Taste of China

Lesson 4 Ordering side dishes and complaining

2013-04-12T03:09:00.000-07:00

In the last lesson of this series on ordering Chinese food in Chinese we will be ordering more food and making some complaints. Examples of what you will learn. Would you like a cold / side dish? Would you like to order anything else? How long must we wait? This dish isn't cooked properly. And much more....

Lesson 3 Ordering Vegetarian Food & Sichuan Food

2013-01-18T06:25:00.001-08:00

In part 3 of Medlock Chinese Language Builder Food and Drink we are asking about what is in the food. This lesson is very useful for vegetarians. Eating vegetarian food in China can be difficult so you need to ask the restaurant not to put meat in the food. Jewish and Muslim people will also find this lesson useful Chinese food often contains pork or seafood. In this lesson you will learn to ask if food contains pork or seafood and ask them to exclude it - especially you can ask the restaurant not to cook using pork fat (the preferred method of frying in China). You will learn how to order some of the classic Sichuan dishes. Kong bao chicken - gong bao ji ding Hot spicy tofu - ma po dou fu Sichuan green beans - gan bian si ji dou Sweet and sour fish - suan cu yu Fried green vegetables - chao qing cai Topic summary Chinese food, ordering Chinese food in China, ordering Chinese food in Chinese, how to order food in China, ordering food in China, kosher food in China, Halal food in China, ordering kosher food in China, ordering halal food in China, China for vegetarians, ordering vegetarian food in China, how to order vegetarian food in China

Getting a table and looking at the menu in a Chinese restaurant

2013-01-10T10:27:00.001-08:00

Ordering Food & Drink In Chinese

Lesson 2

If you are going to live and work in China you'll find that you go out to restaurants a lot. The video below is the second lesson in a four-part course to help you learn the ins and outs of ordering food in China and Taiwan.

Getting a table and looking at the menu in a Chinese restaurant. In the lesson you will be asking for a seat at the restaurant. You will then go on and request a menu and ask the waiter about the restaurant's specialities and ask for a recommendation. You will also ask about hot and cold drinks as well as alcoholic drinks. In the next videa you will learn how to order some specific Chinese dishes and drinks. Chinese food Ordering Chinese food Ordering at a Chinese restaurant Going to a restaurant in China How to order at a restaurant in China Ordering food at a restaurant in China How to order food in Chinese

2012-01-26T13:37:00.000-08:00

Ordering Chinese Food In Chinese

The best place to get great Chinese food is of course in China itself. If you are going to China why not learn some Chinese for ordering food and drinks? This video will help you.

Baked salmon with bean sauce

2009-09-11T10:29:00.000-07:00

Again we bring you a modern Chinese dish 烤kăo 三sān 文wén 鱼yú . Actually this is more of a fusion of Chinese and Japanese rather than pure Chinese.

Ingredients for 4 people

4 200g salmon filets
2T soybean paste
4T mayonnaise

This is the soybean paste that we prefer to use.

Procedure

1 Mix the soy bean paste and mayonnaise together.
2 Using about a quarter of the paste, make a bed of paste for the on a sheet of aluminium foil and then lay the salmon pieces on top.
3 Baste the remaining of the paste on top of the salmon.
4. Wrap the salmon up and put into the oven at 180°c for about 20 minutes.

That's it. A really great way to serve salmon.

Chicken Chiu Cashew

2009-09-04T08:51:00.000-07:00

This week's recipe is based on Sichuan style chicken. Although we call it Chicken Chiu Cashew, you can use peanuts instead.

Ingredients for 4 people

4 chicken breasts
1/4 t salt
2t taro flour
2 green peppers
1 egg white
8 - 12 chillis
2T chilli oil (or to taste)
2T soy bean paste
1 cup cashew nuts/peanuts
1t rice wine
a few drops sesame oil
2 green onions

Procedure

1 Cut the chicken up into small pieces.
2 Mix the egg white with the taro flour.
3 Put the chicken pieces into the egg white flour mix.

4 Cut up the green peppers and green onions.
5 Stir fry the chicken for a minute or so and then remove.
6 Fry the green peppers and green onions and then add back the chicken.
7 Mix a little water with the bean paste and add to the pan.

8 Fry for a minute

9 Add cashew nuts and sesame oil mix well and serve.

Cola Chicken

2009-08-30T04:26:00.000-07:00

This week's recipe is Cola Chicken a fairly modern Chinese dish that is very trendy right now in Taiwan and Mainland China. Some say it tastes a little bit like three cups chicken (三sān 杯bēi 鸡jī ). I don't think so myself, so we'll do that recipe soon to let you compare.

Ingredients for 4 people

600g chicken legs
3cm of ginger
1/2 bulb of garlic
3cm lump of rock sugar or 3T brown sugar
1 cup soy sauce
1 cup cola
green onion and coriander to garnish

Procedure

1 Fry chicken until brown then remove and set aside.
2 Fry ginger and garlic until the fragrance develops.
3 Add the chicken, soy sauce and sugar. Stir constantly until well browned from the soy.This takes about 10 minutes.

