesevegetariancooking.pdf/http://chinesevegetariancooking.pdf/http://chinesevegetariancooking.pdf/http://chinesevegetariancooking.pdf/http://chinesevegetariancooking.pdf/


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When finished blanching, strain the vegetables from thehot water.

Immediately run the vegetables through cold water.

Tip: When you plan on blanching vegetables, make sure to cutthe vegetables in to evenly sized pieces. This way, you ensure thatall the pieces get blanched evenly.

Some people recommend blanching your vegetables for severalminutes. In my opinion, thats way too long. I usually blanchemy vegetables for stir-frying purposes, so I prefer to have my

veggies to have a little crunchy texture. I dont enjoy eating verysoft vegetables.

However, its really up to you how long you want to blanche for.If you like your vegetables to be soft, blanche it longer. Blancheyour vegetables quickly if you like them to be more crunchy.

Some vegetables you could blanche include, broccoli, cauliflower,Chinese broccoli (Gai Lan), cabbage, and many more.

Remember that blanching is not meant to cook the vegetables, sospeed is very important.

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Braising & Stewing

When you braise or stew something, you wet-cook it.Braising is a cooking method where you first brown meats and

vegetables in a little fat (or oil), and then let it slowly cook in a potwith some liquid for a long period of time.

Braising is a technique used usually on tough cuts of meat thelong cooking process softens the tough meat. At the same time,the braised/stewed ingredients really absorb the flavors during thelong cooking process.

Tip: To prevent burning your meats while braising and stewing,you can dice up carrots, celery, and onions to place at the bottomof your pot so the meat doesnt come in direct contact with thepot. This also adds some extra flavor and aroma.

How long do you think it takes to cook vegetables? Not verylong.

So even though I titled that section braising and stewing, therecipes really dont take very long. However, the essence ofbraising and stewing is captured in the recipes.

Heres how I braise my tough cut meats:

Cut the meat chunk into 1 to 2 inch sections

Instead of the normal method of browning meats in fat, Ilike to marinate it first with either soy sauce or teriyakisauce, and a little cornstarch.

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In my Chinese Vegetarian cookbook, you maybe mislead to thinkthat most of the braised/stewed recipes take a long time to cook.

You couldnt be more wrong. The truth is, there are no meatsat all in my vegetarian book, and in all the recipes there are only

vegetables.


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I then quickly stir-fry the meat on very high heat. This iswhere I add in all the spices and seasonings. (Salt, hotsauce, MSG, sugar etc)

After stir-frying on high heat for 30 to 60 seconds (after all

the meat is no longer pink) I then add in water, and let itstew for a long period of time.

I find that marinating and stir-frying the tough meats on high heatreally packs the flavors into the meat when its finished cooking.

You can also add in garlic and ginger at the start to add moreflavor to the meat.

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Cutting

Cutting and slicing up food is probably one of the most

important skills to master in Chinese cooking. Cutting your foodinto uniform pieces to make the dish present nicely is half thebattle.

Unlike knives used anywhere else in the world, Chinese chefs usea cleaver as the knife of choice. In western cooking, a cleaver isusually used primarily to chop up large bones (because of the

weight and size of the knife).

In Chinese cooking, chefs almost always use the cleaverexclusively to cut everything from meat and bones to tomatoesand mushrooms.

Buying a Knife

There are two main types of cleavers that you can buy. You caneasily find the traditional carbon steel knives in Chinese hardwarestores, and you can find the stainless steel type wherever knivesare sold.

The carbon steel knives easily sharpen, however, they tend to rusteasily. The stainless steel cleavers dont rust, but they are difficultto sharpen.

So, if you want a sharp knife, and you can take good care of yourknife, then the carbon steel cleavers are for you. You need to

keep them clean, and always dry after washing.

Stainless steel cleavers would be good for you, if you dont wantthe hassle of maintaining and sharpening your knife.

One summer back in university, I got a knife sales job with Cutco.Im not sure if youve heard of them, but they do make good

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knives that cost you an arm and a leg. I had to buy a display setfor demonstration for $80, which was cheap considering that asmall French Chef Knife costs around $80!

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A French Chef Knife, mypreferred knife.referred knife.

They were not cheap knives. You could easily run into thethousands. But the knives sure worked great. In fact, after manyyears, I still use the French Chef Knife that came with my set.

When youre purchasing a Chinese cleaver, test its balance. The

knife should have a nice feel, too. It should have a good weight,but not so heavy that you have a tough time handling it.

Gripping the Knife

To properly hold a chefs knife, placeyour index finger and thumb onopposing sides of the blade, and

grasp the handle with your otherthree fingers. Curl you index fingerslightly.

