Spicy, original, built on the principles of harmony and proportion, Chinese cuisine will allow you to inhale the aroma of distant wanderings and feel the involvement in the great ancient culture.
If you don’t have “centenary eggs” and swallow nests, it’s better not to approach Chinese dishes – it won’t work out anyway. It is on such prejudices that the lack of popularity of Chinese cuisine in our country is based. Indeed, the culinary traditions of the Celestial Empire often involve the use of exotic products and spices. But first of all, Chinese cuisine is not hard-to-reach ingredients and sophisticated technologies, but a certain philosophy, having mastered which each person has the opportunity not only to make his diet more diverse, but also to penetrate the soul of a great civilization.
In the history of China, food has always played a special role: the unity of the spirit and the flesh is indisputable, and therefore food was built on the same principles of harmony and proportion as social life. Actually, the border between the first and the second has always remained rather conditional: the ascent of many famous military leaders and politicians to glory began precisely with a well-prepared meal, and a significant part of the rituals of the imperial court was devoted to serving, serving and recipes of dishes. Talking about the principles of rational nutrition was considered a matter worthy of the brightest minds: it is no coincidence that such outstanding sages as Lao Tzu and Confucius made a significant contribution to the theoretical foundations of Chinese cooking.
At the same time, along with high, learned and expensive cuisine in China, there is a simple, “poor” cuisine based nonetheless on the same basic principles. And, in order to master its basics, ingredients and utensils will not require so much.
Of the products needed for cooking Chinese dishes, first of all, soy sauce, sesame oil and rice vinegar should be mentioned, which have a more delicate and delicate aroma than vinegar based on wine or alcohol. In addition, you can’t do without ginger (Chinese chefs use it only fresh – dried, in their opinion, has a too sharp and rough smell), as well as the famous mixture of five spices “wuxianmian”, which includes star anise, cinnamon in equal proportions , cloves, anise and Sichuan pepper. The latter is still rare in Russia, however, replacing it with cayenne or pink, you can cook wuxianmian yourself by simply grinding all the ingredients in a mortar. And, finally, the basis of the basics is rice and noodles, which for centuries have remained indispensable elements of almost half of Chinese dishes. Noodles are suitable for both wheat and rice or even buckwheat, and rice must certainly be long-grained, fairly firm and not too starchy. Everything else is a limitless field for the culinary imagination: almost any vegetables and sprouts, meat (in China they eat mainly pork), poultry, fish, eggs and seafood can go into business.
Rice noodles with chicken and vegetables
For 6 persons. Cooking time: 25 min.
- 150 g rice noodles
- 2 eggs
- 2 chicken breasts
- 1 stalk leeks
- 2 medium carrots
- 1 peppers
- 150 g shiitake mushrooms or champignons
- 200 g fresh Chinese cabbage
- 1 st. l. finely chopped fresh ginger
- 4 tbsp. l. fragrant sesame oil
- 6 Art. l. soy sauce
- 1 tablespoons Sahara
- salt
- 3 art. l. toasted sesame seeds.
Break the eggs, pour into a hot pan and fry quickly. Cut the resulting omelet into thin strips and set aside. Pour boiling water over the noodles, let stand for 3-5 minutes (it should soften slightly), drain in a colander and rinse with cold water. Heat oil in a wok. Finely chop vegetables, mushrooms and chicken and, stirring constantly, fry in portions until half cooked (peppers and carrots should remain dense in the middle). Return all ingredients to wok, add noodles, soy sauce, sugar, salt, mix thoroughly and fry for another 5-7 minutes, shaking and stirring occasionally. Sprinkle with omelette strips and sesame seeds before serving.
If we talk about utensils, then the only truly indispensable thing here is a wok – a deep frying pan with a rounded bottom and convex walls, in which you can cook almost any dish of Chinese (and not only Chinese) cuisine. A wok successfully combines the functions of a deep fryer, an ordinary frying pan, a saucepan, a stewpan, a cauldron and even the basis for a double boiler, and therefore it is rightfully considered one of the cornerstones of Chinese cuisine. In our country, you can buy two types of woks: thin and light, usually made of aluminum, and heavy cast iron. The former are great for open fires in nature, while the latter, capable of providing more stable heating, are optimal for urban conditions.
Chinese chefs are convinced that the best way to preserve the maximum of nutrients in the product, to ensure a beautiful appearance and the right consistency, is to quickly fry it at a very high temperature. It is especially convenient to do this in a wok: before adding the ingredients, it is thoroughly warmed up (the smoke coming from the oil should turn bluish), and then cooked, constantly shaking and stirring – this method allows you to get by with a minimum amount of oil, which makes most Chinese dishes light and non-greasy . When cooking in a wok, there are only two basic rules: firstly, the amount of food placed in it for frying should not be excessive (even a large wok can take no more than 200-300 g of meat, fish or vegetables). And, secondly, all the ingredients should be prepared in advance: frying in a wok requires a fair amount of speed and skill.
By following these simple principles, as a result, you will get a dish that fully complies with the Chinese canons of beauty and health: vegetables and meat will become fried on the outside and juicy on the inside, while retaining their natural color and aroma. It is this high simplicity and proportionality of Chinese cuisine, and not at all the use of hard-to-find ingredients, that make it one of the most popular and loved all over the world.