cheap healthy recipes: Man vs. Chinese Cooking

Man vs. Chinese Cooking

Article by Jacob Hall

Cooking is not my first strength--not even my 58th strength. I've been married since I was 20 and, according to our agreed-upon division of labor, my wife has done all of the cooking. This is to her benefit as she enjoys the creative aspects of cooking and wants to avoid the unintentional damage I might do to the family by preparing meals. I've often had to work long hours and I can't tell you how much I appreciate walking through the door to a hot meal that is both delicious and nutritious.

Having said all of that, I'm not your typical outdoor grill and barbecue kind of guy. That's not my niche. But I have found that I thoroughly enjoy Chinese cooking. I'm a guy, so I'm always looking for any excuse to buy a new tool. Maybe it is the exotic cutlery of oriental cooking that adds that extra zing to the experience. Maybe it's the fresh vegetables. Whatever it is, I enjoy it and also found I like to write about it.

Why do they Cook That Way?

Without making this a history lesson, I learned something of the history of Chinese cooking that added to my experience. I discovered that, since wood and source materials for a fire were rare, the Chinese spent much more time on food preparation than on cooking. Thus, lots of fresh vegetables and small amounts of meat were diced and sliced into little chunks that would cook quickly. To conserve scarce firewood, all of the food was cooked in one pot. Usually the bits of vegetables and meat were thrown into hot grease and prepared as stir-fry. Steaming was also used to cook food in one pot and to conserve the critical nutritious elements of the food. The method of cooking is important, but so is the approach.

Precision in Preparation

The careful and deliberate steps that one must take to prepare before actually cooking hold some attraction to me. It reminds me a bit of the way I used to have to rebuild a carburetor (when I couldn't afford to buy a new one): laying out each piece and meticulously ensuring each part is clean and ready for assembly. So, here are some things that must be done before cooking:

Wash your handsWash all of the vegetables to remove dirt, chemicals, etc.Wash all uncooked meat under cold waterPosition a good cutting board near the center of the actionAssemble knives, cleavers and all utensils you will useLocate pot holders close to help with the hot stuffGet that fire extinguisher close--very important in my case

Rice Equals Food

Rice is such a common staple for the average Chinese family that it is often eaten three times a day. In fact, the Chinese word for rice--fan--is synonymous to food. Because of its central role in all Chinese cooking, I'm going to focus on fried rice for this article. It's my favorite. Prepared well, fried rice can stand on its own as an entire meal. It not only tastes great, it is very easy to prepare. I love it.

Fried Rice

I use the following ingredients:

4 cups cooked cold long-grain rice3 T. vegetable oil2 eggs, beaten1/2 cup chopped onion2 T. soy sauce

Follow these steps:

Loosen and separate the grains of cooked rice (use a fork)Place a large skillet or wok on high heatAdd 2 T. oil and get it hotFry the onion to light golden brown then remove to a plateAdd the remaining 1 T. oil to the skilletAdd eggs and stir-fry until doneAdd rice to the panStir in the soy sauceAdd the onion, mix thoroughly, and continue warming until hot

The above recipe is basic. I like to mix in cooked vegetables such as peas, sugar peas, bamboo shoots, chopped cabbage and a bit of meat if I have some around. I prefer chicken or pork.

All together, this should take 25-30 minutes for some good eating. Doesn't keep me in the kitchen too long, is easy to clean up and very enjoyable.

Maybe I enjoy Chinese cooking above other kinds of food preparation because of the exotic cleavers and knives. So come take a look at one of my latest interests: the history and use of a vegetable cleaver.