Chinese Cooking: More Special Ingredients

By Jacklyn Chen

I have briefly introduced two most classic and expensive Chinese cooking ingredients (shark fins and bird's nest) in my previous article. Here I'll continue to introduce some other special ingredients that are more regularly used in our daily cooking. They are far more affordable. Not like shark fins and bird's nest, people can only dream about in China unless you have plenty of money and don't know where to spend.

Jellyfish
Jellyfish is preserved in salt and alum. Large, thin and translucent ones are especially good served as appetizer. It is produced in the South Seas and along seaboards of China, Korea and Japan. The South Seas product is considered to be of the best quality.
Method of Preparation: Soak jellyfish over night, change water and soak for one more day. Roll the jellyfish up and shred. Dip in boiling water for a few seconds and quickly rinse in cold water and drain. Season with vinegar, salt and sugar.

Serve Note: There are many other ways to cook jellyfish.

Preserved Eggs
Duck eggs thickly coated with a mixture of salt, lime and rice husks are preserved in a cool, dark place for about three months. The interior becomes brownish black in color due to fermentation. Remove lime crust and shell, rinse clean, cut lengthwise into six pieces and serve with shredded ginger, vinegar and soy sauce as an appetizer.

Dried Bêche-De-Mer
The best bêche-de-mer or sea cucumber when dried is black in color, as that produced in Hokkaido, Japan. It may be sautéed, stewed or braised.
To soften: Wash, cover with water and bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Slit the middle lengthwise and clean inside. Rinse, cover with water and bring to boil again. remove from heat, place on lid, and let stand for three days.

Dried Shrimp
Dried shrimps after soaking in warm water for about 10 minutes may be used in soups and sautéed dishes, or served cold as an appetizer.

Dried Scallops
Dried scallops have a delicate flavor and after softening in hot water, may be used in soups or other dishes as with dried shrimps.

Preserved Szechwan (SiChuan, in mandarin) Vegetable
This vegetable is the bulb of mustard green preserved in chili, salt and spices, produced in Szechwan, China, and has a unique flavor. It may be used in soups, sautéed dishes or simply sliced and served as an appetizer. People from north of China normally eat it along with rice congee as breakfast.

Cloud Ears
There are black and white varieties of cloud ears and the white variety being much more expensive, is used only in special dishes. Most of the Japanese product is either black or dark brown in color. Softened in warm water, it may be used in soups and sautéed or braised dishes.

Bean Thread - Chinese Vermicelli
Chinese vermicelli made from bean starch is translucent in appearance and does not melt under long cooking. It may be used in soups or braised dishes after softening in warm water.

Variegated Mushrooms
The top of this mushroom is variegated with cracks resembling that of a turtle shell. This flavorful mushroom is used in many of the delicate dishes, and may also be served deep fried.

Jacklyn Chen - Webmaster of news-blogs.com, satellite info, and emobile-news.com. She is a full time mom who works very hard to make living with multiple web sites. She will be pursuing singing career in China and hoping for success.
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Chinese Cooking: Sauces & Spices

By Jacklyn Chen

Sauces and spices are the key in any cooking. No dishes would taste good without them. The only exception is that some sea animals can be simply steamed or boiled before serve. Well, that is because they are salty already in their body. Imagine eating steamed river shrimp? I wouldn't bother!

I'd like to introduce some of the most popular sauces and spices that we use everyday. You may already know some of them, but I bet you haven't heard of others.

Sauces

Bean Curd Sauce (Dou Fu Ru):
Fermented bean curd, rich in proteins. May be kept for fairly long time. Comes in two types - red and white. Red is typically used to cook Braised Pork. White tastes spicy and is normally used as a side dish along with noodles, buns, or congee. Some like to serve with soy sauce and vinegar for meat dumplings, hot pot dishes, and others. Favored by north and west of China.

Oyster Sauce:
Oil from oyster. Heavily salted. Use sparingly for sautéed dishes. Popular in Hong Kong, Cantoon (Guang Dong, to be exact), and some areas in south of China while not used at all in north and west of China except for hotels and some restaurants.

Shrimp Sauce:
Oil from salted baby shrimp dried and fermented. Use sparingly for sautéed dishes. Used heavily for dishes from south of China.

Sesame Sauce (Zhi Ma Jiang):
Ground sesame seed with strong flavor. Used for cold dishes.

Hot Pepper & Bean Sauce:
Hot sauce made from combination of hot spices and beans. Red or brown in color. Use sparingly in sauteed dishes or cold dishes. In north, people often mix this sauce to stir fried minced meat and serve with noodles (make it Noodles with Meat Sauce).

Hot Pepper Oil:
Made from sesame oil and red pepper. Serve with meat dumplings, buns, etc.

Sesame Oil:
Flavor is too strong for use in frying and sautéing. Use only for enhancing flavor of cooked and cold dishes, noodles, hot pot sauce, soups, etc.

JiangXi Vinegar:
A special vinegar produced in JiangXi province. Light amber in color with a distinctive fragrance. Use for meat dumplings and cold dishes.

Spices

Star Fennel:
Shaped like eight cornered star, brown in color. Use for cooking with chicken, meat, offal and fish.

Anise Pepper:
Dried brown round spice. Added sparingly in chicken and meat can remove the unpleasant smell (fishy smell). Can also be used for making pickles or even some deserts.

Five Flavored Powder:
A mixture of anise pepper, star fennel, clove, cinnamon, and dried tangerine peel. Sparingly used in cooking fish and meat.

Pepper Salt:
Mixture of anise pepper powder with salt. Serve with fried chicken, meat, and fish.

(c)Copyrighted: Jacklyn Chen - Webmaster of news-blogs.com, satellite info, and emobile-news.com. She is a full time mom who works very hard to make living with multiple web sites.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jacklyn_Chen