The Shun Lee Cookbook - Michael Tong [10]
No matter how many dishes you make for a meal—whether it’s just one dish with some rice and a steamed green vegetable for a weeknight supper or an extravagant banquet for special friends—organizing is essential. Chinese food has a multi-layered depth of flavor, and most recipes include a fairly long list of ingredients. It is imperative that all of the ingredients are measured and prepared before you start cooking. You will find that the bulk of your time will be spent in preparation and not in the actual cooking, which usually goes rather quickly.
A collection of small dishes or ramekins is very helpful for holding the prepared ingredients. Slightly larger bowls can be used to contain the mixed components for a sauce. When the recipe says that the ingredients will be cooked together (such as the ginger, garlic, and scallions for a stir-fry), put them all in one bowl after preparing them. When you are making more than one dish, place the measured and prepared ingredients on separate trays (baking sheets work equally well) for each dish. Read through the recipe to be sure that you understand the timing or any unfamiliar techniques.
When a recipe calls for any kind of nut, like sesame oil, cashews, peanuts, or pine nuts, feel free to eliminate that ingredient if anyone you are cooking for has an allergy to nuts. The absence of nuts won’t change the flavor of the dish that much.
Our Sichuanese and Hunanese recipes are spicy, but not overly so. If you want to increase the spiciness, feel free to do so.
“Passing Through”
A key technique in Shanghai and Sichuan cooking is “passing through,” where the meat is cooked by passing it through hot oil. This step makes chicken breast meat silken, transforms shrimp into toothsome creatures with a firm, almost crunchy texture, and renders paper-thin strips of pork and steak tender and juicy within. In passing through, the food is very briefly cooked in a pool of hot vegetable oil and then removed from the wok. To finish the dish, almost all of the oil is poured off from the wok, and the remaining oil is used to create the sauce. Finally, the passed-through food is returned to the wok and stir-fried with the sauce.
While passing through is primarily a restaurant technique, it is worthwhile taking the time to master it because no other cooking technique can give the same results. Yes, the food is deep-fried, but if it is done properly, it is not unhealthy. First, the food is always coated with a thin batter of egg white and starch, which helps keep the oil from seeping into the food. We use an unsaturated vegetable oil, such as soybean or canola, which is much better for you than saturated animal fats like lard. And remember that even if you cook with a quart of oil, only a tiny amount will be absorbed by the food. You may consider discarding the cooking oil an extravagance, but it is unwise to save the oil for another use, as it will develop off flavors.
To prepare for the passing-through step in a recipe, place a metal colander on a plate near the stove to hold and drain the fried food. Use a deep-frying thermometer to test the temperature of the oil. Be sure to have a wide wire-mesh strainer for removing the food, and if there is to be a subsequent frying step (as in Crispy Orange Beef), have a fine-mesh strainer handy to skim off any bits of fried batter. Use a large metal wok scoop or spoon to stir the food, as the mesh on the wide strainer could disturb the coating on the meat. Place a large metal can or bowl nearby, for discarding the oil (set it on a heatproof plate if your countertop isn’t heat-resistant).
Heat the wok for a few minutes over high heat until it is very hot. If you flick water from your fingertips into the wok, the water should sizzle away on contact. Pour in enough vegetable oil to reach at least 1 inch up the sides of the wok—this will be about 4 cups in a 14-inch flat-bottomed wok. There must be enough oil to completely submerge the food in it. Don’t skimp—any food that sticks out of the hot oil will