Tag: Chinese

How to use the wok? Useful tips and advice on the Chinese pot – Italian Cuisine

The wok is suitable for many types of cooking to prepare many light and tasty dishes in no time. Here's how to use it

Looking for one pot suitable for all types of cuisine? Ideal for frying, browning and steaming? If you still do not know it or have never used it we will present it to you: here is the wok! Its origin is Chinese, but it has long been that this pot has crossed into Italian borders and is used by many chef, even for very common recipes. There are various types of them on the market dimensions (usually between 26 and 34 cm), with removable and very light handle.

Why use the wok

THE advantages of cooking with the wok there are so many. The conical shape of this pot, just to give an example, causes the heat to radiate uniformly over the entire surface, making the cooking food much faster. Thanks to the cooking speed, food does not lose its precious ingredients nutritional substances of which they are composed and the types of cuisine usually heavier – such as fried – they are lighter because less oil and less time will be needed. It should also not be underestimated how perfect this pot is to prepare more foods at the same time.

Tips for learning to use the wok

But which ones technical should I use it to optimize the use of the wok in the kitchen? Here is 5 advice fast.

1) Whether it is steamed, fried or simply sautéed, the trick is to do fast. The wok, in fact, loses its peculiarities when the preparation time becomes longer.
2) To cook steamed with the wok, don't forget the special basket.
The wok can also be used with one grid resting on the top of the pot. All the fats will fall in the lower part of the wok and allow you to cook light and tasty dishes.
3) When inserted into the wok more ingredients to be cooked together remember to mix them transversally and not circularly, making them stick as closely as possible to the very hot walls of the pot.
4) Combining a cover at the wok you can easily stew your food or thicken the sauces you are preparing.
5) When will be the turn of to wash the pot after using it, pass it under hot water with a sponge to remove the dirt. The non-stick walls the wok will be cleaned quickly and – except in some cases with more encrusted dirt – you will not even need dish detergent.

The dishes you can prepare with the wok

After these tips it is time to give some examples of dishes which you can easily prepare using the wok. Let's start with a great classic: i Pad Thai, the famous Thai noodles that, thanks to the kitchen in the wok, will be ready in a very short time. If we talk about long pasta we can not remember the noodles, traditional Chinese spaghetti that are perfectly prepared with this fantastic pan. If you want something more complex but definitely tasty, you can try your hand at preparing steamed ravioli, meat and vegetables – the famous ones dumpling – with the wok that will be your precious ally during cooking.

Even the cooking of rice, with the use of wok in recipes like the Cantonese rice and the most classic of the saffron risotto they will be faster and simpler. Not to mention a second dish with a Thai flavor vegetables and ham.

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How to prepare the mantou, the Chinese steamed buns – Italian Cuisine

They look like little clouds! An oriental recipe to try immediately to amaze!

Perhaps you have seen some Chinese restaurants and takeaways that offer Asian streetfood small, soft and white sandwiches to be consumed empty or filled of frayed meat or vegetables.
It is about mantou and if you have tasted them and liked them, we will explain to you how to prepare them at home.

What are the mantou

The mantou, typical of Chinese cuisine, are prepared with a mixture similar to that of a focaccia and then steamed.
Their characteristic, in addition to the particularly clear color, almost white, it is the consistency that is really very soft.
Traditionally they are enough little ones and empty spaces are consumed instead of bread.
Once stuffed with meat and vegetables they are called baozi and I'm a typical one Chinese streetfood.

The history of steamed sandwiches

According to one cines legendand, in the period of the three kingdoms, the strategist Zhuge Liang led the army of the kingdom of Shu to invade the lands of the south. After subduing the barbarian king Meng Huo, Zhuge Liang wanted to return home, but he faced a major obstacle, a raging river. A local man told him that the barbarians used to sacrifice 50 men and throw their heads into the river to placate it and to satisfy the spirit of the waters, but Zhuge Liang did not want to sacrifice any man and then killed cows and horses that traveled with the army and filled with their meat some sandwiches that had the shape of human heads and threw them into the river. Once crossed the river gave these sandwiches the name of "barbarian head" that is mantou in his language.

The recipe for the mantou

Ingredients
200 g of flour 0
120 ml of water
2 g of dry beer yeast
1 tablespoon of seed oil
a pinch of salt
1 teaspoon of sugar

Method
To prepare the Chinese rolls mix first yeast and water.
Then slowly add the other ingredients and work everything with your hands or inside a planetary with hook.
Let the dough rise for about an hour, then divide it into six parts and form balls or muffins more flattened. Let them rise again and then cook them inside a bamboo steamer covered with parchment paper and placed on a pot of boiling water.
The steamer must be closed with the lid and the sandwiches must cook for about 20 minutes.

