Crispy,
crunchy Chinese cuisine
By Harkiran
Sodhi
IN early times the Chinese cooked
their food over heated bricks, or buried in hot ashes and
coal. Each community had a large oven made of heated
bricks and rocks which anyone could use. With the passage
of time as man progressed they used twigs, dried branches
and anything that they could possibly use as fuel to
cook. Methods were devised whereby cooking required the
smallest fire which is why the Chinese tend to cut their
vegetables and meat so fine that they cook faster. They
also learned to adapt their cooking methods so that food
retained its nutrition even after cooking which is
why they steam and stir fry most of their food. The
Chinese special being featured will give you a set of
recipes each time.
These will comprise of different types of
food some will be entirely vegetarian while others
will be mixed. There will be a balanced menu with some
soups, starters, main courses as well as desserts all put
together for your convenience. Most of the recipes
selected will not only be easy to cook, and taste great
but will also be different to what is commonly eaten or
served.
Crispy
stir fried vegetables
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons oil
2 spring onions, sliced
fine
1 small-medium sized
piece of ginger, sliced
2 cloves garlic, sliced
2 chillies, seeded and
chopped
60 gm button mushrooms
125 gm carrots
125 gm snow peas (if
these are available otherwise eliminate)
125 gm French beans
60 gm bean sprouts
60 gm cauliflower
florets
4 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon sesame seed
oil
Method:
Heat the oil in a wok or
a large kadai. Add in the spring onions, ginger
and garlic and stir-fry for a few seconds. Add the
chillies and all the vegetables that have been sliced
finely. Mix all the ingredients well and cook while
stirring for about 2 minutes. Add in the soy sauce and
cook for another minute or two stirring it well. As you
are about to put the vegetables into the serving bowl add
in the sesame seed oil and serve immediately.
Tip: Snow peas
are not essential but they certainly add to the look as
well as the flavour of the food. In case you are unable
to get any snow peas you can either substitute them with
another vegetable that you like or simply omit them from
the recipe.
The sesame seed oil
though is recommended as it enhances the flavour of the
food, giving it a special touch.
Baked
Stuffed Tomatoes
Ingredients
1 tablespoon oil
1 large sized onion
finely chopped
8 large sized tomatoes
60 gm mushrooms chopped
60 gm tofu or bean curd
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon cornflour
(mix this with two tablespoons of water)
Method:
Heat the oil in a wok or
a kadai add in the chopped onions and cook till
they are golden brown in colour. Add in the diced
mushrooms and cook for 2-3 minutes and then stir in the
tofu or bean curd and soy sauce and mix it well for a
couple of seconds.
Cut the tomatoes into
half and scoop out the inside pulp and mix this into the
ingredients in the wok. (You can discard the tomato seeds
if you dont like them before you put the pulp into
the pan.) Mix the ingredients well and add in the
cornflour which has been mixed with a little water. Stir
the mixture well and let it cook for about a minute. Keep
the mixture aside and let it cool a little then spoon the
mixture into the tomato halves. Arrange these on a baking
dish and cook in a moderate preheated oven at 180° C or
350° F for 15-20 minutes till the tomatoes are tender.
Serve hot.
Tip: Bean curd or
tofu is paneer made from ground soya beans rather than
the conventional milk. It looks and tastes similar to the
paneer made from milk except that it is lighter in
density and does not tend to become leathery when
overcooked. Tofu also remains fresh for a longer period
than its counterpart made from milk.
This
feature was published on September 19, 1999
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