Chinese Cooking 101 – Prepare a “Proper” Chinese Dinner
Hi everyone, welcome to Souped Up Recipes.
I'm Mandy. Today I'm going to show you how to make
a three-course Chinese dinner meal, which includes a chicken pepper stir-fry, a meatball
soup, and a bean sprout side dish. Just to give you an idea of what Chinese people eat for dinner
on a regular day. I'll talk about the culture and explain why this is the way. Once you understand
that, you can apply this style to other recipes. Also, there are lots of time-saving tips in this
video, so you can manage a multi-dish dinner as quickly as possible. A basic Chinese dinner meal
usually comes with a meat main dish, a soup, and a vegetable side dish. Of course, the standard can
change depending on the servings. If it's a big event such as a wedding there usually will be 12
to 18 dishes on each table, but if you're cooking for yourself, you can minimize it to one recipe.
Let's get started by prepping our chicken breast. Sometimes, when you get home from work.
You'll
find that you forgot to defrost your meat. What you can do to this rock-hard frozen chicken breast
is to pop it in the microwave for 20 to 30 seconds on each side, depending on the size of your
meat. Give it a flip and do the other side. I'm just using the regular setting on my
microwave, nothing special. This will not cook the chicken breast. It will still be
frozen, but it is not rock-hard anymore. You should be able to slice it into slabs.
It feels like cutting potatoes, so easy, but you do need to hold the chicken tightly
because semi-frozen meat is quite slippery. The chicken slices are stiff at this moment but
don't worry. All you need to do is to spread them out on a plate, and they will turn soft within
10 minutes. While waiting, we can cook the rice. Rinse 2 cups of rice under running water.
Just a couple of times to get rid of the dust. No need to rub the grains until the water becomes
clear. Add two cups plus a third cup of water. You can measure it if you want to
be accurate.
I always eyeball it. At this point, you can transfer everything into
a rice cooker which is much easier, but I don't have one. So I will cook it over the stove. Turn
the heat to high and bring this to a boil. Don't go away because it only takes a few minutes if you
are using a gas stove. Switch the heat to low and continue to cook for 15 minutes. It is best to set
a timer to make sure you turn off the heat on time so you don't burn the rice accidentally.
Alright, let's wash all our vegetables. These are pea leaves, great for making soups.
Just rinse them with running water to get rid of any sand or dust.
If you don't have it. You
can use spinach or other green leafy vegetables. Rinse the bean sprout as well, and be gentle
because they are very delicate. By the way, you don't need to remove the bean sprout
root as they are edible. Drain it completely, Wash the scallions, chilies, and ginger. By now, the chicken slices
should be nice and soft. They're not stiff anymore. Transfer them into
a mixing bowl so you can add the seasonings. 1/3 tsp of salt,
1/2 tbsp of cornstarch, and 1 tbsp of Chinese cooking wine.
Mix well and set it aside. Next, we're going to make a stir-fry sauce.
You will need 1.5 tbsp of soy sauce, 1.5 tbsp of oyster sauce,
2 tsp of dark soy sauce, 2 tsp of Chinese black vinegar, 1/2 tsp of white pepper,
1 tsp of sugar, 2 tsp of cornstarch,
1/2 cup of stock or water. Any stock will work depending on what you
have on hand. I should mention that the sauce is going to be a little bit salty. So it
goes perfectly with white rice. If you're not going to serve it with white rice.
You will have
to cut down the soy sauce amount a little bit. Set it aside.
Let's season the ground pork. 1.5 tbsp of soy sauce,
1 tbsp of oyster sauce, 1 tbsp of Chinese cooking wine,
1 tsp of 5 spice powder, 1 tbsp of cornstarch,
1 tsp of garlic powder. Mix until all the flavor is well combined. Add 1/4 cup of chicken stock in batches. You can also use water. Stir this in one
direction until all the liquid is well absorbed. Set it aside. Next, we'll prepare the aromatics and vegetables.
Garlic and ginger are used in all three dishes. So, it is smart to prepare them
all at once. Finally, dice them. Equally, divide them into three recipes. For the bean sprout, I like to cut open a few red
dried chilies, which give it a nice smoky flavor. Two scallions, finely dice the white part. Put it into the ground pork.
Thinly julienne the green part. Reserve it for the bean sprout salad. Get a pair of tongs to mix the ginger and the
garlic into the marinated chicken.