4. Add cola and cook for half an hour.

5. Garnish with green onion and coriander

Rou zao

2009-08-14T12:22:00.000-07:00

肉ròu 躁zào

This week we bring you a meaty sauce that can be served with either rice or noodles.

Ingredients for 4 to 6 people

500g /1lb mince beef or pork
2-3 shallots or a small onion
1 small handful dried oriental mushrooms
1t 5-spice powder
4-5 star anise
2t -1T sugar
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup water
1T rice wine

Procedure

1 Soak mushrooms in hot water for 10 minutes until soft

2 Squeeze the excess water out of the mushroom, remove stalks and then cut into small cubes

3 Chop onion into small pieces

3 Fry onion until soft and then add mushrooms. Cook until the fragance starts to develop

4 Add mince

5 When almost cooked through add the soy and sugar and cook for 5 more minutes

6 Add water and spices

7 Stew for half an hour on a low heat

8 Garnish with finely cut green onions and corriander

9 Add a few drops of sesame oil and serve with rice or noodles and vegetables

Qing Jiao Niu Rou - Green pepper beef

2009-08-07T10:14:00.000-07:00

青qīng 椒jiāo 牛niú 肉ròu is a dish that is enjoyed across China. The version we present here isn't quite authentic because we are using three different colors of pepper. So strictly we should call it 彩căi 椒jiāo 牛niú 肉ròu However, the Chinese chef is a master of improvisation and will use anything in the larder.

Ingredients for 4 to 6 people

500g /1 lb beef
3 peppers
1 small onion
4T oil for frying
1/4 cup of water

Marinade
1T rice wine 1T soy sauce 1T flour

Procedure

1 Cut beef into strips

2 Mix marinade and stir into beef

3 Cut up onion

4 Cut up pepper

5 Heat 3T of oil

6 When the oil is hot take out 1T of oil, add it to the beef and stir

7 Add the beef to the pan a stir fry until the beef is 70% done then remove and set aside

8 Add 1T oil and fry onion until tender, add pepper and fry for 2 minutes

9 A some water and season to taste

10 Add the beef back and stir fry again for one minute making sure the that everything is well mixed

11 Serve hot

Baked Chinese Cabbage (Napa Cabbage)

2009-07-31T07:42:00.000-07:00

This week's recipe is a modern Chinese dish. Two things set it apart from traditional Chinese cooking: baking and milk. Baked Chinese cabbage 烤kăo 白bái 菜cài is deliciously creamy and is great way to get kids to to eat their vegies and goes well with Western as well as Chinese food.

Ingredients for 4 to 6 people

1 Chinese Cabbage/Napa cabbage (about 2lbs or 1KG)
1 small onion
1t salt
1T oil for frying
2T olive oil and 3T butter for making white sauce
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 milk
2 dried scallops (available in most Asian stores)
1T dried shrimps (available in most Asian stores)
1T rice wine

Preparation of shrimp and scallop

1 In seperate bowls soak shrimp and scallop in about half a cup of water for at least half and hour.
2 Break the scallop up.

Procedure

1 Wash the cabbage and cut into pieces.

2 Fry the shrimp.

3 Add the cabbage and fry for 3 minutes.

4 Add the scallops and the juice from soaking.

5 Cover the pan and continue cooking unitl the cabbage is soft.

6 Take the cabbage out and put the juice in a seperate container. Set the juice aside until it is cool.

7 On a low heat melt the butter in the olive oil.

8 Lightly fry the onion.

9 Stir in the flour and keep stiring while cooking for a minute. Then slowly add the juice from the cabbage to make a paste, remembering to stir all time. Gradually add the milk and continually stir to to avoid getting a lumpy sauce. The texture should still be a paste. If the texture gets too thick to stir, just add some water or milk.

10 Remove 3/4 cup of the paste and set aside.

11. Add the cooked cabbage to the pan and mix well. Then pour the mixture into an oven-proof dish.

12. Spread the saved cup of paste over the mixture

13 Bake for 15 minutes at 180°C/350°F or until the top is light brown and crispy.

14 Serve hot and enjoy.

Sichuan Hot and Sour Cabbage

2009-07-23T07:05:00.001-07:00

This week we bring you something from Sichuan. Sichuan food is noted for being very spicy and using very special Sichuan peppercorns 花huā 椒jiāo to make it 麻má 辣là, tingling spicy.

Hot and sour cabbage is a staple vegetable dish of Sichuan food and so makes a great accompanyment to a dish such as kong bao chicken (宫gōng 爆bào （保băo ）鸡jī 丁dīng ), which we will be doing soon.