Youll find that holding a knife thisway gives you much more controlwhen cutting ingredients.

General Cutting

When you are ready to cut some ingredients, hold thefood in place with your free hand. To properly hold thefood, you should curl your fingertips in toward yourpalm. So when cutting, use the first knuckles of your


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free hand to guide the cut, and never raise the blade higher thanyour first knuckles.

This not only prevents your free hand from getting cut, it also actsas a guide for your knife as you cut along the food.

The motion of the knife very much depends on what type of knifeyou use. For a Chinese cleaver, your cutting motion should besteady downward motion moving slightly forward as you cut, andmoving back slightly as you raise the knife.

If you were using a knife with a curved blade like a French ChefKnife, you should have the knife always touching the choppingboard. So when you cut with a French Chef Knife, you follow a

rocking motion. When you cut downward, the heavy part of theknife touches the chopping board, and the knifes tip leaves thechopping board. When you finish the cut, the heavy part is lifted,and the weight of the knife shifts to the front.

Slicing

Slicing is one of the most basic forms

of cutting.

Hold the knife properly, and using yourknuckles as a guide, cut straight down.

When I slice, I usually use a slightlysawing motion.

Slide the knife forward a little as you cut down, and bring it backtoward you as you go back up. I find this helps to cut faster thanjust cutting straight down.


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Julienne and Shredding

If you ever wonder what the chefs on television are talking aboutwhen they mention Julienne, now youll know. After you slice

up something, stack a few, and cut straight through to cut theminto matchstick like pieces. So, youre just cutting it into strips.

You can shred the ingredient into all different sizes. For a verythin strip, cut the slices very thin, and then cut the slices into thinstrips.

Chopping (green onions)

Chopping is exactly what it says it is cutting food into smaller pieces.

When I chop my green onions, I first cut them in and then into sections. Then I pile them up together, and chop at once. Thisis much more efficient. Done properly, you can quickly and easilychop up green onions.

Parallel Cutting

When you want to make large, thin slices ofmeat or vegetable, then you need to parallelcut.

Its rather simple. Place the food near theedge of the chopping board, and hold itfirmly in place with your free hand.

I my Chinese Vegetarian cookbook,many recipes make use of choppedgreen onions. So I thought it wasimportant enough to have a littlesection about chopping onions, andalso have a picture for you to see.


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With the knife almost parallel with the chopping board, make anincision at the thickness you desire. Then take your knife, andslide it across.

Dicing

When dicing, you usually cut the meat or vegetable into smallcubes. First slice the ingredient, and cut into strips, then cut oncemore into cubes.

Mincing

Mincing is similar to dicing, except youcut the ingredient into much finer sizes.Usually you would mince garlic andginger.

In the picture to the right, I am mincingsome garlic.

First slice up the garlic, and the cut intostrips. This speeds up the mincing.

Now, hold the knife properly, and place the palm of yourfreehand on the back of the knife, and rock the knife back andforth to mince the garlic. Scoop up the ingredients and flip themover to ensure even mincing. This is especially important if you

were mincing some meat.


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Crushing

A common way to prepare ginger and garlic inChinese cooking is to crush them.

Place the knife flat over the ginger or garlic, andhold the knife steady. With the palm of yourfree hand, smash the knife to crush the garlic orginger.

You could also make a fist, and smash the knife with the bottom

of your fist.

Roll-cut

Roll-cut is usually used for cuttingcarrots and other long shape vegetablesinto a trapezoid like shape.

Sure, you can just flat-out cut thecarrots into 2inch long round sections,but roll-cutting the carrots gives it amuch better look.

Heres how you roll-cut a carrot - verysimple.

Hold the carrot firm on the chopping board. Place your knifediagonally on the carrot to start. Then cut.

After your first diagonal cut, you have a carrot with a shavededge thats facing away from you. See the second image. Noticethe diagonal cut.


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Now roll the carrot 45 degrees toward you so the slanted edge isfacing straight up. Place your knife at where the last cut left off,and make another diagonal cut.

By doing this, you make a carrot chunk that has two slant edgesthat are about 45 degrees from each other.

Just do this for all your carrots. Its not very hard to do.

Im sure youll pick it up in no time!

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After the first diagonal cut, roll thecarrot 45degrees toward you, so theslanted side is facing up. Then makeanother diagonal cut.

fter the first diagonal cut, roll thecarrot 45degrees toward you, so theslanted side is facing up. Then makeanother diagonal cut.


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Kneading Dough

You can use dough in many different ways after kneading, andthere are several methods you can use to knead dough. In NorthAmerica, kneading dough is usually for baking needs. However,in my vegetarian cookbook, kneading dough is primarily used tomake vegetarian meat.

