The Shun Lee Cookbook - Michael Tong [12]
Steaming
American cooks reserve steaming for the occasional vegetable, but in Chinese cuisine, steaming is a much-appreciated cooking technique used for many different dishes from seafood to meat. The gentle, moist heat cooks at a moderate rate, retaining the food’s natural color, flavor, and texture. While you can sometimes rig a collapsible aluminum steamer over boiling water in a covered pot to steam a dish, an Asian-style steamer is much more efficient. This indispensable item is stored on the stove of many a Chinese kitchen, never hidden away in a cabinet.
There are two kinds of steamers, aluminum and bamboo. In either case, the steamer consists of round stacked racks. The aluminum steamer usually has two wide racks (about 11 inches in diameter) over a bottom compartment, which holds the boiling water. It is by far the best choice, as some recipes call for containing the food to be steamed in bowl or platter, and these utensils will simply not fit in the shallow, narrow bamboo racks. If you are steaming only one item, use the top rack with its deep lid to hold the food (or the food in its utensil), keeping the bottom rack near the water in place. This positions the food away from the steam and allows it to cook at a more relaxed pace.
Inexpensive bamboo steamers, usually consisting of four racks, must be placed over a pot or wok of water. The sides of bamboo steamers will eventually scorch from direct contact with the hot pot or wok. These tiered bamboo steamers are best for cooking many pieces of dim sum. If you don’t need all of the racks to hold the food, use the bottom rack to separate the remaining racks from the hottest area of the steam.
In some recipes the ingredients are combined in a covered bowl before steaming, holding in and intensifying the flavors. A stainless-steel bowl and plastic wrap will sometimes suffice, but Asian markets carry a wide range of heatproof ceramic bowls with lids. They’re inexpensive, and seem to supply better flavor than the metal bowls. A bowl 9 inches in diameter and about 3 inches deep is a good average-size choice.
No matter what kind of steamer you use, bring a good amount of water to a boil to provide a full head of steam. Cover the steamer tightly, and check the water level occasionally to be sure that it isn’t boiling away—add more boiling water from a kettle if needed.
Deep-frying
Biting into the golden-brown coating of Chengdu Chicken or the crisp shell of a freshly cooked spring roll is a sensory treat that is hard to surpass. Deep-frying and only deep-frying provides that irresistible crunch.
One of the secrets of deep-frying is to use enough oil. The oil should truly be deep enough to surround the food. In a wok, you will need to add enough oil to come at least 2 inches up the sides of the wok. If you prefer to use a deep pot, add enough to come at least one-third up the sides. Don’t skimp! On the other hand, keep in mind that there will be some bubbling and displacement when the food is added, so don’t overfill the cooking utensil.
Equally important, be sure to use a deep-frying thermometer to test the temperature—usually about 350°F, higher than that for the passing-through technique. If the temperature is too low, the food will cook, but the coating will not crisp. Just as in stir-frying, heat the empty wok over high heat before adding the oil. The oil will heat up more quickly from contact with the piping-hot metal.
Add the food carefully to the hot oil to avoid splashing. Do not crowd the food, as the food will give off steam as it cooks, and this accumulated moisture will affect the crispness of the coating. Some recipes fry the food in two or three brief periods rather than one long one, a trick that creates an especially crunchy coating.
When the food is golden brown, transfer it it from the oil with the wide-mesh strainer to a colander. The colander (or in some cases, such as a whole fried