Chinese Cooking: Cantonese stir-fry

The Essence of Chinese Stir-Fry

The aesthetics of Chinese cooking is designed to please all the senses. Foods are combined to blend fragrances into memorable aromas. Color is important. The Chinese love the clear gold of chicken broth, the whiteness of rice and the green of vegetables. There is the play of textures by combining crunchiness and smoothness such as the crispness of celery and the creaminess of bean curd. Exquisite smooth sauces stimulate the senses with contrasting tastes.  There is a contrast and variety in dishes by playing hot dishes against cold, small ingredients against large, dry dishes against gravies, sweet with salty, bland against highly seasoned. There is no one main dish in a Chinese dinner but several dishes. Chinese cooking calls for maximum preparation and minimum cooking. The starting point is the ingredient, not the cooking. Ingredients are combined and not cooked alone. It is the cook that seasons the food and the cook who cuts the food and not the diner. The civilized person who partakes in the dinner needs only a pair of chopsticks and a soup spoon.

The Cantonese style enhances the original taste of each ingredient and blends natural flavours. A few  seasonings  are needed such as ginger root, garlic, soy sauce and wine.  The quick method of stir-frying

is the  characteristic of Cantonese cooking.

The following dish is a variation of a vegetable and pork stir-frying dish that I created. Chinese cooking is noted for what is available and what happens to be in season.

Stir-Fried Asparagus, Peppers. And Pork  ( 4 to 5 servings)

Ingredients:

3 peppers ---red , green, orange

2 bunches of asparagus

2  large pork chops or pork loin ( 1 lb.)

4 slices of ginger root

3 cloves garlic

½ tsp of black pepper

½ cup of black bean

3 tablespoons light soy sauce

Olive oil

Utensils:

Cutting knife

Cutting board

Spatula

Wok

 

Preparation:

Cutting is important in Cantonese Chinese cooking when stir-frying. Ingredients cut into small pieces can be stirred easily, cooked quickly and eaten with chopsticks. In cutting the ingredient consideration is given to the nature of the ingredient, how it is to be cooked and the combination of ingredients. Cutting improves the flavor by exposing a large surface area for seasoning. Chinese cutting includes : slicing, dicing, shredding and mincing.

1.       Slice the peppers using a straight cut. Core the pepper and cut the peppers into vertical strips.

2.       Slice the asparagus using a diagonal cut.  The asparagus should be uniform in size to the peppers strips.

3.       Straight cut four slices of ginger root and then mince the slices.

4.       Place the cut peppers, asparagus and minced ginger into a bowl of cold water.

5.       Straight cut pork chops into thin strips along the grain of the meat. Cut the strips into one or two inch lengths and ½ inch widths.

6.       Mince the garlic cloves and sprinkle minced garlic over pork strips

Stir- Frying

1.       Place the wok on the stove and pour two or three tablespoons of olive oil into wok.

2.       Turn the stove on high heat and heat wok until oil is hot.

3.       Stir- Fry the vegetables first.  Add one or two handfuls of peppers, and asparagus and quickly turn for one to two minutes and place in a bowl. Vegetables will still be crispy.

4.       Add more oil to the wok and under high heat begin to stir fry the pork in small handfuls. Remove to a bowl. Make sure pork is well done and no pink coloring.

5.       Add another tablespoon of oil to the wok and return the pork strips to the wok. Sprinkle in the pepper and add the half cup of black bean sauce.  Sprinkle in the light soy sauce. Be sure to be turning all the ingredients.

6.       Add the vegetables to the meat mixture and reduce heat to low to keep warm.  Stir-frying should not take longer than 4 or 5 minutes.