▶ 3:18 How to stir fry

Stir Frying

Stir frying is a unique Chinese technique that has been used regularly by the Chinese for at least a thousand years. Although it resembles French sautéing, it is very different. It is the fastest way to cook food, often taking less than five minutes, but to benefit from this technique, the ingredients must be cut properly to ensure even heating.

Stir frying consists of several steps, and there are minor variations. A typical sequence is as follows:

• Preheat wok on high heat until very hot (dull red), then pout in a small amount of oil. Swish the oil around to coat the surface of the wok. This prevents the ingredients from sticking to the wok and helps to heat the food evenly.
• Put in flavoring agents such as garlic, ginger, or scallions.
• Drop in the pre-cut ingredients. Stir, spade, and turn over with the spatula to coat all surfaces with the hot oil. Bring the underdone pieces closer to the hot center of the wok and put the pieces that are nearly done closer to the cooler rim. Add seasonings, unless the food has been pre-seasoned.
• Add water if necessary (for example, when stir frying fibrous vegetables), then cover the wok. Leafy vegetables, meat, and seafood usually do not need this step.
• Stream in a small amount of wine along the edge of the wok, for added flavor and aroma.
• If cooking meat with vegetables, each are cooked separately, then combined at this step for the remainder of the cooking time.
• If a sauce is desired, thicken the juices with a starch and water mixture before serving.

Interesting/Unusual Foods

A famous Cantonese saying states that “Anything that walks, swims, crawls, or flies with its back to heaven is edible.†So it’s not surprising that the Chinese eat several unusual foods. Here are a few examples:

“Stinky Tofuâ€:
Take a brine made with shrimp, vegetables and salt, ferment for months, soak a block of tofu in it for several hours, and the result is a dish renowned for its pungent odor. Stinky tofu (also known by its Chinese name, Chou Dofu) is one of those foods that it’s impossible to feel neutral about – people either love or hate it. Asian tourists who follow their nose will have no trouble locating a stinky tofu stand – street hawkers who sell it have been fined for breaking air pollution laws.

Sea Cucumber:
Found in Chinese medicine shops is what appears to be a chunk of cement in one of the display cases. This is the dried form of sea cucumber, also known as beche de mer and sea ginseng. This strange looking ocean creature looks exactly like a cucumber with the addition of tubed feet and a ring of tentacles around its mouth. The sea cucumber’s taste doesn’t live up to its appearance – it’s rather bland. Nonetheless, its reputed medicinal value and reputation as an aphrodisiac make sea cucumber a popular dish at Chinese New Years banquets and other festive celebrations.

Thousand-Year Old Eggs:
Thousand-year-old eggs aren’t really that old. A more accurate name for this pungent hors d’oeuvre would be salted or preserved eggs. Thousand-year old eggs (also called century eggs or hundred-year old eggs), are made by preserving duck eggs in ash and salt for one-hundred days. This turns the white of the egg a darkish gray color, giving the eggs an ancient appearance. Definitely an acquired taste, thousand-year old eggs have a strong salty flavor.

Bird’s Nest Soup:
The chief ingredient in Bird’s nest soup is the nest of the swiftlet, a tiny bird that lives in caves in Southeast Asia. Instead of twigs and straw, the swiftlet makes a nest from its own saliva – the only bird in the world to do so. Harvesting these nests requires great skill – men must balance on tall bamboo poles to grab the nests from inside the dark caves. Like sea cucumber, bird’s nest actually tastes rather bland. Its recent rise in popularity comes from its growing reputation both as a health tonic and an aphrodisiac.

Storing Fish and Shellfish

Fresh seafood must be treated differently than beef, pork, lamb, poultry and other meat products. Fish and shellfish lack the tough muscular fiber of land animals, they are accustomed to a very moist environment, and the water temperatures of many fish and shellfish habitats are cold, often just above freezing. Consequently fresh seafood must be handled with care, while being kept cool and moist. Rough handling or improper storage can severely damage fresh seafood products. Mishandling of whole, fresh fish ruptures blood vessels and causes bruising.

The following are guidelines for safe storage of fish and shellfish:

• Incoming shipments should be moved to the cooler as quickly as possible.
• Maximum product life can be obtained by holding fresh fish and shellfish at 30 degrees to 34 degrees F and frozen products at –10 degrees F or colder. Temperature fluctuations are particularly important and these products are best stored in a stainless steel pan with a perforated bottom on a bed of crushed ice.
• Fresh whole fish should be rinsed, cleaned and gutted immediately to preserve freshness. Complete removal of gills is necessary to preserve the quality of fish.
• Fish fillets, steaks, and other cut pieces of fish should not be stored directly on ice. Protect fresh fish from dehydration and contamination by keeping it covered. It is recommended that the fish be wrapped in plastic wrap, and that the wrap be replaced daily.
• Do not hold fresh fish in melt-water or product fluids. Prolonged contact with fluids will leach color, flavor, aroma, and nutrients from the fish .
• Always use two hands when lifting fresh whole fish, steaks, and fillets. Do not pick up a whole fish by the tail.
• Live fin fish must be stored in tanks specifically designed to hold particular types of products buyers purchase.
• All fresh shellfish should be stored in an open container in the cooler with damp seaweed on top to maintain humidity. Never store shellfish in water.
• Follow rotational policies closely. Fresh fish and shellfish should be handled on a FIFO basis. This should be applied to all products, but is especially critical for fresh seafood because of shorter shelf life.
• Stack frozen fish packages away from walls and ceilings for good air circulation.
• Date frozen stock and rotate by FIFO.
• Do not remove plastic wraps from frozen fish.
• Unfrozen, smoked fish should be held at about 32 degrees F, avoiding ice contact
• Marinated fish products should be refrigerated unless heat sterilized in sealed containers.
• Prevent cross contamination by segregating cooked products from raw fish.
• Build purchasing needs around anticipated sales within an estimated shelf life. Note that the maximum shelf life for fresh seafood varies according to species, season, holding temperatures, and other factors.