Cooking Chinese

[siamsam]

I wanted to have a go at cooking two Chinese dishes but I have a few question first.

I want to cook fried rice so what sauces should I use? Is soy sauce enough or should I add something like oyster sauce as well?

The second dish I want to try is sweet and sour pork now the recipe I have says corn starch is that the same as corn flour?

Can I use ordinary flour instead of corn starch / cornflour to make the batter?

What is the best oil to use to deep fry the battered pork balls in, peanut or olive?

Thank you for your help
cheers

[RyoSaeba]

Originally Posted by siamsam

I wanted to have a go at cooking two Chinese dishes but I have a few question first.

I want to cook fried rice so what sauces should I use? Is soy sauce enough or should I add something like oyster sauce as well?

The second dish I want to try is sweet and sour pork now the recipe I have says corn starch is that the same as corn flour?

Can I use ordinary flour instead of corn starch / cornflour to make the batter?

What is the best oil to use to deep fry the battered pork balls in, peanut or olive?

Thank you for your help
cheers

Fried rice varies a little from shop to shop. But typically soy sauce is all you need. I like to give it a splash of Worchestershire Sauce too or alternatively maggi soy sauce. Corn Flour and corn starch are the same thing. You can use ordinary flour to make the batter, but I believe that the end result is not as crunchy. Best oil for flavour is peanut oil, but typically peanut oil has lower smoke point and is not as healthy.

But all of those above is not the true secret of the golden fried rice you see in restaurants nor is it the secret to the delicious deep fried nuggest of porks. The true secret is Lard. Pure pork fat. To get the golden coloured fried rice that restaurants make, you use lard. It adds flavour to the rice as well as gives it a nice colour. Also for deep frying it's very good. However it's also fairly unhealthy as you can imagine.

My recommendation is just to use canola oil for frying and soy sauce + worchestershire sauce for your fried rice.

[siamsam]

Thank you very much for your reply I will go with your suggestions

[lithos]

Corn flour is quite a handy thing to have in the kitchen. If you use wheat flour, you'll end up with Pommy-style fish and chip batter - very dense, not light like the Chinese one you're going for.

Corn flour is also great for thickening sauces. You need much less than wheat flour, you don't need to cook out the raw taste like with wheat flour, and the sauce stays transparent, instead of opaque.

[siamsam]

Thanks I will be buying some corn flour today good to hear it is so handy to have and wont go to waste.

[negatron]

Also note there are 2 main types of (chinese) soy available in the asian shops.

I use a combination of both in my cooking.

And buy the premium ones from a known brand Lee Kum Kee. Cheap soy sauces aren't worth it


Light or fresh soy sauce (生抽 shēngchōu)
. It is the main soy sauce used for seasoning, since it is saltier, has less noticeable color, and also adds a distinct flavour

Dark and old soy sauce (老抽 lǎochōu)
This soy sauce is produced through prolonged aging and added caramel, and may contain added molasses to give it its distinctive appearance.
This variety is mainly used during cooking, since its flavour develops during heating. It has a richer, slightly sweeter, and less salty flavour than light soy sauce. Dark soy sauce is partly used to add color and flavour to a dish after cooking, but, as stated above, is more often used during the cooking process, rather than after.

[STINGA]

Have a read of this:
http://forums.overclockers.com.au/sh...=670214&page=6

[siamsam]

Thanks for the replies they are much appreciated

[Andrew_Wong]

Soy sauce and oyster sauce are not always required for fried rice.

Marinade your chicken or beef in sesame oil, sliced ginger. If you want a bit of white pepper to give it a slight kick. Bacon is awesome in fried rice. Or yesterday's roast duck/pork take away.

First fry your egg omelette. Medium hot oil .. throw 3-4 beaten eggs into oil. . work quickly to not brown the egg.. keep it turning so its fluffy. Take it out while it's still a bit runny.

For next part, wok has to be a good amount of vegetable oil - super hot.. smoking. You want the sesame oil to flash (lower bp) and catch fire. Then the meat burns on the outside but doesn't overcook. Great smoky sesame flavour.

Throw in cooked rice as soon as meat is browned. Yesterday's rice is best. Mix vigorously. If you have a proper wok burner you can toast the rice so it doesn't get soggy. If you do it on a gas hob slowly.. not great.

Throw in veg and let it steam rather than fry. Good to put frozen peas.

Now throw in the half cooked omelette and smash it up - not too much you want the egg to be in clumps.

Mix vigorously until veg is cooked.. doesn't take more than 3 minutes to cook this whole dish when you have a proper wok burner.

Serve with fried shallot, freshly sliced raw garlic, maggi sauce, chicken rice chilli sauce.

[scon]

If you can get enough corn flour, you can do this:



And surely that would be worth it.

[Scando]

Big fan of Rice Bran Oil here... Higher smoke point than many other veg oils.

[Johnbu]

I also like to add oyster sauce, Chinese rice wine and a few drops of sesame oil

[siamsam]

Thanks for the replies my fried rice turned out awesome in the end I used soy and hoisin sauce. My sweet and sour pork was very average the batter was no where near like a restaurant maybe it was the heat either that or my batter needed to be thicker as the coating on the pork was not very thick ... not sure where I went wrong. On a positive note my sweet and sour sauce was very good.