The Cooking of Canton

Its name comes from the port city of Canton, capital of Kwangtung province in southeastern China. Of all the styles of Chinese cooking, Cantonese food is probably the most familiar to Americans.

From Canton came waves of immigrants in the 19th century, who introduced Chinese cooking to the United States. Many of the Chinese restaurants that first opened in America served not what they thought was best, but what they thought would appeal most to the local clientele - which was basic, simple Cantonese food, often enjoyed as much for its low price as its taste appeal.

With the popularity of more regional Chinese restaurants in the United States, Cantonese food has lost some of its appeal. It is time to think beyond chop suey and chow mein and explore the many delicious Cantonese dishes which show the greatest variety and depth of any of the regional Chinese cuisines.

Southeastern China has an unusual abundance of good food to cook. Its moist, tropical climate provides a long growing season for rice, vegetables and fruits, and the 1,000 mile coastline is rich with fish and shellfish. Fresh ingredients need few frills: Cantonese food is light and generally mild, with the emphasis on pure natural flavors.

Other influences upon the cooking of Canton through the centuries is from migrations from northern China during times of political turmoil, and also by commerce with the Portuguese, Dutch and other Western traders who first established contact with the Chinese, introducing foods such as peanuts, corn, tomatoes and white potatoes.

World-wide, Cantonese cooks have become popular for their wide variety of stir-fried dishes and for their expertise in preparing a multitude of snack foods. from fried noodles to steamed dim sum. Their favorite seasonings include Black Bean Sauce, Oyster Sauce and Lobster Sauce.

Wok this Way! (Part 4 of 5) Cleaning and Caring for Your Wok

Wok this Way! (Part 4 of 5) Cleaning and Caring for Your Wok
By Helen Fan

Non-stick woks do not require seasoning, and come with simple cleaning instructions from the manufacturers, while steel carbon and iron woks require seasoning. Cleaning a seasoned wok is a lot different than a non-stick wok, and this is what we will cover here.

We will start with an important reminder: Do NOT use a steel wool scouring pad (or any abrasive product) on a seasoned wok, EVER! It will waste all the effort you put forth in seasoning your wok, and will require you to re-season it again.

A freshly seasoned wok will need some extra tender-loving-care. Immediately after cooking each dish, rinse the wok with plain hot water only. It is important to not use any other cleaning product to avoid damaging the seasoning. Often, there will be some bits and pieces of food particles stuck on the surface of a freshly seasoned wok. To remove them, gently lift them off with a bamboo brush (highly recommended), or a non-metallic scrubber. Then rinse the wok once more with plain hot water. To dry the wok, instead of wiping it dry, put the wet wok on the stove and set it on high heat. Heat the wok until a faint smoke arises from the bottom, then either let it cool and store it away, or continue to cook another dish. It is a common practice for chefs in Chinese restaurants to immediately put the wok back on the stove, pour hot water into the wok, scrub it quickly with a bamboo brush, dump out the water, and then place the wok back on the hot stove while he/she prepares another dish. By the time he/she is ready to cook the next dish, the wok is already hot, dry, and primed to go. It takes literally seconds to go through the drill once you get some practice. This process allows the traces of grease from the last dish to settle into the carbon steel's pores, further seasoning the wok.

After you are finished cooking a meal, cleaning the wok, and ready to put the wok away, it is always a good practice to apply another thin coat of cooking oil. Store it in a dry, airy spot until you use it again (hopefully, very soon). Once the wok is well-seasoned, it becomes self-sufficient, and will not require re-coating again. As mentioned before, It takes time, care, and regular use before a wok develops a patina, where the wok becomes virtually non-stick, and the dishes impart that elusive “wok hay”. In addition, clean-up and care will be easy, requiring little time and effort, often only involves rinsing it with plain hot water and little scrubbing, as none of the food should stick to the wok.

As the black patina develops from frequent repeated use, it will also appear on the bottom exterior. It is also a layer of carbon from cooking at a high heat. In a household kitchen, where the stove does not reach as high a temperature as it does in a restaurant, this is actually a good thing. It helps conduct the heat faster, concentrates the heat to the bottom of the wok, and brings the wok to an even higher temperature. A nice bonus is that it also enhances the flavor of the dish. So, there is no need to scrub the exterior of the wok, either. Just a simple hot water rinse after cooking should be enough.

In Part 5, we'll talk about all the nice little friends that you can get along with your wok, the accessories.

Helen Fan grew up in a family that has owned various Asian restaurants all over North America, from Vancouver (Canada), Houston (Texas), Decatur (Illinois), to Chicago (Illinois). She, and the rest of the Fan family are now sharing their decades of knowledge on the art of Chinese cuisine at http://www.chinesehomecooking.com/

You can read more of our articles at

http://www.ChineseHomeCooking.Com/resources/resources.htm

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Wok this Way! (Part 3 of 5) Seasoning Your New Wok

By Helen Fan

Seasoning is the most important thing you can do to your wok. Only carbon steel and iron woks need to be seasoned. The purpose of seasoning is to remove the manufacturer's protective coating and coat it with a thin layer of oil. This creates a smooth cooking surface which enables food to shift and glide easily, thus preventing your food from sticking, discoloring, and picking up a metallic taste.