Spiral procedure
Once ready the dough and leavened a first time you can roll it out with a rolling pin and then roll it up creating a sort of sausage. Cut some balls and let them rise. In this way, a sort of spiral will be created inside.

How to fill and store the mantou

Better not to keep them because they dry up easily.
Prepare and serve immediately, still warm and very soft.
You can stuff it with meat the frayed pork or with the vegetable or even with something sweet if you put a little salt in the dough. The ideal accompaniment if you prepare them as a dessert is with condensed milk and in this case you can use the same dough and fry it instead of steaming it.

If you are curious to know more, take a look at our gallery.

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Before the Spanish jamón and the Italian ham there was the Chinese one – Italian Cuisine

Although in the West it is associated with Italy or Spain, the ham actually has oriental origins in ancient China, where it is still considered a specialty

Long before the Italians produced ham and the Spanish their jamón, the Chinese were producing their own raw ham in the small city of Jinhua, from which he has kept the name. The production of this Chinese ham, harder and more salty than that known in the West, dates back to the distant kingdom of the Tang dynasty and was later discovered by Marco Polo. Jinhua ham is still an important ingredient of traditional national cuisineIt is, for example, widely used for flavoring stewed, braised and soups, and is considered the best ham in the country.

History of Huo tui, the first ham in history

In ancient China, and more precisely in the eastern province of Zhejiang, the first ham of the world was produced. The origin is traced back to the period 618-907 BC. while the discovery of this exceptional local ingredient by Marco Polo took place in the 13th century. The hind legs of a breed of pigs native to China called "the two black ends", famous for the excellent quality of the meat, were commonly worked and salted by soldiers in Jinhua to undertake long journeys during the war, and it was the imperial scholar Zong Ze who introduced him to the Emperor of the Song Dynasty Gaozong. Gaozong was so in love with the intense flavor of the ham and its red color who decided to call him huo tui, or "leg of fire".

What you need to know about this ancient Chinese ham

The taste and texture of Jinhua ham has very little to do with hams, cooked or raw, to which we are accustomed, such as San Daniele. We forget the sweetness and softness of Italian ham cut into thin slices; the Chinese one is harder and salty, and therefore more complicated to use in the kitchen. Unlike the Italian tradition of the antipasto or the Spanish tapas, it is not in fact considered in itself a main course that can be served sliced in a dish, but rather a sort of flavor enhancer. In the museum of ham in the city of Jinhua is not only explained the local historical craftsmanship process, but also the differences between Chinese ham and Italian, French, Spanish, British and American ham.

The long method of preparing Chinese ham

The traditional process of making Jinhua ham required about 8-10 months to be completed, and well 36 procedures, including dressing, peeling, salting, washing, drying, fermentation and the final olfactory examination. After the ham leg is cleaned and seasoned, it is salted six times, with an interval of 25-35 days between each salting. Then follows the fermentation process, during which the ham is stored in a cool and dark place for 6-8 months so that it can develop its typical aroma and flavor. The final step, known as odor verification, consists of inserting a bamboo stick or a sharp bone into the meat; once the stick is removed, the aroma is evaluated to check the quality of the product. Thanks to new processing techniques, which include temperature and humidity regulation, the total time needed has been reduced to one period of 1-2 months.

The Buddha soup with Chinese ham from Jinhua

Where to find it and how to use it in the kitchen

It is not easy to find Jinhua ham outside of China, even in many countries, including the United States, it is forbidden. In China this handicraft product is not available in supermarkets, but it is possible to buy it in city markets, often located in historic and older neighborhoods, in street vendors, in some stores specialized in local dried meat or sold whole and at a more expensive price at some restaurants. It is good to know that of the Chinese ham there are different types on the market, which vary depending on the level of salting and flavor.
In Chinese cuisine, this ingredient, as we have seen, is typically used to enrich soups or broths, but nowadays it is also used to flavor potato chips or eaten in pieces like snacks to eat between two slices of bread, to be accompanied with a little wine or a beer.

Photo: ham origin in China at Jinhua_wikipedia_helennawindylee.jpg
Photo: Buddha soup boul_Chinese soup with ham_Wikipedia_SunSuke.jpg