Tip - Cooking Styles Defined

  From http://www.asiarecipe.com


Shallow frying This is a slower method of cooking than stir-frying. A work 
or frying pan is used. More oil is used and the cooking is done over 
moderate heat.


Deep-frying Deep-frying is used in the same ways as in the west, to produce 
crisp- textured food. Sometimes the food is deep-fried, removed from the 
oil and drained. the oil is then reheated and the food deep-fried again, so 
that it is extremely crispy.


Paper-Wrapped Deep-Frying Small pieces of meat or fish are seasoned, then 
wrapped in cellophane paper to form little parcels, and deep-fried until 
tender. the food is served in its paper wrapping and opened by the diner 
with chopsticks. The paper is of course discarded. Cellophane paper is 
obtainable from large stationers.


Steaming The Asians use bamboo steamers which stack on top of each other, 
so that four or five dishes can be steamed simultaneously. Dishes requiring 
most cooking are placed on the bottom layer, near the boiling water, while 
those requiring less are placed on the top "floor".


Roasting Used less in Asia than in the west as the average Asian kitchen 
does not contain an oven: the best known dishes are restaurant ones, such 
as Chinese Peking Duck. Cha Siu is a Chinese method of quick-roasting meat 
or poultry at a high temperature for a short time.


Red cooking This is a unique Chinese method, used primarily for cooking 
large cuts of meat or poultry. Dark soy sauce is used, which imparts a rich 
flavour and dark reddish-brown color to the food.


Stewing Stews are usually composed of meat cooked on its own with herbs and 
spices, rather than with vegetables. In China, stews are usually cooked in 
an earthenware pot (called a sanspot) over a slow charcoal fire. The stew 
is cooked for a very long time - up to four hours - producing meat almost 
jelly-like in tenderness.


Stir Fry Every week or so I get a craving for Chinese food. There’s 
something about those crunchy vegetables,tender meats, and incredible 
flavors that forces me to dig out a menu buried in a kitchen drawer and 
order from a local restaurant. The Chinese have a way of manipulating food 
that I wanted to learn about so I dug out the wok that I inherited when I 
got married and started reading up and experimenting. What I learned about 
the ancient technique of Stir-Fry is you have to be prepared before you 
start. Often I talk about prepping ingredients before you start cooking, 
but this is a must when doing stir-fry. In fact prepping the ingredients 
will take longer than the actual cooking. Once you get your pan hot…..you 
can’t stop.


Stir-frying will also give you some practice with your cutting skills since 
each ingredient will be bite size (Have you ever seen a knife in a Chinese 
restaurant?) and have different cuts. Once prepped, I like to put the 
ingredients in individual bowls separated by cooking times. The technique 
is to quickly fry the ingredients in a large pan over high heat while 
constantly stirring to preserve flavor, color and texture of the food and 
keep the vegetables crisp. Easy enough.


Typically one uses a wok; a large deep bowl made of thin metal with gentle 
curved sides. The heat concentrates at the bottom of the pan and the curved 
sides allow you to push the ingredients to cooler areas. You can use a 
typical frying pan, but it won’t cook as fast thus keeping your vegetables 
as crisp as you would want. Other than a few specialty ingredients, you can 
use whatever you have on hand to make a stir-fry. It’s a great way to clean 
out the vegetable drawer. Because you’ll be cooking at very high heat, you 
want to use a high smoking point oil like peanut, safflower, corn, or 
canola. Some of the specialty ingredients that you should be able to find 
at your local supermarket are soy sauce, hoisin sauce, and chili sauce. 
Short or medium grained rice is best for accompanying your stir-fry, since 
long-grained rice has a tendency to break while being sloshed about in a 
stir-fry.


You start by prepping the meat or chicken. Cut the meat into thin bite-size 
slices and marinate to protect it from overcooking. The marinade can be 
made with a variety of liquids depending on the flavor you are trying to 
obtain. Typical marinade ingredients include chicken or beef stock, soy 
sauce, hoisin sauce, chili sauce, corn starch, brown sugar, rice wine or 
dry sherry. Marinate for a least one hour, longer is better. Prepare an 
aromatic mixture consisting of finely chopped herbs and spices that will 
add flavor and aroma to the stir-fry. Typical aromatics include garlic, 
scallions, red pepper flakes, shallots, and chili peppers, to name a few. 
Next, prepare your vegetables by cutting them into small pieces and 
separating according to their cooking times. Slower cooking vegetables like 
asparagus and green beans will be added before faster cooking vegetables 
like pea pods and tomatoes. Now you’re ready to stir-fry.


