China is a country where the appreciation of good food is developed into a fine art. Chinese are epicures. Their cooking is distinc­tive : No other cooking resembles it in any way.

Chinese food is rich, but not greasy: it is delicately flavoured, but not pungently spicy. Cook what is freshly slaughtered, and eat what is freshly cookedis a doctrine universally recognised throughout China. It is better that one should wait for the meal than that the meal should wait for one. Variety is another important feature. A Chinese dish almost always consists of a mixture of food­stuffs—the meat or fish is generally cooked with, and improved by, the addition of some appro­priate vegetable. All the material to be used is cut into convenient size in the kitchen before serving, so that no carving instruments are re­quired at table. All the condiments are added during the process of cooking, thus doing away with the necessity of the usual cruet. The only exception is some soya bean sauce provided at the table in case it is required.

With the passage of time the methods of cooking have necessarily undergone many im­provements as compared with the original crude processes. Expert cooks in different parts of China have introduced numerous improvements, and, with China being such a vast country, its component parts differing widely not only in climate and customs, but even in the spoken language, it is only to be expected that different terms are found in different localities for the same way of cooking. For instance* roasting in the North is known as K'ao while in the South it is called Shao M. Similarly Shao Fan M M in North China means cooking rice, but in Canton they say Chu Fan . In these circumstances I have to employ those terms which are more commonly used and are more generally understood. All the terms used in this little book are in the National language, that is, Mandarin (Kuo Yu ).

Methods of cooking.

1. means Roasting

There are two different ways of doing this: one is roasting over an open fire known as  while the other is roasting in an oven K'ao Lu

By the first mentioned method we prepare roast suckling pig and barbecued Peking duck. In exactly the same way the Russians make "shaslick" and the Javanese "sateh" dishes, which are well known to foreigners in the Orient. The Cantonese dish known as "gold coin chicken" consisting of a combination of alternate pieces of ham, chicken and pork is made the same way. Material for barbecuing should be hung for six to seven hours, and then covered with the proper condiments. Then it is fixed to a metal fork or skewer and held over a strong charcoal fire. Constant turning of the fork is necessary to ensure even roasting. In barbecuing a whole pig the skin should be punctured before roasting to secure an even surface at the end of the operation. A Chinese oven is usually built of brick and clay, with two openings, one below and one above in the form of a very short chimney. A charcoal fire is started inside: after half an hour when the oven is sufficiently hot, the fire is damped down by placing a thin metal sheet over the charcoal.

The material to be roasted is hung inside the oven, and both openings are closed. The result is identical with that of a modern gas or electric oven.

2. Cheng M means Steaming.

This is a simple and economical process of cooking with steam rising from boiling water. By this method the nutritive juice and flavour of the material are conserved. It is specially recommended for preparing fish. In the home, steaming is very often carried out by utilising the steam from boiling rice. At other times it is done by means of a special cooker made of split bamboo called Cheng Lungmeaning a steam cage. In steaming Chiao Tzu or dumplings, these are placed directly on a piece of damp cloth spread over the cage instead of on China plates. This method of cooking is frequently used at home, but not often in restaurants.

3. Ch'ao means Frying with a little fat over a quick fire. Frequent quick turning is essential.

Most of the expensive dishes are prepared by this way of cooking. The important point in this process is the high temperature employed, which ensures quick cooking. If the tempera­ture is not sufficiently high, the meat will not be tender. On this account it is not advisable to fry more than a pound of meat at a time: if more is needed the process should be repeated several times. When more than one ingredient has to be dealt with, they should be first fried separately and then mixed together, the meat being left to the last always. The Chinese fry­ing-pan being convex, and not flat bottomed, the turning is more conveniently done.

4. Chien M Sauteing or Frying with a small quantity of fat over a gentle fire. Turning is necessary only when the meat has suffici­ently browned.

This process is also applied as a preliminary treatment to poultry and meat before stewing or boiling, for two reasons. Firstly, it makes the meat more palatable. Secondly, it tends to eliminate any excessive "muttony" or "fishy" flavour.

