Every Grain of Rice: Simple Chinese Home Cooking (49 page)

4 | 枸杞子

Gouqi or goji berries
(
gou qi zi
)

These small, scarlet berries, a traditional Chinese medicine, have become known as a “superfood” in the West in recent years because they are rich in Vitamin C and other nutrients. In Chinese cooking, they are added in small quantities to soups and stews, or used as a vivid garnish for dim sum or other dishes. Gouqi berries can be found in most Chinese supermarkets and medicine shops, as well as in some health food shops.

5 | 紫菜

Laver seaweed
(
zi cai
)

Sold dried and pressed into crinkly round sheets that are almost black in color, this seaweed is a delicious addition to Chinese soups. It expands dramatically when soaked in stock or water so a little goes a very long way. It can be found in most Chinese supermarkets. Because of its crinkly, cellophane-like texture, it’s not easy to cut with a knife: just tear it into small pieces with your fingers.

6 | 黃花，金針

Lily flowers
(
huang hua
,
jin zhen
)

These dark yellow, long-petalled dried flowers are also known as “golden needles,” day lily flowers or tiger lilies. They can be found packaged in most Chinese supermarkets.

7 | 荷葉

Lotus leaves
(
he ye
)

These huge dried leaves are a little inconvenient to store, but they have a wonderful fragrance. They are most often used to wrap glutinous rice, meat or poultry for steaming (including that dim sum favorite, chicken with glutinous rice) and are also, in the heat of summer, added to congee, to which they impart their marvellous aroma and medicinally cooling qualities. You can find them in larger Chinese supermarkets.

8 | 黑木耳

Wood ear or
Chinese black fungus
(
hei muer
)

This dark brown fungus grows in rows of “ears” on damp wood, hence the name. It is sold dried, in a dark, crinkly form, in most Chinese supermarkets, and must be soaked in hot water for about 30 minutes before use.

RICE AND FLOUR

1 | 生粉

Potato flour
(
sheng fen
)

Potato flour is a flavorless white powder used to thicken sauces, to clothe small pieces of meat or fish so they have a silky mouthfeel, and to make batters for deep-frying. It can be bought in most Asian food shops and a packet lasts a very long time. Pea starch is used in the same way in some parts of China. Cornstarch can be used as a substitute, but is less gelatinous: I’ve done some experiments and echo the findings of food writer Yan-kit So, that you need half as much again of cornstarch. Do adjust the quantities in the recipes if you wish to use cornstarch.

2 | 紅曲米，紅曲粉

Red yeast rice
(
hong qu mi,
hong qu fen
)

This seasoning and natural food coloring is widely used in the Lower Yangtze region. It is made by infecting rice with a kind of yeast (
Monascus purpureus
) that gives it an intense fuchsia color, a technology that dates back about 1,000 years, to the Song Dynasty. Often, it is sold ground, as a deep pink powder (ii), but you may also find the whole pink grains (i) on sale.

3 | 米粉，蒸肉粉

Rice meal
(
mi fen,
zheng rou fen
)

A coarse meal of rice that has been toasted with spices, then pounded or ground. It is used to steam meats, fish and some vegetables. It can be made at home fairly easily, but is also sold in Chinese supermarkets, sometimes translated as “steam powder.”

NOODLES

A vast variety of noodles are eaten in China. In the north and central China, they are generally made from wheat flour, while those in the far south often prefer those made from rice. Wheat noodles sometimes have egg added to the dough, perhaps with other seasonings such as shrimp eggs or fish. Noodles can also made from sweet potato starch, mung bean starch and buckwheat.

4 | 粉絲

Bean thread noodles
(
fen si
)

Also known as mung bean vermicelli, these fine, transparent noodles should be soaked in hot water for 15 minutes before use. Flavorless in themselves, but with a pleasantly strandy and slippery texture, they can easily be found in most Chinese supermarkets.

5 | 蕎麵

Buckwheat noodles
(
qiao mian
)

Eaten in some parts of China, these have a wonderfully nutty, earthy flavor. They are fabulous served with spicy sauces the Sichuanese way. Pure buckwheat noodles are best made to order from buckwheat paste squeezed through holes into a wokful of boiling water; this is because, dried, they have an unfortunate tendency to fall apart while cooking. For this reason I tend to use those noodles made with a mixture of both wheat and buckwheat when I am preparing buckwheat noodle dishes at home. These noodles, in a dried form, can easily be found in Chinese or Korean groceries, or, as
soba
, in Japanese stores.

6 | 米粉，河粉

Rice noodles
(
mi fen
or
he fen
)

Rice noodles, known by the Cantonese as
ho fun
, are widely eaten in the far south of China and can be used as a substitute for wheat noodles in most dishes if you don’t eat wheat. Fresh rice noodles simply need reheating in boiling water before being used; dried rice noodles should be soaked in hot water for about 30 minutes until supple, then reheated in boiling water when you want to eat them.

7 | 麵調

Wheat noodles, fresh or dried
(
mian tiao
)

These are the most commonly used type of noodles in the north, the Southern Yangtze region and Sichuan, as well as other Chinese regions, and can be found in most Chinese groceries. Japanese
udon
can be used as a substitute.