You can knead dough in a mixer, with a dough hook, or by hand,which is my preferred method.

The first step is to mix some water into the flour. Dont add too

much water at first. After youve mixed the flour with water, itbecomes clumpy and somewhat hard. Now you can start toknead the dough. I recommend kneading on a large flat surface,or in a very large pot.

Kneading the Dough

When youre ready to knead the dough, lightly spread some flouron the flat surface.

Grab the dough in your hands, using your palms and theheel of your hands, push down and forward on the dough

Now fold the dough onto itself, and push down and awayagain.

Rotate the dough about 45degrees, and push down andaway again.

Repeat this push and fold process over and over until thedough is the right texture.

The kneading process takes 10 to 15 minutes.

As youre kneading the dough, add a little more water whenevernecessary. If you find the dough is extremely difficult to knead,then add a little more water to soften it up. Or if you find that

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youve added too much water, and the dough is too soft, you canadd a little more flour.Stop knead when the dough reaches the consistency you desire.Here are some common characteristics to help you determine

whether your dough is well kneaded:

The dough is soft and smooth, and it holds together in anice ball.

Its no longer sticky like it was

It springs back when you lightly press it and it retracts backif you pull on it lightly

When youve finished kneading the dough, round it up make itinto a ball shape, and youre done!

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Deep-frying

To do this right, put enough oil in a small pot, and turn the heatto your desired temperature. For different foods, you will deep-fry at different temperatures.

When deep-frying, do not fry too many items in the oil at once,since it causes the oil temperature to drop. Its best to just fry afew pieces at a time, so that the oil temperature remain constantthroughout the whole process.

Determining Oil Temperature

Here is the technique I used to determine the temperature of mydeep-frying oil.

To determine whether the oil is hot enough, put a pair ofwoodenchopsticks into the oil. When you see bubbles coming quicklyfrom the chopsticks, then the oil is hot enough. I use this methodexclusively to determine the temperature of the oil.

Test this yourself. When you first put the chopsticks into the oil,no bubbles will form because the oil is not hot enough. Let itheat for a while, and put in the chopsticks again, you may see itstart bubbling. At this point, the oil is at about a mediumtemperature.

Wait a little longer, and insert the chopsticks again, you will seethe bubbles forming a lot faster. Now the oil is at medium-hightemperature.

If you wait even a little longer, and insert the chopsticks, thebubbles will form very quickly. The heat at this point is just alittle below the smoking point for the oil. So its at high heatalready.

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Deep-frying Tips

1. Always deep-fry your food in small amounts to keep the oiltemperature consistent.

2. Always coat your food with some type of batter or coatingbefore deep-frying. This seals in the flavors, and also preventsburning the skin of the food.

3. Test the temperature of the oil first before frying. I do thiswith wooden chopsticks.

4. Avoid getting water into the oil. Otherwise, it will splash allover.

5. When you finish deep-frying always place the deep-fried itemon some paper towel. The towels soak up the excess oil.

6. You can use the deep-frying oil several times before throwing

it out. Discard the oil when it becomes too dark and dirtyfrom frying too many times. Store in tightly sealed containerand refrigerate.

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Garlic - Handling

The biggest fuss with garlic is that you have to peel it. The easiestway to do this is to crush it with the flat of a large knife. See thepicture in the cutting section. Once you crush the garlic, the skineasily peels off. All you need to do is then cut off the end stub.

If you prefer not to crush the garlic, another method is to cut offthe end stub. This allows you to get a hold of the skin from the

bottom, and peel it.

There are several ways to prepare garlic, and it depends on whatyou plan on using the garlic for. You can slice, dice, mince, andeven grate the garlic.

Sliced or whole garlic is used mainly for braising fish

Diced garlic is used primarily added into very hot oil toflavor stir-fry dishes

Minced and grated garlic are used mainly for marinating orfor making different sauces

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Garlic is an important ingredient in Chinese cooking. So heresa little section on how to prepare garlic quickly and easily.

Heres some common ways garlic is used in Chinese cooking:


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Parboil

Parboiling is a technique of boiling your food thats very similarto blanching. Like blanching, you boil your food to partially cookit. The main difference is that parboiling food takes longer thanblanching.

Parboiling is used for dense food such as broccoli, especially ifyou were planning to cook broccoli with some easily cookedingredient, such as chicken and fish.

Parboiling is useful for foods such as potatoes and carrots. After

cutting your potatoes and carrots, parboil them for 5 to 7 minutes.This will soften them up for you.

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Poaching

Poaching is a very simple way to prepare food. Poachingminimizes nutrient loss and preserves flavor, color and texture.You submerge food in liquid and simmer just below the boilingpoint until its cooked.