Once these aromatic bits attach to the chicken. They
won't get burned easily while stir-frying. Mix the garlic, ginger, and the white part of
the scallions into the ground pork as well. For the green chili and the red chili, you just
simply slice them. They are a little bit spicy. If you don't eat spicy food. You can use bell
pepper instead. Alright, we have everything. Let's start cooking. To save time, I'm going to turn the
heat to medium and heat up a pot of chicken stock. Other stock will also work, such as
beef, vegetable, or even just water.
Meanwhile, we will make the chicken stir
fry. Turn the heat to high and heat your wok until smoking hot. Add some cooking
oil and swirl it around to coat the bottom. Add the marinated chicken, Spread it out. Let it sear on one side. Then stir for a couple of minutes
or until it changes color. Push the chicken to the side and add the chilies. I like to use the chicken to cover the
chilies for a minute. So they cook faster. Continue to stir until it reaches your desired
doneness.
I like my chilies to be a little bit crunchy. So I think that looks good. I only
stirred it for like a couple of minutes. Pour in the sauce and let everything
mingle together a little bit. Most Chinese recipes are easy. Once
you've prepared all the ingredients. You can cook everything within 10 minutes.
Take it out and your first dish is done. By now, the chicken broth should be
hot, but not boiling that is perfect. Switch the heat to low we'll
start forming the meatballs. Grab a handful of the meat and squeeze to form it
into a meatball. Dip your spoon in cold water to prevent sticking. Scoop the meatball and carefully
drop it into the water. By the way, do not add the meatballs to boiling water. Otherwise, the
bubbling activity will break down the shape. Once you are done, skim off the scum. Keep the heat at medium-low, and simmer the
meatballs for 5 minutes.
Do not boil them or else the texture becomes tough. During this
time, we can make the bean sprout side dish. Turn the heat to high and heat the wok until
smoking hot. Add a drizzle of cooking oil. Swirl it around, and toss in the minced
garlic, ginger, and red dried chilies, along with the well-drained bean sprout.
Stir this for a couple of minutes. Make sure you keep the heat on high. So your bean
sprouts will stay nice and crunchy after cooking. Once they are a bit welted, add
the green part of the scallion, salt, Sichuan peppercorn powder, and a couple
tbsp of Lao Gan Ma for a fermented touch. Add a drizzle of Chinese black vinegar, and
keep stirring until everything is well combined. Take it out. Let's get back to the soup. Just toss in the
pea leaves. It only needs 20 seconds to blanch. Add some salt and white pepper to
taste, drizzle in some sesame oil, and the soup is done.
So, this is
what locals will eat for dinner， 一荤（yihun），一素（yisu），一汤（yitang）， which means a meat, a vegetable, and soup.
Not super fancy, but definitely standard for a four-member family. Just like salt and pepper
are essential at the western dinner table, we put chili sauce and crunchy pickles to
balance the meal. Let's check the rice, in China, no dinner can be completed without
white rice. It is not difficult to make at all just follow my instructions and
remember to turn off the heat on time. You will get some really fluffy rice; the
bottom would not burn at all, so perfect. The chicken stir fry is our meat main dish for
today. I know it comes with some chilies China was very behind for quite a long time. Not every
family could afford to meat back to them, so we would cook it with a lot of
vegetables to balance the cost. That settled the style of Chinese cuisine.
Even though now we can afford what we want, we still keep the habit which is
why when you order Chinese takeout, it always comes with lots of greens.
Chinese soup is usually thin inconsistently, and the flavor is subtle and very different
compared to the western savory kinds of soup. In my family, we like to drink a little bit
of soup before and after dinner.
We believe the soup will fill up some space in your
belly so you don't stuff yourself 100%. The soup is also comfortable, which will smooth
out your stomach and help with digestion. The bean sprout salad is not really necessary
today because the chicken and the soup contain some vegetables already. Of course,
if your main dish is all meat, such as roasted chicken, and barbecue pork, then a
vegetable side dish will be necessary. For those of you who are looking for dessert, there is none.
We consider chocolate, ice cream, and brownies as snacks, you only eat them once in a while and
it is not going to be after dinner.
Our dietary structure already decided that we don't have
an extra appetite after a big meal like this. Fruit is the most common after-dinner treat
because it is light, refreshing and very healthy. FYI, the fortune cookie you get from the
takeout restaurants does not exist in China. Alright.
I hope you give this a try soon. As always, the printable recipe will be on my website
soupeduprecipes.com Thank you for watching.
This video is sponsored by Souped Up Recipes Wok
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have been using it on my channel for years. It is lightweight and responds to
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go check it out again. Thanks for watching, and I'll see you next time.
Bye..