8 | 餛飩皮

Wonton wrappers
(
hun dun pi
or
yun tun pi
)

Wonton skins are made from wheat flour and water, usually with added egg, and are thin and supple. They can be found in good Chinese supermarkets.

9 | 糯米粉

Glutinous rice flour
(
nuo mi fen
)

This white flour, mixed with water to a putty-like dough, is used to make glutinous rice balls with either sweet or savory stuffings.

COOKING OILS AND FATS

For stir-frying, it is important to use an oil with a high smoke point. I tend to use peanut or rapeseed (canola) oil or occasionally, if I have it, lard. Melted chicken fat is a luxury used in Chinese banquet cooking, so never throw away the fat that solidifies at the top of a cooled chicken stock, or in a roasting pan; instead keep it in the fridge and add it in small quantities to stir-fried mushrooms, steamed or poached vegetables, soups, or soup noodle dishes, just before you serve them, like a gentle, natural MSG. Duck fat can be used in a similar way. Please note that toasted sesame oil is listed separately, because it is used as a seasoning rather than as a cooking oil. The following oils and fats are those most suitable for Chinese cooking:

菜籽油

Rapeseed oil
(
cai zi you
)

Yellow rapeseed (canola) oil is the main traditional cooking oil in many parts of southern China, including Sichuan and Zhejiang. It has a high smoke point, which makes it good for wok cooking, and a rich aroma and flavor. I’ve recently discovered a source of organic rapeseed oil and it’s rapidly taking over from peanut oil in my kitchen as my main cooking oil for Chinese dishes.

花生油

Groundnut (peanut) oil
(
hua sheng you
)

Peanut oil has a clean, neutral taste and a high smoke point, which makes it suitable for all kinds of wok cooking. It is available in all mainstream supermarkets.

葵花子油

Sunflower oil
(
kui hua zi you
)

Another oil with a high smoke point that is used for all kinds of Chinese cooking, including stir-frying and deep-frying.

豬油

Lard
(
zhu you
)

Home-made lard lends a wonderful umami richness to stir-fried dishes and transforms stir-fried mushrooms into something sublime. It is one of the important traditional cooking fats of rural China, where many households render it down themselves after they have killed their New Year’s pig. To make your own lard at home, tap
here
. A small amount of lard can be added to peanut or vegetable oil while stir-frying, as a flavor enhancer.

茶油

Camellia oil
(
cha you
)

Also known as tea oil or tea seed oil, this is one of the secret treasures of the southern Chinese kitchen. It is currently little known in the West, although I suspect it won’t be long before it is valued as a special delicacy. The golden oil is pressed from the roasted seeds of the
Camellia oleifera
tree, a relative of the plant from which tea is produced. It has a wonderfully nutty flavor, is exceptionally rich in nutrients and low in saturated fats, which is why it is sometimes known as “the oriental olive oil.” In the past, it was the main cooking oil in Hunan Province and some other parts of China. Its high smoke point makes it suitable for all kinds of cooking, but these days it is more often used sparingly, for its flavor.

SEASONING OILS

香油，麻油

Sesame oil
(
xiang you
,
ma you
)

Toasted sesame oil, which can be found in mainstream supermarkets as well as in Chinese shops, has a dark caramel color and a strong, nutty aroma. It is never used as a cooking oil, because heat destroys its fragrance, but is added in small quantities to hot dishes in the final stages of cooking, or used in dressings for dumplings, cold dishes and dips. Always choose a pure toasted sesame oil rather than blended versions.

花椒油

Sichuan pepper oil
(
hua jiao
)

Sichuan pepper oil, increasingly available in Chinese supermarkets, is made by infusing whole Sichuan pepper in hot oil. Although it rarely has the intense fragrance of the best whole pepper, it has a fruity, zingy flavor and can be used as a substitute for the spice, especially in cold dishes.

RICE WINE AND VINEGAR

鎮江醋，陳醋

Chinkiang vinegar
(
zhen jiang cu
) or brown rice vinegar

Dark Chinkiang vinegar, produced in Zhenjiang (Chinkiang) in eastern Jiangsu Province, is one of the most famous Chinese vinegars and is sold in most Chinese supermarkets. It is made from glutinous rice and is naturally colored by charred rice grains. It has a fairly light acidity and a complex flavor that can be a little reminiscent of Italian balsamic vinegars. Many different grades of vinegar are produced in Zhenjiang, but unfortunately only the most basic is currently available in the UK.

白米醋

Clear rice vinegar
(
bai mi cu
)

These vinegars tend to be used in pale dishes that might be spoiled by the dark color of a Chinkiang-type vinegar, though they have a sharper, more acidic and less complex taste than the darker vinegars.

紹興酒，黃酒，料酒

Shaoxing wine
(
shao xing jiu,
huang jiu,
liao jiu
)

This amber-colored wine, produced in the ancient city of Shaoxing in eastern China, is used in marinades to refine the flavors of fish and meats and as a flavoring in its own right. Shaoxing cooking wines can be found in all Chinese supermarkets and also in some mainstream supermarkets, but don’t try to drink them as wine. Fine Shaoxing wines, which are also suitable for drinking, can be found in some Chinese stores. If you don’t have any to hand, medium-dry sherry can be used as a substitute. Most of the recipes in this book that only use small amounts of Shaoxing wine will work without it, even if the flavors of the final dish will be a little less delicate.