Stewing
STEWING is a time-honored moist cooking technique that transforms less tender cuts of meat unsuitable for quick-cooking methods into melt-in-your-mouth meats Stewing allows the cook to assemble the dish and then let it simmer, with little or no attention for an hour or more. Many "crock-pot" dishes are essentially stewed. Vary the flavor profile of the stew dish by experimenting with liquids (wine, broth, beer and vegetable juices) and different herbs and spices. Ideal cuts: shoulder and pork cubes. In
China, stews are usually cooked in an clay pot
over a charcoal fire. The stew is
cooked for a very long time - up to four hours - producing
meat almost jelly-like in tenderness. Yum :)
Stir Fry
If any technique in Chinese cooking demands proper preparation, it is stir-frying. Because the heat has to be high and there is little actual cooking time, it's crucial to have all your ingredients assembled beforehand. The best advice I can give here is to keep your stir-fry ingredients separated in bowls based on how much time they need in your wok. So chop your onions, meat, mushrooms, carrots, and peppers into small pieces and separate them. You want the veggies and meat to be in bite size pieces for two reasons. First, the stir-fry will be appealing and easy to eat if all of the components are equal in size. Secondly, similar size pieces will insure more uniform cooking time.
