Chinese Food Recipes | Chinese Cooking Recipes | Easy Chinese ...

Chinese Food

Chinese food has had a long history which fully utilize the 5 taste flavors sweet, salty, bitter, sour & spicy in cooking for over 3000 years ago. The secret of Chinese cooking lies in the balancing of taste & ingredients, the harmonious color combinations and satisfying contrast in tastes and textures. Food is sliced, shredded, or cut according to certain predetermined rules. No wonder Chinese food is getting more and more popular among the entire population of the world. As you can see, we can easily find a Chinese restaurant in every major city and in many smaller areas of the world as well.

Chinese Cooking Sauces

The reason why Chinese cooking is so popular perhaps it encompasses thousands of sauces and condiments. And, the good news is many classic Chinese sauces and condiments are readily available. Some of these flavors are strong, some are
subtle. Either way, it’s fun to experiment with these intriguing ingredients.

Black Bean Sauce:
Made of salted black beans and rice wine. It has a savory, slightly salty flavor that sometimes gets a little kick from garlic and hot chilies.

Char Siu Sauce:
A combination of fermented soy beans, vinegar, tomato paste, chilies, garlic, sugar, and Chinese spices; used on Chinese barbecued spareribs and roast pork.

Chile Pastes and Sauces:
Come in a range of flavors, degrees of heat, and consistencies, but most are made from a blend of fresh and dried chilies and vinegar.

Chilies Oil:
This reddish orange oil comes from infusing whole, dried red chilies or crushed red pepper flakes in oil.

Hoisin Sauce:
This dark, rich, pastelike sauce has a spicy-sweet flavor and reddish brown color. It’s normally made from fermented soybeans, vinegar, garlic, sugar, and Chinese spices.

Oyster Sauce:
The name of this sauce is a little deceptive: It really doesn’t have a flavor much like oysters. Instead, the thick, brown, all-purpose sauce made from oyster extracts, sugar, seasonings, and cornstarch has sweet and smoky notes.

Plum Sauce:
Made from a combination of salted plums, apricots, yams, rice vinegar, chilies, sugar, and other spices. It can run the gamut from sweet-tart to salty, and from smooth to chunky and jamlike.

Rice Wine:
An amber-colored liquid from the fermentation of glutinous rice and millet.

Sesame Oil:
A dark amber, aromatic oil pressed from toasted sesame seeds used on a finished dish.

Sesame Paste:
A thick, peanut buttery paste, made from toasted white sesame seeds.

Soy Sauce:
The best-quality soy sauces, made from traditionally fermented soybeans and wheat, have a dark color and a slightly sweet, mildly salty flavor that isn’t overpowering.

Dark Soy Sauce:
The addition of molasses and a bit of cornstarch gives a sweeter, more full-bodied flavor and a syrupy consistency to dark soy sauce.

Rice Vinegar:
Mild, not pungent and relatively sweet.

If you are one the the Chinese food fans, I am happy to share with you many of my Chinese food recipes on different cooking styles that can be easily prepared and serve at your home sweet home.