Grilling For all you guys out there who are already grill masters, read no 
further. But for the rest of us mere mortal home cooks who would like a few 
tips about grilling, read on. I have to warn you: when researching the 
technique of grilling,  I found so many differing viewpoints that I decided 
to provide those tips that were in general consensus or made the most sense 
to me. From what I learned from reading and experimenting, the right way of 
grilling is what works for you, and the only way to get really good at 
grilling is practice. I sometimes ask my wife when out for dinner, "How 
come when I grill fish it isn’t perfect like this?" The answer is, I may 
grill a piece of fish once every two weeks and professional chefs grill a 
lot of fish everyday. I guarantee if you grilled as much fish as one of 
these pros, your fish would be perfect too.


I could do a whole article (and maybe someday I will) on the different cuts 
of beef which are best for grilling steak. You could write a book about how 
to use various rubs and marinades to enhance flavors. Also, we often use 
the terms grilling and barbecuing interchangeably, but they are different. 
Traditional barbecue is done slowly with low cooking temperatures and a lot 
of smoke. Grilling depends on a higher temperature to sear what you are 
cooking to keep the juices in. So here are some tips and ideas for grilling.


First of all grilling is a lot like broiling. Both use indirect heat, but 
when grilling, the heat source comes from below and when broiling, the heat 
source is from above. Both methods are great when cooking tender cuts of 
beef, chicken, fish and vegetables. Make sure whatever you are cooking 
isn’t too thick or it will burn on the exterior by the time the inside is 
done. Although grilling is considered a healthy way of cooking because much 
of the fat will drip into the fire, be careful to avoid flare-ups from the 
fat. Not only will you potentially burn what you are cooking and give it an 
acrid flavor; you can create a nasty fire hazard.


When I was growing up my father (the self-appointed grill master) only used 
charcoal as a fuel source. (I’m not even sure they had gas barbecues back 
then.) He made the common mistake of not using enough charcoal at the start 
or replacing it when it burned down. Result, the food never seared properly 
so the juices were released and the meat dried out. He also used the 
self-starting charcoal briquettes that gave the food a funky chemical 
taste. I’ve been told you can buy real lump charcoal with no additives and 
it makes a big difference, but I’ve never been able to find it so I opted 
for a gas grill. Easy to control the heat and even easier to maintain. I’ve 
even experimented with adding some pre-soaked chunks of Hickory wood to 
give an additional boost of flavor.


It’s critical you start with a clean grill. There’s nothing worse than 
grilling a beautiful Filet Mignon and having it taste like red snapper. The 
time to remove all the residue with a wire brush is right after you finish 
cooking while the grate is still hot. If you wait until it’s time to start 
cooking, some of the scrapings can fall into the flames and cause a 
flare-up. Before you begin heating the grill, brush it or spray it with a 
little vegetable oil to prevent food from sticking. This is especially 
important if you are using a sugary basting sauce.


It’s also vital that your grill is hot well before you start. Many of us, 
especially with gas grills, wait until right before we start cooking before 
we crank up the heat. Mistake. Preheat that grill 15 to 30 minutes before 
you intend to start cooking. Have all your cooking tools ready and standing 
by. This not only includes apron and utensils, but seasonings and basting 
sauces as well. And be sure to have a spray water bottle on hand in case of 
flare-ups. Know thy Grill. Every grill is different and will have different 
hot and cool spots. It’s important you learn where they are and use them to 
your advantage.


Prepping ingredients. If you’re grilling up a steak you may want to cut off 
any excess fat and season with a little salt before you start. However with 
chicken, you may want to pre-cook it in the microwave or oven to cut down 
on cooking time and give you more control of browning. With fish filets, I 
like to place them in a zip lock bag with a little olive oil and herbs but 
you can also prepare a glaze to coat them just before grilling. Remember to 
bring items to room temperature before grilling.


Marinades are great for adding flavor to what you are grilling. Check your 
cookbooks for which marinades work best for your ingredients. The longer 
you marinate the better. It’s best to marinate overnight in the 
refrigerator and if you are going to use it for basting, make sure you boil 
it first to kill any bacteria that may be present. Also be sure to pat dry 
the meat, chicken, or fish before grilling so the marinade doesn’t cause 
flare-ups.  Barbecue sauce is used to baste what you are grilling and 
although commercial barbecue sauces are a big business, the essential 
ingredients are: tomatoes, vinegar, onion, mustard, and brown sugar. So 
experiment and create your own special sauce.


