Phoenix claws and jade trees : essential techniques of authentic Chinese cooking

598 Pages·2015·15.33 MB·English

by  Kho

Copyright © 2015 by Kian Lam Kho Photographs copyright © 2015 by Jody Horton All rights
reserved.
Published in the United States by Clarkson Potter/Publishers, an imprint of the Crown Publishing
Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, New York.
www.crownpublishing.com
www.clarksonpotter.com
CLARKSON POTTER is a trademark and POTTER with colophon is a registered trademark of
Penguin Random House LLC.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Kho, Kian Lam.
Phoenix claws and jade trees : essential techniques of authentic Chinese cooking / Kian Lam
Kho ; photographs by Jody Horton. — First edition.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Cooking, Chinese. I. Title.
TX724.5.C5K485 2015
641.5951—dc23
2014046694
ISBN 9780385344685
eBook ISBN 9780385344692
Hardcover Book Design by Jan Derevjanik Cover design by Jan Derevjanik Cover photographs by
Jody Horton Prop styling by Johanna Lowe Food styling by Suzanne Lenzer
v4.1
a + prh
To Warren
for believing in me and
supporting me ceaselessly
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER 1
The Essence of Chinese Food
CHAPTER 2
The Chinese Kitchen
CHAPTER 3
The Chinese Pantry
CHAPTER 4
Basic Ingredient Preparation
CHAPTER 5
Chinese Stocks
CHAPTER 6
Harnessing the Breath of a
Wok
SIMPLE STIR-FRY | 清炒
DRY STIR-FRY | 煸炒
MOIST STIR-FRY | 滑炒
DRY-FRY | 乾煸
SCRAMBLE STIR-FRY | 軟炒

CHAPTER 7
Explosion in the Wok
FLASH-FRY | 油爆
FLASH-POACHING | 水爆
CHAPTER 8
Dipping in Oil
LIGHT FRYING | 嫰油
DEEP-FRYING | 老油
OIL STEEPING | 油浸
YIN-YANG FRYING | 陰陽油
PAN-FRYING | 煎
CHAPTER 9
Flavoring with Sauces
SAUCING AFTER DEEP-FRYING | 焦熘
SAUCING AFTER OIL POACHING | 滑熘
SAUCING AFTER BOILING OR STEAMING | 軟熘
BROTH FLAVORING AFTER DEEP-FRYING | 清烹
BROTH FLAVORING AFTER PAN-FRYING | 煎烹
CHAPTER 10
The Virtues of Slow Cooking
RED COOKING | 紅燒
MEN BRAISING | 燜
DUN BRAISING | 燉
WEI BRAISING | 煨
FLAVOR POTTING | 滷
CHAPTER 11
The Intricacy of Boiling
BOILING | 白煮
STEEPING | 浸
BLANCHING | 白灼
HOT POT | 涮
CHAPTER 12
The Power of Steam
SIMPLE STEAMING | 清蒸
FLAVORED STEAMING | 粉蒸
CHAPTER 13
The Making of Hearty Soups
CLEAR SOUP | 湯
THICKENED SOUP | 羹
BRAISED SOUP | 燉湯
STEAMED SOUP | 隔水燉湯
CHAPTER 14
Playing with Fire
HANG ROASTING | 掛爐烤
OVEN ROASTING | 烤箱烤
GRILLING | 炭烤
HOT PLATE GRILLING | 炙烤
SALT BAKING | 鹽焗
CLAY ROASTING | 泥煨
CHAPTER 15
Enriching with Smoke
SMOKING RAW INGREDIENTS | 生燻
SMOKING PARCOOKED INGREDIENTS | 熟燻
CHAPTER 16
Appetizing Cold Dishes
DRESSED COLD DISHES | 涼拌
BRINE-PICKLED DISHES | 醃,泡,醬
FERMENTED PICKLED DISHES | 酸醃
ASPIC | 凍
CHAPTER 17
Sweet but Not Dessert
COOKING IN SYRUP | 蜜汁
CARAMEL COATING | 拔絲, 琉璃
SUGAR COATING | 掛霜
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
BIBLIOGRAPHY
INDEX

INTRODUCTION
Phoenix claws and jade trees are poetic metonyms, or metaphorical
substitutions, you’ll find on many Chinese restaurant menus. “Phoenix
claw” (鳳爪) is a synonym for chicken feet, and “jade tree” (玉樹) is used
for gailan, or Chinese broccoli. To most Chinese diners, this is familiar
terminology, and I grew up learning it naturally at daily meals. But for
many Westerners, authentic Chinese cuisine remains just out of reach
linguistically and geographically. Yet with so many ingredients readily
available and a wok just one click away online, it’s time to extend these
thrilling and transportive flavors to eager home cooks everywhere.
In this book I demystify Chinese cooking by taking a unique approach.
I believe that the cuisine is easiest to learn by technique. A dry stir-fry is
no more difficult to prepare than a moist one; the key is to know which
technique to use for which ingredient and for which final result. Armed
with this knowledge, you can not only re-create dishes from all over China
and many East Asian countries, but you can cook almost any ingredient in
any fashion you’d like. If you discover you love dry stir-fry with leeks and
you are wild about duck, you can combine the two to make a successful
Chinese dish all your own.
As China opens up to the world, her emigrants bring many regional
cooking traditions to their adopted countries. They introduce new
ingredients and open restaurants to satisfy their longing for food from
home. At the same time, Western expatriates flock to China as companies
from all over the world scramble to do business there. After short stints in
China they return home, yearning to re-create the incredible array of food
they experienced abroad.
This confluence of immigration and business travel creates new
demands and sets higher standards for authentic Chinese food outside
China. No longer are we satisfied with Beef with Broccoli and General
Tso’s Chicken. We now demand Xinjiang Lamb Burgers and Lan Zhou
Pulled Noodles. From New York to Melbourne, people are curious about
authentic Chinese food.
My own experience of cooking Chinese food in America parallels the
narrative of these new Chinese immigrants. Arriving in America from