Chinese Cooking

Tonight I had my first ever proper dinner party.  Now aside from the two trips I had to make to Mong Kok (because I had forgotten something), the having to buy a set of dishes that actually matched (we had none) and the fish that wouldn't die again (even though it had not head it was still kicking) I think it went rather well.  Everything was eaten at least....well there is a bit of Pavolva left - not for long though.  I made fried fish with a sweet and spicy sauce; tofu stir fry with bell peppers, mushrooms and sprouts; fried french beans and pork; and lastly spicy shrimp stir fry and a Pavolva for dessert.  Have you noticed the theme?.....the frying?

Hong Kongese (and Chinese I think) love love love all their food to be fried.  But not fried in the same way that we know it, as in covered with grease like good ol' McD's.  But they fry everything to pre-cook it, so it spends less time in the wok.

Did you know that if you get the oil hot enough when you deep fry food with a starch coating, the oil seals the item and the food cooks with its own water?  Or at least that's what they tell me anyway.  But its not just the fish or the tofu or even the shrimp that need to be fried - its everything.

I took a cooking class and literally everything that went into a wok for a stir fry was deep fried at least once at high heat before anything else could be done to it (except for the ginger, garlic and other seasonings).  We even deep fried beef to partially cook it...that was odd. Apparently it does two things 1) cooks the food most of the way so that restaurants etc, can have stuff mostly cooked in advance, so when you order stir fry it should spend roughly 45-60 seconds in a wok before it is ready for the table; and 2) it makes the food shiny. Since appearance is everything in Hong Kong and they seem to like their food with a shiny colour to it.

That cooking class I took the teacher was going on and on about everything is about appearance, to the point where things had no flavour.  To give you an example---for fried rice the vegetables that go in it (carrots, peas, corn etc) get cooked in boiling salt water to remove their "raw" flavour, before mixing with the rice in the wok.

Now I am not one to pick on nations and societal preferences, but this one is weird to me.  Then again I love fresh vegetable and I hate when people over cook them so they have no flavour....but to each their own.

Annoyingly I had planned on taking pictures tonight to show you my dinner - but alas it is not to be...I forgot...figures.  Maybe next time eh.