Chinese Cooking Class - Basic Kitchen Utensils

Chinese cooking is easy when you know how to do it. Introduction to cooking utensils and how to use them, the basic methods of cook in Chinese-style with little practice.

All of us have our own favorite pots, knives and pans for cooking and these can be used with great success for Chinese cooking. In a Chinese kitchen, the utensils are very few but practical, namely the wok, bamboo steamers, cleavers, spatulas, strainers and chopsticks.

The wok is a thin metal all purpose cooking pan, with high sides and rounded bottom. It can be used for stir-frying, deep-frying, par boiling, simmering, braising, boiling and steaming. By placing a set of steaming baskets into the wok, a first class steamer is made, which will enables as many as five different dishes to be cooked at the same time e.g. fish, dim sum, egg rolls, chicken or duck, and rice. The wok is also ideal for omelets and for outdoor cooking. The wok spatula is designed to fit the curvature of the wok. It is used mainly for stir-fry dishes, to turn food and prevent burning or sticking.

Light and heavy cleavers are both made from tempered steel; the light cleaver is used for slicing meat and vegetables and the heavy cleaver is used for chopping through bones, crab and lobster shells. The opposing edge is used for mashing and when held upright, the handle servers as a grinder for spices and black beans. The flat sides of the cleaver are used for transferring chopped food from the board to serving plates, pounding and tenderizing meats. crushing ginger and garlic and, when combined with the light cleaver, forms an excellent mincer.

Wire-mesh strainers are used for removing deep-fried foods from hot oil, draining off excess oil and in the making of potato noodle baskets.

Chopsticks come in various sizes, with an extra long size to be used in the kitchen for beating eggs, adding and removing food from a deep fryer, turning food while cooking, adding beaten egg to soups, and removing ingredients from jars. Optional extras include steam boats for Mongolian hot pt, small cooking baskets for steam boat cookery.