Variety is usually the first to come up when people think of Chinese food and cooking. The variety is almost in every aspect of cooking.

Selecting and processing the ingredients are very important procedures of Chinese cooking. Unlike western cooking, which usually cooks the ingredients in bulks, Chinese usually cut the ingredients into forms like small slices, juliennes, dices. The advantages of doing this are: 1. The ingredients in small forms require much less time to be heated, so the original taste of the ingredients could be kept as much as possible. 2. Mixing two or more ingredients becomes very easy, which allows more flexibility and creativity when making a dish. 3. The diners do not have to cut the food, so they can focus more on enjoying the food. The cutting skill is an important measure of how good a Chinese cook is.
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Pork and chicken are widely used in Chinese dishes, but there actually are not any ingredients that can dominate as much as beef and potato in western food. Almost any living things stand a chance in Chinese food. Chinese have been really adventurous on looking for things that taste good and how to cook things to make them taste good. There are quite a few ways to cook fish heads, chicken paws, animal innards and etc in Chinese dishes. If you do not have problems eating such stuffs, you might be amazed that they can taste so good.



One can easily be confused by so many Chinese methods that are not used in western cooking. Some say that there are more than 50 methods! Maybe not all of them are widely used, but there are still several methods are frequently used.
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Stir-Fry(炒) is the classic Chinese cooking method; quick cook over high heat in a small amount of oil, toss and turn the food when it cooks. In stir-frying, the food should always be in motion. Spread it around the pan or up the sides of the wok, then toss it together again in the center and repeat. This method allows meats to stay juicy and flavorful, vegetables to come out tender-crisp.
There are variations, of course, but the basic pattern for many Chinese dishes is to pre-heat the pan or wok ( a drop of water will sizzle when it's hot enough), add the oil and heat it, stir- fry the meat, remove it, stir-fry the vegetables, return the meat to the pan, add sauce and seasonings, thicken the sauce and serve. Speed is essential in preparing many Chinese dishes. All ingredients should he on hand before stir-frying is begun. Meat and vegetables should be thinly sliced or cut into small cubes. Before the oil is introduced the pan should be heated sufficiently so that the oil is free-flowing, and then the ingredients added, and stirred vigorously and continuously during the entire cooking period. The highest heat obtainable must be used, while constantly stirring, since chao dishes can be ruined in a matter of seconds. This rapid form of cooking leaves comparatively little sauce.
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Deep-frying(炸) is another common method of Chinese food preparation for a crunchy coating. For this a deep fryer or a deep saucepan with a wire basket which fits inside it, is most convenient. Chinese cooks use two temperatures of oil for deep frying. In general when the oil begins to smoke, it is ready to fry pork and beef, the tougher meats. When the oil begins to bubble, which is at a temperature slightly lower, it is suitable for chicken and kidneys. To secure the most tender results, it is important to observe the oil temperature as given in the recipe. Chinese cooks use vegetable oil and lard. Either peanut or sesame oil, or other prepared vegetable oils, are suitable.
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Steaming(蒸) preserves flavors and food nutrients through the use of steam temperature rather than higher temperatures that destroy or leach these values in discarded boiling water. Several tiers can be used in the steamer to cook different foods simultaneously. Cooking time usually varies between 15 to 30 minutes for meat patties but can range from 20 minutes to 5 hours (which may require more water), depending upon the type of food to be steamed. However, meats cooked in this fashion must be of top quality. Chinese steamed foods are to be consumed right away - these foods are delicate and cooked to perfection. Reheating leftover steamed meats, steamed fish and seafoods often become soggy and limp and lose flavor upon reheating.
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Chinese cooks use two methods of steaming:
1.) Where the ingredients are suspended above the boiling water and the steam around them does the cooking;
2.) Where the pot of ingredients is immersed part-way into the boiling water, and cooking action is performed both by it and the steam.
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Red stewing(红烧) is uniquely Chinese, similar to ordinary stewing, but here the food is cooked in large quantities of soy sauce and water rather than in water alone. It is the soy sauce that makes the dish rich, tasty, and reddish brown. It is usually made of pork, beef, ham, chicken, duck, or carp. When these are prepared without soy sauce, but by the same technique, the color will always be light. All About Shanghai www.allaboutsh.com

Boiling(煮), ingredients are cut and washed first, then put in a large pot in which they can float freely, over high heat. Vegetables to be eaten crisp, like broccoli, are removed from the water just before they come to a full boil; those that cannot be eaten raw or take a long time to cook should remain in the pot for whatever time is required after boiling starts. Slow and prolonged boiling destroys flavor to some degree and certainly much nutritional value is lost in the boiling water that is discarded. Parboiled ingredients are poured with the water into a colander, rinsed or soaked in cold water until thoroughly cooled, and used as the recipe directs, or in salads. Parboiled vegetables are often used in banquet dishes where time may be limited. For full boiling, as in preparing soups, the Chinese employ a slow simmering process. As soon as the water boils, the heat is turned low and the soup allowed to simmer for whatever period of time is necessary. However, preparing soups by rapid boiling in which intense heat is used will result in the same preservation of color, texture, shape, and nutrition as in tossed cooking.
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Hot Pot(火锅) is often known as a Chinese dish, but it is actually more of a Chinese unique cooking method. The concept is similar to Barbecue. Food is well prepared, mostly cut into slim slices, so that it can be easily cooked. The main difference here is where the food is cooked. With Baubecue, it is cooked on a fire or an oven. But with Hot pot, the food is cooked in boiling water in a pot. It only requires a few minutes or even less for slim slices of food to stay in the pot. If timing is good, the food will come out hot, fresh and juicy! With some nice sauces, it is perfect in a season like winter!

Flavor-Potting(酱, 卤) refers to stewing foods in a highly-flavored sauce that permeates the dish.
Basic flavor-potting(卤) means stewing the food in a mixture of soy sauce, rice wine, sugar, salt, red fermented rice mash, and five-spice powder, scallions, ginger, chicken stock and water. The food cooks over low heat for several hours and comes out tender and full of flavor. Marinating and flavor-potting(酱) adds the step of marinating the food in salt, soy sauce, and soybean paste (also known as ground bean sauce) before it is stewed in the flavor-potting sauce.
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The serving of dishes is way different between Chinese meals and western meals. A meal you know might consist of soup or salad, followed by a main course, one or two side dishes, and dessert in the end, all these are allocated for each diner in a meal. The concept of a Chinese meal is however, the dishes being placed in the center of the table, usually round, and all diners sharing all thm. Only very few of Chinese dishes are served to each diner. The "sharing" concept is why chopsticks(筷子) are used.
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There is usually not a main dish in Chinese meals. A common chinese meal with 8-10 diners usually consists of 4-8 cold dishes and 6-10 dishes. The cold dishes are pre-prepared, usually consist of suffs like salad, or Flavor-Potting(酱, 卤) food, or any food that better be had when cold. All the cold dishes are placed upon the table at the same time, then the hot dishes will be served one by one right after they are done being cooked. All the dishes are usually equal and the concept of "Main dish, Side dish" does not apply.
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For a meal with more than 6 diners, a table with a small turn table on top is usually needed. The dishes are placed at the brim of the turn table, rotate the turn table so that every diner can reach each dish.
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