I guess the most frequent questions I’m asked are "how long do you cook it 
for?" and "how can you tell when it’s done?" Although every cookbook you 
pick up has guidelines for each ingredient, it once again comes back to 
experience and touch. I would suggest you follow your favorite cookbook 
guides to grilling but start touching the foods at different intervals to 
get a feel for firmness and texture. For example, as a general rule, I like 
to cook a 1 1/2-inch New York Strip steak for a total of ten minutes. I 
start by grilling for 2 1/2 minutes, then turning it 180 degrees and 
cooking for another 2 1/2 minutes, flip the steak over to it’s other side 
and repeat the process thus giving the steak the classic grill marks. At 
the same time I test the steak with my finger to feel for various degrees 
of firmness. Medium cooked feels like touching your cheek. If you really 
want to get specific, you can use an instant thermometer. For steak, 115 ­ 
120 degrees is rare, 125-130 degrees is medium rare and 135 ­ 140 degrees 
is medium.

Everyone seems to have their own favorite grilling techniques, tools, 
marinades, family recipes....often secret.  And if you like gadgets, you'll 
love grilling since there are a plethora of great tools to enhance your 
grilling experience


This only touches the surface of what there is to learn about grilling as a 
cooking method. The best advice I can give any home cook is practice as 
much as you can. It’s a great way to cook without a lot of mess, especially 
in the summer when it’s too hot to cook inside.

Braising Braising is a cooking method where meat or vegetables are first 
browned in a little fat, then slowly cooked in a tightly covered pot with a 
little liquid over low heat for a long period of time. This method of 
cooking is great for tough cuts of meat since the long slow cooking 
tenderizes the meat by breaking down the sinewy connective tissues without 
breaking down the muscle fibers while adding flavor at the same time. 
Here's how it works. Muscle fibers consist mainly of water. When muscle 
fibers are heated, they contract and squeeze out the water causing 
shrinking and drying out. Connective tissues consist mainly of collagen and 
when heated also contract and squeeze out water. However, when the collagen 
in the connective tissues reach a certain temperature it melts into a rich 
flavorful gelatin. The dry muscle fibers then absorb this flavorful 
gelatinous liquid and braising is complete. Braising can be done on top of 
your stove or in the oven. Make sure to use a tight fitting lid on your pot 
to prevent the liquids from evaporating.


Pan Roasting I read about how this technique is used by many professional 
chefs but have not been able to find much about it from my selection of 
cookbooks. From talking to chef friends and the little I've been able to 
find in cookbooks, it is a technique that starts by searing what you're 
cooking on top of the stove to brown and crust then finishing in a hot 
oven. It's a great technique when cooking tender cuts of meat, chicken, or 
fish where you want a nice crust on the outside, but want to keep it moist 
on the inside. It's important that you use a heavy bottomed pan that can be 
placed in the oven. Also, since you will be getting that pan real hot, make 
sure you use an oil has a high smoking point such as canola or vegetable. 
Don't crowd your pan with what you are cooking. And make sure you have a 
good kitchen mitt or pot holder when removing from the oven. I can tell you 
from experience.....it's HOT!

You start buy getting your pan hot on top of a med-high burner, add a 
little oil, heat the oil until it's almost smoking, sear your food , then 
finish in a hot oven. The timing depends on what you are cooking.

Roasting In the beginning, roasting was done on a turning spit over an open 
fire and the juices ran over the surface of the meat basting it 
continuously. Nowadays most roasting takes place in the oven and offers a 
fast method of cooking tender portions of meat, poultry, and fish. You want 
to start with an oven that's preheated at a high temperature to seal the 
meat thus preventing a loss of juices while at the same time caramelizing 
the surface. After 10- 20 minutes, lower the temperature and continue 
roasting until done. Some meats will require basting to keep from drying 
out while some cuts of meat like pork are fatty enough and will require no 
basting. Sometimes it is necessary to bard (tie pieces of fat to the 
surface of) what you are cooking to help with basting. Birds should be 
cooked breast down to start and then finished on the other side to allow 
the juices and fat to flow into the breast meat.


Make sure you have a roasting pan that is the correct size for what you are 
cooking. Too big.... and the food may burn, too small and your roast may 
stick to the sides of the pan. Too shallow... and your oven will be a mess, 
too deep.....your food will steam, not roast. And be sure to retain the 
wonderful, incredible pan juices by deglazing the roasting pan for gravies 
and sauces, an extra dividend to the roasting method.




Sauté Probably the most important technique I can share with you is how to 
sauté properly. Once learned and in your repertoire, you will be free to be 
creative and devise your own recipes with whatever ingredients you have 
around. As a novice, this technique is easy and allows you to prepare meals 
in a moment’s notice. This includes sautéing chicken, fish, vegetables, or 
meat. That’s the beauty of learning a basic technique. Compare it to 
learning how to read a financial statement. Once you know how, you can 
effectively read any company’s report.


Sautéing is cooking food quickly in the right amount of oil and/or butter 
over high heat. You can use a skillet or sauté pan, but make sure it is big 
enough to comfortably contain what you are cooking. Preheat it--you need 
high heat when sautéing to cook ingredients quickly; otherwise the internal 
moisture tends to push to the surface and your ingredients won’t brown.