The initial step is to scrub it thoroughly. Take a steel wool scouring pad and scrub both the inside and outside of the wok with soap. This will remove the anti-rust coating that comes with most woks. If your new wok comes with some rust spots, don't worry. It is completely normal for unseasoned woks to develop some minor rust. Just make sure that you scrub out the rust before you move on. Rinse it thoroughly with hot water. Then, to make sure that you remove all the coating, set the wok on the stove, fill it with water, and boil it for 5 to 10 minutes to dissolve the remaining coating. Pour out the water and scrub the surface again with steel wool scouring pad and soap. New woks may cause a slight metallic taste to the first two or three dishes that are cooked in it, but after that, the metallic taste will disappear.

Reminder: the steel wool scouring pad is only to be used in this initial step prior to seasoning your new wok. Do NOT use a steel wool scouring pad on a seasoned wok, EVER! It will waste all the effort you put forth in seasoning your wok, and will require you to re-season it again.

Next, place the wok on the stove over high heat. You're ready for the next step when you sprinkle a few drops of water into the wok and they start to dance around the bottom. Then, roll up a few sheets of paper towel, or use a piece of cloth, and dip it in cooking oil. Peanut oil or corn oil are preferred because of their high smoking point, thus minimizing smoke fumes when you are seasoning the wok.. Naturally, turning on your stove top vent will help reduce the fumes, too. Using a pair of long wooden chopsticks, or tongs, wipe the soaked paper towel over the entire inner surface of the wok. Reduce the heat down to low, and let the wok sit for 15 minutes. This allows the wok to absorb the oil. If the surface begins to dry off, then wipe the wok again with the soaked paper towel. You want the wok to obtain a thin film of oil when it's seasoned. The bottom of the wok should be slightly brown. Repeat the above steps two more time, and the bottom should darken even more. Over time, the entire wok will turn black (that's good). Now the wok is ready to go.

But we're not nearly done. Ever wonder why Chinese restaurant dishes produce that mouth-watering aroma when they are served on your table? And ever wonder why you can't quite match that flagrant flavor when you try to cook Chinese food at home? They come from cooking food on an almost impervious shiny black coating in a well-seasoned wok. That black coating is called “patina”, which is essentially harmless carbon residue from cooking in a wok repeatedly on high heat. A well-seasoned wok cooking at a high heat will impart what Chinese chefs lovingly call “wok hay”. Its literal translation is “breath of wok”. Wok hay is so revered in Chinese culinary tradition that in China , especially in the Canton region (south), when a customer is served stir fry dish without wok hay, it is considered an insult or bad luck.

It takes time, care, and regular use before a wok develops a patina. There are no shortcuts. But having patina on your wok is still not enough produce wok hay on your dishes. It is imperative that you heat the wok on high heat to the point where you see some faint smoke coming from the bottom before you add cold cooking oil. The cold cooking oil cools down the wok slightly, and makes the food taste tenderer once it's done. If the wok is not hot enough, or cold (gasp!) when you pour in the cooking oil, the ingredients will stick to the wok (even with the patina) and inevitably burn, also leaving the ingredients raw inside. Not to mention you lose that coveted “wok hay”.

In Part 4, we will talk about cleaning and caring for you wok.

Helen Fan grew up in a family that has owned various Asian restaurants all over North America, from Vancouver (Canada), Houston (Texas), Decatur (Illinois), to Chicago (Illinois). She, and the rest of the Fan family are now sharing their decades of knowledge on the art of Chinese cuisine at http://www.chinesehomecooking.com/
You can read more of our articles at http://www.ChineseHomeCooking.Com/resources/resources.htm
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Chinese Chili Prawns And Rice

By Jon C

This dish involves a delicious combination of chilli prawns and rice. Either raw or pre-cooked prawns can be used. Though raw prawns are better for absorbing flavour from the marinade. The end result is very similar to fried rice, though a wok is not required.

Quantities shall not be listed in the recipe as I am an adhoc chef and just add roughly what I think is best. When you try this recipe, become an artist and add your own .

Ingredients

Prawn Marinade:
ginger
garlic
chili (powder, flakes or fresh)
sesame oil
light soya sauce

For the rest:
rice
water
onion
mushrooms
sweetcorn
peas
Bouillon vegetable stock
spring onion

Instructions

Prawn Marinade
Chop the ginger, garlic and chilli (if fresh) finely. Mix
this with the sesame oil, light soya sauce and ground black pepper.
Mix the
prawns in the marinade and set aside in a fridge for a few hours. If I'm
planning on serving lunch at 12pm, I'll normally prepare the beef at 9am.

Cooking

Rinse the rice in the rice cooker a few times, and fill with water until there's about a finger nail's breadth of water above the top of the rice. Add about half a teaspoon of vegetable stock to the rice, Chop the onion and mushrooms into small pieces. Add all the vegetables (apart from the spring onion) to the rice. Add the marinaded prawns to the rice. Mix everything up. Turn on the rice cooker start cooking. Chop up
the spring onion.

When the food is cooked (this normally takes about 30 minutes), turn off the rice cooker, add the chopped spring onion, and give it all another good stir.

I am Jon C, the head chef at http://www.dawjee.com/ I try to provide my staff with healthy meals using our limited cooking resources, which consists of a rice cooker, combination microwave oven and egg steamer.
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