Poaching is ideal for preparing fragile foods such as fish, poultryand fruits that easily fall apart. Cooked by poaching, the fragilefoods can preserve their shape.

The temperature of the liquid is most important. It must be

maintained at just below the boiling point, allowing a slow simmerto cook the food. If the liquid boiled or simmered vigorously, thefragile foods may fall apart.

The easiest way is to start with medium heat, and adjust your heatto get the desired simmer. Its much better than starting at highheat, bring the liquid to a boil, and then turning the heat down toget the simmer.

You can use many types of liquid for poaching. You can usewater, court bouillon (highly seasoned liquid), flavored stock, oreven oil. Different foods require different poaching liquid. Herbsand spices such as garlic, ginger, and lemon can be added for extraflavor.

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Rice Cooking

Rice is the staple food for Asian people. Its served almosteveryday for dinner.

You may shy away from making rice for dinner because youreworried about making it either too dry or too wet. I can tell youthat its not hard to cook near perfect rice every time! Im goingto show you a little trick that I use when cooking rice.

There are many different types of rice on the market. Forexample, long grain rice, wild rice, Japanese rice, and sweet rice

just to name a few. Which type should you buy?

For serving rice during regular meals, I always buy regular longgrain rice. Now, when it comes to long grain rice (or any type ofrice) youre going to find so many different brands. Moredecisions to make! The truth is, even though Im no rice expert(but I have been eating all my life), I couldnt really tell thedifference between most of the brands.

Thats a little over statement though. There is some very highquality rice, that when you taste it, you can taste the differenceright away. However, for regular rice purchasing, I dont think itmatters too much which brand you buy. I usually buy Roosterbrand or Flying Horse brand.

Preparing Rice washing and soaking

Before you cook rice, you need to wash it, and/or soak it in waterfor a while. Its not completely necessary that you wash the rice,since most of the rice you buy these days is clean, but its still agood idea to give it a quick rinse through to get rid of any dust ordirt.

I always wash my rice before cooking it. This is how to do it:

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Fill the pot half full with water, and gently massage the ricewith you hands

When the water becomes murky, replace it with freshwater, and massage one more time

Finally, I replace the water, and the rice is ready to cook.

You can repeat the above steps as many times as you want. But ifyou wash the rice too thoroughly you will wash away some of thenutrients.

Whether you soak the rice in water or not is totally up to you.The one reason to soak rice is to shorten the cooking time, and toallow for maximum growth for the rice.

Cooking the Rice

How much should you cook? If you not sure, follow theseguidelines:

1 cup of rice makes 2 2 small bowls of cooked rice

Usually 2 2 cups of uncooked rice will make enoughto serve a family of 3 to 4

I always buy 40lb bags of rice, so it lasts me for several months.For the three of us in my family, I cook usually 1 to 2 cups ofrice. Sometimes I cook a little extra for snacking on it.

There are many different ways which you can cook rice. Note:Im referring only to long grain rice. You can use a pot to cookrice on a stove, microwave cook the rice, steam the rice, makecongee with the rice, or use a rice cooker.

Well take a look at cooking rice the old fashioned way with a potand a stove, and also using rice cookers.

I used to cook rice in a pot on a stove. Now I only use ricecooker now. Its so much easier, and I never have to worry aboutmy rice getting burnt.

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Cooking the Rice measuring the correct amount ofwater

The first thing you need to do is measure the right amount of

water after you wash the rice. It always puzzles people how muchwater they should use. Every time someone in my family makesrice, they always ask me is this enough water?

I can usually tell just by looking at it, but of course, theres a muchbetter way to determine how much water you should use. Theresa rule of thumb that I follow, and that is: the water height abovethe rice should be about the height of the first section of yourindex finger.

Confused? That was a bit long.

Take a look at the picture to the right.(Hope you enjoy my little sketch.) Theamount of water above the rice isabout the same height as the firstsection of your index finger.

I hope that clears it up.

This rule works especially well whenyou cook about 2 cups of rice in amedium sized pot.

You should use this rule of thumb to guide you whenever youcook rice. Of course, you cant follow this rule strictly. Forexample, if you cook less than 2 cups, then the water level shouldbe less than your index finger. If you cook more rice, then the

water should be a little higher than the first section of your index

finger.


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Cooking the Rice the old fashioned way

Before I ever knew the rice cooker existed, I cooked rice the oldfashioned way. When I was still a kid in China, my mom cooked

rice in a tin pot on a clay stove using charcoal. Then it wascooking rice on a stovetop. Finally, I decided to buy a rice cookerone day, and did I fall in love with it!

But theres nothing wrong with cooking rice the old fashionedway.

Heres how to cook rice the old fashioned way without everburning it. Note: this method requires you to pay close attentionto the rice as it cooks.