5. Chameans Frying in deep fat at a high temperature.

The substance to be cooked by this process is immersed in boiling oil. Sometimes the meat is covered with a coating of flour before it is dropped into the oil, to prevent toughening or overcooking. Meat treated by this process is very indigestable, though it is very tasty, so it is not advisable to employ this method too fre­quently at home.

6. Menmeans Stewing.

By this method the meat and vegetables are cooked together with a small quantity of water at a moderate temperature for a long time. The juices of the meat and vegetables are retained in the liquid and the long and slow process of cooking renders the material both tender and delicious.

7. Tunmeans cooking by use of a double boiler.

The material for cooking is contained in a covered vessel like a casserole-dish placed in a pan of boiling water. Meat so treated is more palatable than by simply boiling. More water is required than in stewing, otherwise the process is much the same. This is the best way of making soup, when special care should be exercised to seal down the cover with wet tissue paper. In winter this process is very popular.

8. Aomeans Simmering.

This is a simple process of boiling very slowly. Care must be taken to avoid too rapid evaporating, and not to uncover the pot too often. The simmering process must be con­tinued without interruption until the time of serving. It is also termed Po

Flavouring.

Various flavouring agents are employed, the most common being onions and garlic . Reference to the ancient writings seems to show that they are made to serve a double purpose, for, apart from imparting a distinct flavour to the food, some of them are believed to have medicinal qualities as well. For instance, the onion, which forms a constant ingredient in the preparation of fish, is supposed to be able to counteract any possible fish-poison­ing, while ginger is reputed to have stimulating properties. Garlic and bean relish form an excellent flavouring for fish or pork. Red pepper and star aniseed go well with beef and duck. The usual method employed for the addition of flavouring is as follows:— Heat a little lard in a frying pan, then add the flavouring agent, only a small quantity being used—a slice of ginger or a clove of garlic.

Fry until a light brown. The material to be cooked is now added and the cooking is con­tinued as planned.

Use of Flour.

The use of flour when shaping meat balls or thickening gravy is termed Ch'ien. Some­times a coating of flour is added to meat destined for frying to prevent it from being too easily overdone. Paper has been known to replace flour for the same purpose. Bean flour or caltrop flour H Wt are commonly employed by Chinese. Corn flour (corn starch) is equally good for this purpose.

Selection of Ingredients

The quality of the ingredients plays an im­portant part in good cooking. Just as no good painter can work well with a broken brush or dried up paints, so no good cook can succeed without the correct kind of ingredients. For instance, in choosing chickens, poulets are more desirable because their meat is more tender; on the other hand, with duck the male species is preferable. For stewing, steaming, and the Chinese way of frying, use spring chickens; for roasting choose capons, while for making chicken soup, when the meat will not be served, old birds may be used. Fillet should be used for frying, flank for making meat balls, and loin for roasting. Eat everything in season, and you will get more palatable and more economical dishes. Sam Lai(i.e. shad) is, as its name implies, a season fish, and when in season is in great demand. The fish swims up the Yangtsze and other rivers to spawn. On the return journey, its eyes become reddish in colour and it is not as fat as when it started. For this reason red-eyed Sam Lai is considered inferior in quality and can be obtained at cheaper prices.

In the case of vegetables the "heart" only should be used for cooking. Bamboo shoots and mushrooms can be prepared with or with­out meat. They are equally delicious either way.

Serving

The appearance of the food when served is another important factor which should not be overlooked. Well-arranged dishes attract the eye and when a pleasant flavour accompanies them, the appetite cannot but be stimulated.

This is a general rule: it applies to all forms of cooking, Chinese and foreign alike. Vege­tarians fully recognise its importance: they have giblets, roast duck, boiled chicken and other dishes, all of them being prepared with bean curd "skins". The dishes are so cleverly made that they look exactly like the real article. Colour schemes are also made use of to decorate food, particularly the sweets. A good chef will not be satisfied to produce dishes which tickle only the palate; they should also gladden the eyes, and their names should please the ears as well. The best example is a Cantonese dish called Pi Yu Shan Huwhich means "green jade and red coral". The green jade is represented by vegetable stems, and the red coral by fat of crabs. This dish is beautiful in appearance, delicious in taste, and in addition, elegant in name.

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