Chinese Food Culture - 5 Things Must Know About Chinese Cooking

If you love eating Chinese food and would like to try cooking your own Chinese meals at home, here are some things you must know about the basics of Chinese Cooking. Hopefully these tips and guidelines will help you get on your way to being able to enjoy delicious homecooked Chinese dishes from the convenience of your own kitchen!

Stocking the Pantry

Before you start cooking, you need to make sure that you have all the must-have ingredients for Chinese food ready and available in your pantry. Pantry essentials such as soy sauce, oyster sauce, sesame oil, rice vinegar, rice, garlic, ginger, chili, etc are worth familiarizing yourself with because you will use these ingredients over and over in Chinese cooking. You can also find out more about all the Chinese Sauces You Must Have In Your Pantry from our previous article  here.

The Right Cooking Tools

In this case, we will specifically talk about the type of wok you should buy. You don’t absolutely have to buy a wok to create satisfying Chinese meals, but this bowl-shaped utensil has several key advantages. They spread heat evenly and give the best results for stir fries, they use less oil for deep frying than a traditional deep-fat fryer and you can use a wok and bamboo steamer to steam food. A good wok will make it a lot easier to cook Chinese food. There are plenty of helpful tips on the Internet for choosing a good wok, so take your time and do your research.

Keep It Simple

If you’re new at cooking Chinese cuisine, it is a great idea to stick to simple recipes that are easy to follow. It’s also a good idea to get all the help you can get by using ready sauces made by a brand that’s globally trusted to deliver authentic Chinese flavours, without going through the hassle of preparing everything from scratch. You can explore all the recipes on our website here and search by Difficulty level. As you become more and more confident, feel free to attempt dishes with a higher Difficulty level!

Preparation of Ingredients and Cooking Time

Preparing all your ingredients before cooking, making sure they are evenly cut, sliced, or chopped will have a significant impact on the cooking time and the finished dish. Uneven pieces of vegetables or protein can mean some will over cook whereas some may be undercooked. Thinly slicing your ingredients for a stir fry will ensure a quicker cooking time that is required for this method of cooking.

Sauces and Seasonings

Chinese cooking is big on flavour, so preparing sauces and seasonings is crucial to bring out the flavours in each dish. Always use fresh ingredients e.g. fresh ginger and garlic, not powdered. Use good quality ingredients and sauces for your marinades. Most recipes would require a sauce mix to be prepared prior to cooking. Other recipes would have dipping sauce suggestions.

Are you ready for Chinese cooking at home? Share with us what you have cooked and let us know how you go. If you have any further questions about Chinese cooking, feel free to send us your enquiry. Happy Chinese Cooking!