After washing and adding water to the rice, put on astovetop element, and turn heat to high

Wait until the water is boiling

Let it boil for about 30 60 seconds (keep the lid a littleopen to prevent overflow)

Then turn the heat down to medium/medium high

Let the rice cook on this temperature until most of thewater is absorbed and evaporated (make sure not to cook

too long at this temperature, unless you like very dry rice) Now turn the heat down to low, and let it slowly cook the

rice to perfection

Once you have the rice the way you like it, turn the heat tolowest possible to keep it warm until serving

Remember to always have to the lid covering the pot.

If you follow the above instructions, youre almost guaranteedperfect rice every time. But its difficult to make perfect rice allthe time. You might forget about it, or added too much water ornot enough water etc Heres what to do:

Problem:The rice is too dry.

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Solution:Add a little more water, and stir. Add no more than cup of water. (You can always add more if necessary.) Close thelid, and let this cook on medium temperature until the rice is howyou want it. Then turn heat down to low.

Problem: The rice is too wet or soft.

Solution: With the heat on medium, open the lid, and keep it off.Use a spoon and stir up the rice to let the excess moisture escape.Keep on doing this until the rice is dry enough for you.

Problem: You forgot about the rice, and the rice is completelyburnt at the bottom! (I do this all the time!)

Solution: Run cold water to the bottom of the pot to prevent theburnt taste and smell penetrating the rest of the rice. Dish out theedible rice as much as you could.

Cooking the Rice with a rice cooker

This is so easy.

There are no tricks to it. All you need to do is wash the rice,measure the right amount of water, put it into the rice cooker, andput it on cook.

In about 15minutes or so, your rice will be done to perfection.You wont have to worry about burnt rice. If you find the rice istoo wet or dry, just follow the same methods outlined above.

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Saut

Basically, sauting is cooking food quickly in some oil or fat overhigh heat. This is a very basic technique that once you learn it,you can easily and quickly whip up something sauting chicken,beef, pork, fish, or vegetables.

Sauting seals in the flavors and minimizes the cook time. Itsbest used to cook fish and thin cuts of meat because of the shortamount of time sauting takes. If you cooked thicker slices ofmeat, they wouldnt be cooked throughout.

You can use a saut pan, a wok, or pretty much any type of pan.Preheat the oil in the pan on high heat because you want the foodto cook quickly. Note: you can use either oil or butter. Buttergives food a better taste and browns it easier than oil does.

You should use about 1 2 tablespoon of butter/oil for 2 piecesof chicken cutlets or fish.

How do you know when its hot enough? When the butter beginsto turn pale brown, you should add in the ingredients. Place theingredient in to the pan, and let that side brown. After the firstside has browned, turn it over and brown the other side. Youshould only flip the food over once or twice at most whensauting.

You should avoid the 1 most common mistake people make whensauting - do not use a fork to pierce the meat when you flip it, orthe juices will escape from the meat. I recommend using a spatulaof some sort, or use chopsticks.

Cooking time will also depend on the ingredient. If you werecooking chicken or fish, it should take about 2 to 4 minutes. Ifyou were sauting vegetables, it would take much less time about 1 to 2 minutes.

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Skinning Tomatoes and Peppers

Im including this little bit of info on skinning tomatoes andpeppers in case you ever need to skin some.

How to easily skin tomatoes:

Its really very simple. All you need to do is soak the tomatoes inboiling water (or just hot water) for 2 to 4 minutes. Take themout, and the peels will come off easily.

How to easily skin peppers:

The easiest way to get rid of peels on peppers is to grill it. Youcan either do it on an open fire, or just use a stovetop element.

Skew the pepper, and grill over fire or heat until most of the skin

is blistered. Then run under cold water, and at the same time rubthe pepper with your hands. The skin will rub off easily.

Also, you could just microwave the pepper for 3 to 5 minutes.Take it out and let it cool, and the skin should peel off easily.

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Soup Stock Making

I use pre-made soup stock powder mix from Knorr.

I admit, its not as nice tasting as your own soup stock, but itSAVES me so much time, and it really tastes good. But, I do

make my own soup stock at times, although not too often.

So for those of you who are not as lazy as I am, I have a nicesection here on how to make your own stock.

Soup stock making isnt too difficult, unless you want it to be.You can make great use of leftovers and scraps in your fridge tomake it, or use fresh ingredients (recommended, of course).Using scraps and leftovers is very economical, where theingredients would probably have been thrown out. However, youdo miss out on the freshness of using fresh ingredients.

Sometimes I make stock just to get rid of scraps and leftovers,and sometimes, I make stock because I want nice tasting and highquality soup base.