Ingredients for 4 people

600g (about 1 1/2lb) white cabbage
Oil for stir frying

Ingredients-A

1/2t Sichuan pepper corns (whole)
Half dozen whole dried chillis (if you want it spicier then cut the chillis)

Ingredients-B

1t salt
1T brown sugar
1T soy sauce
2T rice vinegar

Ingredients-C

A few drops of sesame oil

Procedure

1. Chop cabbage into triangles

2. Heat oil until very hot and then add chillis and pepper corns

3. After a few seconds add the chopped cabbage and stir fry for a couple of minutes

4. Add sugar and salt and stir fry for another minute

5. Add soy and vinegar and mix well

6. Just before taking the cabbage out of the pan, add a few drops of sesame oil.

7. Serve hot

Hope you enjoy this quick,simple and tasty cabbage recipe, and don't forget to let us know how it went.

Till next week, have fun

Lemon Chicken

2009-07-17T01:50:00.000-07:00

Lemon chicken goes down well with most of our family and friends whether they are western or Chinese. The recipe we have for you this week gives you a twist on the theme of chicken nuggets. We haven't included a sauce recipe because we just eat it as it is, but if you really want a sauce just use ketchup, mayonaisse or oriental sweet chilli sauce.

Enjoy

Ingredients for 4 people

4 chicken breasts
Oil for frying (either sunflower or canola. I prefer canola as it gives a better color to the nuggets)

Ingredients A - marinade

1 t salt
1 t sugar
1 egg yolk
1 T rice wine or vodka
juice from half a lemon
zest from 1 lemon
1 t white pepper

Ingredients B - coating

1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup tapioca flour
(or substitute with 1 cup of 炸zhá 粉fěn, literally frying flour. Usually available at your local Asian food store)

Ingredients C

juice from half a lemon

Ingredients D - garnish

a couple of sprigs of coriander (cilantro)
a spring onion
lemon slices

Procedure

1. Cut the chicken into thin pieces

2. Mix ingredients A and then add chicken.

3. Let the mixture marinade in the refrigerator for at least half and hour

4. Mix the flours together (ingredients B)

5. Coat the marinaded chicken in the flour mixture

6. Heat the oil for deep frying and fry the chicken until golden

7. Shake off any excess oil, drain and put on a serving plate

8. Drizzle the lemon juice on top of the chicken nuggets

9. Garnish with chopped coriander, spring onion and lemon slices

10. Serve hot

The secrets are to marinage the chicken for at least half an hour, and the flour mixture. This creates a really crispy outside and very tender chicken inside.

If you don't want to use chicken you can also use a white fish such as cod and make fish nuggets instead.

凉liáng 面miàn (Cool Noodles)

2009-07-08T09:02:00.000-07:00

A delicious, yet simple, dish for a hot summer day.

You might want to forget about the Sichuan peppercorns and the hot chilli oil if you or your companions don't eat spicy food. Alternatively you can add the chilli oil to the individual bowls when serving.

Chinese people tend to approximate quantities so don't be over concerned with getting things exact. Also you might like to experiment with the proportions of peanut butter and sesame paste (tahini), or even just opt for one of them.

Ingredients for 4 people

400 g (14 oz) of noodles

Ingredients A
1 spring onion

Ingredients B
2 T sesame paste (tahini)
2 T peanut butter
1 T soy sauce
1 t sugar
some chilli oil (optional)
1/2 t Sichuan peppercorns (optional)
1 t sesame oil
1 T warm water

Ingredients C

1 Cucumber
1 t sesame seeds

1. Cook the noodles. Personally I prefer soba noodles, but spaghetti also works well

2. Drain the noodles and rinse them with cool water. Then put them in iced water to cool for ten minutes. After that put them in the refridgerator until just before serving.

3. Chop the onions finely.

4. Grind the peppercorns if you are using them.

5. Mix ingredients B and half of the chopped onions and peppercorns if you are using them.

You can add sesame oil or water to the mixture to make it smoother.

6. Slice the cucumber lengthwise and remove the seeds. Then cut it into thin strips.

7. Finally, put the noodles into 4 bowls and cover with the cucumber and the sauce. Garnish with sesame seeds and the remaining onion.

8. Yum!

11

Sources on the web

2009-06-19T13:56:00.000-07:00

Just a quick post to give you some of the best sources for information about Chinese food on the web. Of course if you want to learn about Chinese food the best way to learn is by cooking side-by-side with a Chinese person. But that's not always possible. So next best way of learning Chinese cooking is from the internet. Try these pages.

Chinese Food recipes is a good source. It's full of tips, recipes and general resources to help you learn about Chinese cuisine.

The BBC is always a good resource. Try Kylie Kwong's page.

Chinese Food DIY is also had a nice feature for choosing which style of Chinese food you would like. This can really open up your eyes (should I say taste buds?) to the sheer variety of food in China.

We'll be back soon with some of our own efforts with photos, video and a bit of Mandarin so you can learn how to use Chinese to order the ingredients from your local Asian grocery.

Happy cooking!

Recipes

2009-02-14T06:38:00.000-08:00

coming soon