Butter or Oil? - Butter will give your food the best taste and a wonderful 
golden crust but burns more easily. Olive oil produces a nice crust and 
will not burn as quickly, but also doesn’t leave as rich a flavor or color 
as butter alone. So, the Reluctant Gourmet uses a combination of the two. 
What you cook and the amount you’re cooking will determine how butter and 
oil you use. For example, use about 1 to 1-1/2 tablespoons of each for 2 or 
more chicken cutlets and 1/2 to 1 tablespoon of each for 2 or more fish 
fillets.


Basic Technique - You will know your pan is hot enough and it is time to 
start when the butter stops foaming and begins to turn a pale brown. Add 
your ingredients and be careful not to let it start smoking (it happens and 
it’s a pain to eat your meal in a roomful of smoke). Cooking time will 
vary, depending on what you are cooking. For example, I cook chicken 
cutlets for approximately 3 minutes on one side and then 3 to 4 minutes on 
the other. For fish filets, 2 to 3 minutes, flip and another minute on the 
other. Never use a fork for flipping, it pierces the meat and lets the 
juices escape. You should serve immediately but if you want to make a pan 
sauce (and you probably will), transfer components to a plate and keep in a 
warm oven.



Deglaze Now that you now how to sauté, the Reluctant Gourmet would like to 
follow up with Deglazing, a technique often used to create a base for 
making sauces. After you finish the sauté and remove the excess fat, you 
will notice small amounts of flavor rich browned food particles stuck to 
the pan. To loosen these bits, just add a small amount of liquid, (wine, 
stock, lemon juice for example) to the pan and start stirring. It is 
important you remove the pan from the heat when adding any liquids with 
alcohol so you don't end up with singed eyebrows. You can now use this 
mixture to create a wonderful sauce to accompany your meal.




Risotto Often I am asked by friends to teach them how to make Risotto 
because they think it’s difficult to prepare and because of the mystique 
created by restaurants. It’s never on the menu but always there as a 
"Special". And then we are told by the waiter to be prepared for a long 
evening because the "chef makes his Risotto to order", which they do. They 
are always surprised to see that it’s not difficult to make at all. What’s 
wonderful about learning to make basic Risotto is the number of variations 
you can create afterwards. This is a very versatile and adaptable dish and 
a great way to clean out your refrigerator. What’s especially interesting 
about this dish is its contrasting texture that is both creamy and crunchy 
at the same time. What creates this interesting contrasting texture? Both 
the Arborio (pronounced ar-boh-ree-oh) rice and the cooking technique.


Risotto means "little rice" in Italian and should be treated like a puppy, 
that is, it needs to be constantly watched. Arborio rice comes from Italy. 
Its short, fat grains have a hard starchy center and a soft starchy shell. 
So it makes sense that, when cooked, the soft shell produces creaminess 
while the center remains crunchy. The best Arborio rice is a premium 
Carnaroli rice imported from Italy. It’s hard to find but worth the 
search.  The rice is added to onion that has been sautéed in butter and/or 
oil; tossed until coated, and cooked uncovered.


The next most important ingredient is the stock and you’re not going to 
believe how much liquid Arborio rice can absorb. The ratio of liquid to 
rice varies from cookbook to cookbook. I like to use 7 cups liquid to 2 
cups rice, but play around with different ratios until you find the one 
that works for you. Depending on the type of Risotto you’re making, you can 
use fish, beef, chicken, or vegetable stock. If possible, stay away from 
canned broth, because it’s loaded with chemicals and tons of salt. If you 
don’t have time to make homemade stock, check out More Than Gourmet’s line 
of stocks at http://www.gatewaygourmet.com. Add the liquid a little at a 
time while stirring constantly in order to release the rice’s starch. You 
want the grains of rice to be firm not mushy or chalky.


Risotto Milanese dates back to 1574 when a stained glass artisan named 
Zafferano added some saffron that he used for coloring his paints to his 
risotto for his daughter’s wedding. In no time this dish was the talk of 
the town and still is. Saffron is the world’s most expensive spice. It 
comes from a tiny purple crocus flowers that produce three stigmas per 
flower that are hand picked and dried. It takes 14, 000 of these delicate 
stigmas to produce one ounce of saffron. Lucky for us a little goes a long way.


The beauty of risotto is the flavors that you can add to it including meat, 
fish, poultry, or veggie. Some ingredients you don't want to over-cook so 
you can add them later in the cooking, but you definitely want your 
flavoring ingredients to cook with the rice for part of the time. Your 
cooking pot should ideally be heavy bottomed in order to maintain a 
constant even heat.  As for cooking time, anywhere from 20 to 40 
minutes.....but let your taste be the judge.