There are four main types of soup stock: 1) vegetable, 2) poultry,3) red meats, and 4) seafood. Making seafood stock can get veryexpensive, so I wont talk about that here. The first three types of

stocks will be used most often especially vegetable stock, sinceyoure cooking from my vegetarian recipe book.

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Soup stock is often used in all styles of cooking, and thats truefor Chinese cooking as well. In my Chinese Vegetariancookbook, many of the dishes use soup stock to add flavor.However, youve probably noticed that I dont very often makemy own soup stock.


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Making vegetable soup stock

I strongly recommend using fresh vegetables for making vegetablestock. You want to avoid using week old, or rotting vegetables.

Thats not going to do much for the flavor.

Some of the most common vegetables you can use to make stockinclude: carrots, onions, bean sprouts, turnips, lotus roots, waterchestnuts, etc You can also use tomatoes, however Irecommend not using too much tomatoes since they tend tooverpower the rest of the ingredients. Use tomatoes sparingly.

The flavor of your vegetable soup stock will always be slightly

different depending on the type and the amount of vegetables youuse.

Garlic, ginger, potatoes, yams, squash, celery, mushrooms,peppers, green onions, and cilantro are also good for makingstock. Of course, I cant possibly name all types of veggies thatyou can use to make soup stock.

If youre unsure of how much ingredients and water to use, followthis rule of thumb: the amount of water should be about the same

as the amount of ingredients.

Depending on how strong you like your soup stock, you can use alittle more water to make it lighter flavored, or use less water tomake it more flavored.

I also recommend adding a little salt, some black pepper, or anyother type of spice you like. This adds some extra flavoring.

Cook your soup stock on high until its boiling. Then turn downthe heat to medium-low and let it simmer for about one hour.

When done, remove all the vegetables and ingredients, and youhave your vegetable soup stock.

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Making poultry stock

Poultry stock is my preferred soup stock to make. I really like thetaste of chicken. You can use either chicken or turkey parts, andif you want to get adventurous, you can use duck parts as well.

I usually just use chicken, since its the cheapest to buy. Whenyou buy chicken for soup stock making, buy the cheapest kind. Iusually buy the neck, feet, and backbones. One pound of chickenbackbones usually sells for less than a dollar.

Got a lot of turkey leftover from thanksgiving? No problem! Usethat to make turkey soup stock.

When making poultry soup stock, you should use some vegetablesto enhance the flavor. Some of the ideal vegetables to use areonions, carrots, and celery.

Heres a basic chicken stock mixture:

4 6 pounds of chicken bones and parts

1 chopped white onion

2 4 sticks of celery

2 4 carrots

Some ginger and/or garlic

Salt and black pepper

Add these ingredients into a large pot, and add just enough waterto cover to the top of the ingredients. Bring this to a boil, andthen turn the heat down to medium-low and let it simmer for 1 to2 hours.

Every once awhile take a spoon and skim the dirty foam from thesoup stock.

When finished cooking, discard all the ingredients and yourchicken stock is ready for use.

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Making meat stock

You can use several different types of meat to make meat soupstock: pork, beef, and lamb are the main ones. When I buy pork,I usually buy a large chunk of pork (usually pork butt or porkshoulder). It usually weighs 20 to 30 pounds, and lasts me for along time.

When I get the meat home, I de-bone the pork, and I use parts ofthe skin and all the bones to make soup stock. Nothing goes to

waste.

Heres how I make my soup stock:

4 6 pounds of pork bones, skin, and parts

1 large white onion

2 4 celery stalks

2 4 carrots

Ginger and garlic

Some salt and black pepper

Like the chicken stock, fill water just high enough to cover all theingredients. Bring this to a boil, and turn the heat down tomedium-low, and let simmer for 2 3 hours.

You can add more water during the cooking process if you feelthere isnt enough soup stock.

You should skim the dirty foam from the soup every once awhile.After its done cooking, strain the soup from the ingredients, andits ready for use.

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Stir-frying

Stir-frying is the mostcommonly used method tocook food in Chinese cuisine.

When stir-frying, you cookthe food at very hightemperatures, and the foodcooks very quickly. Moststir-fry dishes cooks within 1or 2 minutes. Some takeseven less than 30 seconds.

The wok

Heres what you need for proper stir-frying, a round bottom wok,a spatula, and oil. There are many types of woks, which you canuse. Some include carbon steel woks, stainless steel woks, Tefloncoated woks, flat bottom and round bottom woks.

My wok of choice is a round bottom carbon steel wok. Eventhough the carbon steel type required more care than the other

woks, it stir-fries much better than the other types. The drawbackof using a carbon steel wok is that it rusts easily, so you have toalways dry it well.

If you use a Teflon wok, you dont need to use as much oil.When stir-frying, the oil has two main functions. The first is toquickly cook the food and preserve its flavors and texture, andsecond is to prevent the ingredients from sticking to the wok.

I find that Teflon wok cooked food isnt as good as food cookedwith a carbon steel wok. Worst of all, I have to use a plastic orwooden spatula instead of my steel one.


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The fire

I should really have titled this sub section the temperature.

There is one thing, and only one thing you need to know aboutstir-frying temperature always stir-fry on the highest heatpossible.

Aside from the wok, the fire (or temperature) you use to stir-fry isthe most important element. Always, always, always have it at thehighest temperature possible. Never mind what any other chefstold you. You must stir-fry at the highest temperature possible.

The whole point of stir-frying is to cook food as fast as possible

to seal in its flavors and textures.

I also recommend gas stoves over electric. You have much bettercontrol with a gas stove, and you can heat your wok hotter andmuch faster.

The smoking point

What is the smoking point? I bet youve never heard of thesmoking point its a term I use for stir-frying.

The smoking point is the perfect time to add in your ingredientsfor stir-frying it is when the oil is at the optimal temperature.

You will see throughout my recipe book that I make reference tothe smoking point.

This is a very important point about stir-frying. How to

determine when the oil is hot enough and when is the right timeto add in the ingredients?

Its rather simple to determine the smoking point. When you heatthe oil on high, the oil eventually gets hot enough that it begins tosmoke a little. This is the smoking point.

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The temperature of smoking point for vegetable oil ranges from

450F (corn) to 510F (safflower).

When you see smoke coming from the oil, you should add in youringredients.

Often when I cook, I like to wait even a little longer after the oilgets to the smoking point. I do this to cook something really fast.However, if you do decide to wait even a little long beyond thesmoking point, do not wait too long. Otherwise, you risk burningthe oil, and your food will have a slight burnt flavor.

The big splash

The big oil splash is unavoidable when stir-frying its a part ofstir-frying. Every time you add your ingredients to the hot oil inthe wok, oil splashes.

You cant really avoid this.

However, you can reduce the amount of oil splashing followingthese few simple guidelines:

When stir-frying meat, make sure the meat is wellmarinated, and theres no excess water

When stir-frying vegetables, letting the veggies drybeforehand will reduce the amount of oil splash

Always make sure the wok is dry before you add oil to it

You could also wear long sleeves if youre really worried about theoil splashing. After many years of stir-frying and oil splashing,

Ive gotten used to the oil splashing on my hands and arms.

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Stir-fry like a real chef

Its not very difficult to stir-fry something, and become good atstir-frying. Just keep one thing in mind speed is of the essence.

When you stir-fry, work as fast as you can.

While you stir-fry, use the spatula to stir and flip the foodconstantly. This ensures the food is cooked evenly, quickly, andprevents the food from getting burnt.

Although most stir-fry dishes cook quickly, some do requireslightly longer cook time. For example, lotus roots and Chinesebroccoli require longer time to stir-fry than most vegetables. Inthis case, you add a dash of water into the wok, and cover with a

lid. As the steam begins to come out from the lid, the ingredientsare pretty much cooked.

Heres how to stir-fry:

Heat oil on highest temperature until smoking point

Quickly add in your ingredients

With your writing hand holding the spatula, and the otherhand holding the wok, stir, toss, and flip your ingredients

quickly Add in you spices and seasonings

Keep on stirring until the food is cooked

Its very simple. All you need to do is practice at stir-fryingquickly, and adding in seasoning and spices quickly.

This is how I stir-fry my chicken:

Marinate the chicken

Heat oil to smoking point

Quickly add in the chicken

Use the spatula to stir, toss and separate the chicken toensure even cooking (~10 15 seconds)

Quickly add in the spices: i.e. salt, hot sauce, etc (~5seconds)

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Mix the spices with the chicken (~5 10 seconds)

Add in other ingredients such as tofu, veggies, etc

Stir and mix quickly until the added ingredient is cooked(~15 30 seconds or longer depending on the ingredients)

Dish up and serve hot

Now you see why you need to work quickly when stir-frying?

Many western cook shows demonstrate stir-frying on low heat,and in a slow motion. This is not the real way to stir-fry (if youcan even call it stir-frying). You will never get the flavors, colors,and textures stir-frying like this.

Stir-frying tips

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Prepare everything ahead of time.

Cut the ingredients into uniform sizes to ensure even cooking.

Never try to prepare your ingredients while you stir-fry youjust cant.

Make sure the wok is dry before adding oil.

Its a good idea to preheat the wok to medium temperature

before adding in oil.If youre not using a non-stick wok, add a decent amount ofoil (3 5 tablespoons). This not only prevents food fromsticking, it also helps to cook food faster.

If a recipe calls for ginger and garlic, add these first before theingredients. The oil extracts the flavor from the garlic andginger, and enhances the flavor of your dish.

Cut meat in to thin slices for stir-frying, and always stir-fry themeat first.

You can take the meat out after its no longer pink and thencook the vegetables. You dont overcook the meat this way,but its not necessary. I find that I can keep the meat in the

whole time, and it will still be very tender.

Stir-fry your ingredients according to density. Add in the moredifficult ingredients first, so it gets longer cooking time. Add

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the easy to cook ingredients last such as green onions, lettuce,etc

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The less water your ingredient has when stir-frying the less theoil will splash.

Its a good idea to wash your vegetables ahead of time to letsome of the water dry.

Constantly stir and toss the ingredients when stir-frying.

When adding starch water to thicken the sauce, put theingredients to the side. Thicken the sauce before mixing withthe ingredients. Add the starch water slowly so you dont addtoo much.

Serve the dishes hot.

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Steaming

Steaming is simple and straightforward. Place your ingredients inan enclosed environment and fill it with steam.

There are varieties of steamers you can use: pasta cookers,bamboo steamers, stackable steamers, or you can simplyimprovise with whatever you have. I prefer to use bamboosteamers, and occasionally, pasta cookers.

Bamboo steamers are excellent for steaming food. Theconstruction of the bamboo steamer allows for maximum steam

to circulate throughout. If you were steaming multiple items, youcan even stack several bamboo steamers.

If you dont have a steamer, you can make one easily. All youneed is a pot or wok (that can be covered with a lid), and somekind of rack. If you dont even have a rack, use a few chopsticks.Place them crossing each other, and just place your plate on topof the chopsticks. Steamers are also inexpensive. I bought mybamboo steamer for around $10 dollars.

Some of the best ingredients for steaming are carrots, broccoli,asparagus, potatoes, cauliflower, Chinese broccoli, fish, and eggs.Steaming is one of my favorite ways of cooking fish. It not onlyseals in the flavor and juices of the fish, it also makes the fish verytender.

Here are the simple steps to steaming:

Fill your pot or wok about to 1/3 full of water

Turn heat on high Place the steamer on the stove

Place your food inside the steamer, and cover with lid

Steam until the food is cooked

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Steaming tips

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Bring water to a boil with the steamer in place. Only put thefood into the steamer when the water is boiling.

If you are steaming fish, cut a few slits in the meat, and rub onsome salt, spices, garlic etc This adds a lot of flavor to thefish.

When steaming, try not to open the lid too often to check onthe food. Otherwise youre letting all the steam out.

When steaming vegetables such as eggplants, place directlyinto the steamer without a plate. This ensures the top andbottom parts are cooked evenly.

Depending on what youre steaming, the time required willvary. For fish it takes about 10 15 minutes. For vegetables 3to 5 minutes is plenty of time, unless you like your vegetables

very soft.

For extra flavoring, twist on some lemon juice, salt, andpeppers.

Add a little soy sauce, sesame oil, and green onion strips tofish near the end will enhance the flavor and aroma of the fish.

Placing green leaf vegetable under sticky foods will prevent it

from sticking to the steamer. This will save you a lot of cleanup time.

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Thickening Sauces

Sauces are an important part of Chinese cooking. For manydishes, creating the right thickness for the sauce is very important.This all depends on how well you use starch water.

In case you didnt know, starch water is used to thicken all typesof sauces. Starch water is just a combination of cornstarch and

water. As a rule of thumb, mix 2 4 teaspoons of starch withabout cup of water.

When you make the starch water, I suggest using your fingers to

mix it. Since starch likes to clump together, you can use yourfingers to feel if there are any clumps. Make sure to mix thestarch water well.

You will see that many recipes in my cookbook use starch waterto thicken the sauce. Even some soups use starch water tothicken it. For example: Mushroom Egg Drop Soup and Hot andSour Soup. When you thicken soups with starch water, you willneed more starch water than normal. I usually prepare - cupof starch water before hand, and remix before adding into thesoup.

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Tips for using starch water

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Always use your fingers to mix the starch water.

Always remix the starch water before adding to your food.The starch settles and separates from the water after a fewminutes. So make sure to mix it well before using.

Add starch water to your food slowly. This allows you tocontrol the thickness of the sauce.

When stir-frying, put the ingredients to the side and mix thestarch water with the sauce. Then mix with the ingredients.

If you find that you made the sauce too thick, you can slowlyadd a little more water to reduce the thickness.

Add more starch water if you want your sauce to be thicker.

how to cook like a chef for beginners

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