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Tips for Cooking Tasty Chinese Foods at Home

admin | May 11th, 2013
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Are you looking to cook some Chinese food at home soon? Chinese food may look simple, but they can be trickier than they seem. There are a lot of elements in play, and you need to know the right way to cook and stir fry the vegetables and other ingredients to make it just right. However, there is no need to panic just yet. Here are some tips that can help you make tasty Chinese food at home:

Don’t worry about the wok
Many Chinese recipes use woks, and you can see a lot of online videos and websites stress the need for a wok when preparing Chinese cuisine. While it is an important part of Chinese food preparation, you can make do with an ordinary frying pan as well.

Careful not to burn your food
Chinese cuisine is predominantly based on minimally cooked ingredients. Most ingredients that need to be cooked only have to be in high heat for a few minutes. As a result, it is common to see newbies burning or overcooking their ingredients. To avoid this, stir fry your food frequently and make sure the food does not stick to the pan/wok or get burned.

Wash the rice grains before boiling
Long rice is a staple part of Chinese cuisine, but make sure that the grains are washed before boiling them. Rinse the long grain rice in water a couple of times until the water that is drained is clear. When adding water to the rice for boiling, the general rule is to add twice the weight of grains you have added.

Prepare ahead
As mentioned before, the cooking part of Chinese food only takes a few minutes. Most of the time is spent just preparing the ingredients. Therefore, prepare everything before you take out your wok or frying pan. If done right, you can prepare Chinese food a lot faster and with fewer hassles.

Some ingredients for Chinese food can actually be prepared well beforehand and stored for whenever you are making the food. Store such ingredients in your store cupboard so you have an easier time with Chinese food.

Cook the tougher vegetables first
Chinese cuisine heavily uses fresh vegetables of varying size, thickness, and toughness, and they all have to be cooked to the perfect consistency. To do this easily, add the thick and tough vegetables like carrots, cabbage, and broccoli first because they need to be cooked for a longer time. The soft and green leafy vegetables like peas and spring onions can be added last because they cook faster. If you are confused about what vegetable should go in the pan/wok first, stir fry them separately.

Meat/fish preparation first
When preparing non-vegetarian Chinese food, start with the marinating of the meat or fish. If you are adding cornstarch to the marinade, add it last so that it binds with all the other ingredients better. If beef is being prepared, cut it across the grain so that it is tenderer. The meat should always be stir fried before the vegetables. Once the meat is done, you can set it aside and then prepare the vegetables.

Author Bio: Jennifer writes for Panasia, a Chinese food Auckland restaurant. She frequently writes interesting facts on the Chinese food and also some tips and new Chinese recipes to try at home.

Category: Other Food Stuff, Useful Cooking Tips

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Best Appetizers With Your Cheese

admin | February 4th, 2013
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cheese appetizers
We all use cheese in our day to day recipes. As far as it comes to using different types of cheese in assorted recipes, we all are all cheese-savvy. However we lack to appreciate the taste of having cheese as a piece of appetizer. Cheese is eaten rarely on its own. Pairing cheese with Continental recipesaccompaniments is an art of a Maitre Fromage, meaning cheese expert or cheese master.

In ancient times, cheese was accompanied with every food item like fruits, wine, side salad and more. This pattern is still followed by the Royal families and people following their traditions. I will highlight some of the best ways to eat cheese with appetizers that will leave your taste buds tempting.

Cheese and Salad: Toss a fresh summer salad with some goat cheese croutons and be ready for a distinct taste. The best way to make this salad is to throw together some romaine lettuce, garden rocket plant, green grapes, beet shreds (roasted), small shallot, Dijon mustard, purple cabbage, fresh parsley and olive oil. For the goat cheese croutons, take cheese cubes. Dip them in olive oil. Make a mix of bread crumbs and nuts and cover the cubes with this mixture. Heat it lightly and place it in a saucer. Your salad accompaniment is ready to serve.

Cheese and Stuffed Mushroom: For the stuffed mushrooms, hand pick Portobello mushrooms and cut the stem. Chop onions and tomatoes. Add soy sauce and a little vinegar to it. Mix all the ingredients well. One can add any meat you want in the mix. Now brush oil on the mushroom caps and heat it on low flame. Put the mixture on the cap with some mozzarella cheese and bake it. Your stuffed mushrooms are now ready to serve hot with gorgonzola cheese cubes as accompaniment. This combo goes well with Sauvignon or Port Wine.

Cheese and Crackers: You can create a whole cheeseboard of various appetizers with crackers. Take your favorite shaped cheeseboard. I chose broad spatula shape. Place a knife, fork and a spoon on a side. Some cheeseboards come with inbuilt cutlery. A cheeseboard will have with diverse flavors and multi-cheese options. Choose a soft, semi hard and hard cheese to place on the board. Cut circles of cheese slices to set it on the crackers. Cut grapes into small rounds and place one portion on each cracker for the tangy and sweet taste. Place bits of walnut around the hard cheese. Position the crackers in a round shape. Cut apple into half and place it on the board near the semi hard cheese. Put a garlic cheese dip and set sausages cut into pieces. Your cheeseboard is ready. Serve with young crispy wine.

Cheese and Apple Pie: Apple pie recipes are vivid and depend on individual preferences. Bake your favorite recipe of apple pie and place a portion on a plate. Cut a piece of cheddar cheese and position it besides the pie. Put a walnut and cheese dip and your plate is prepared.

Cheese and Cake: A freshly baked fruit cake with figs and almonds is the best accompaniment with cheese and wine. Cut the cake into slices and set them one on another. Drop some honey on the top. Serve with Gouda cheese or mild Swiss cheese and garnish with frozen grapes.

Anthony Picasse attended culinary school in Paris and devotes his time cooking at their family owned restaurant. He likes trying out new recipes and shares cooking tips to those who ask. At home he usually sticks to continental recipes he can quickly whip up after a long day at work.

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5 Things the Best Chinese Restaurants Have in Common

admin | January 26th, 2013
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5 Things the Best Chinese Restaurants Have in Common
Finding good Chinese food is often a haphazard proposition. Those planning to open a Chinese restaurant should know some of the qualities that make a good Chinese restaurant. This information will help them in formulating a plan of action, and help to make sure that the restaurant earns a good reputation. Alternatively, if planning isn’t your forte, try a VSAG restaurant business plan. If you are going it alone though, here are five qualities to consider:

1. Specialize in a certain regional cuisine.
Chinese cuisine is also often misunderstood. Often when people think of Chinese food, they think of eggrolls, fried rice, lo mein noodles, and sweet and sour chicken. Like most ethnic food, this type is actually much more complex. The different styles that are available can appease a wide variety of palates. The restaurants that earn high marks in New York, Los Angeles and Vancouver are the ones that specialize in one type of cuisine, whether it is Cantonese, Szechuan, Shanghai, Peking or Hunan.

2. Consistency can even make buffets impressive.
Most Americans are familiar with foods that come from restaurants that are like the McDonald’s of the Chinese restaurant industry. The food often comes frozen or premade from a restaurant supplier. The restaurant cook simply reheats it and tosses into a take-out container or into a buffet serving pan. Many buffets serve this type. It is imperative to manage one well and to offer food that is prepared in a consistent manner.

3. Fastidious cleanliness goes a long way.
Even little holes-in-the-wall can be impressive, and they are often rated with good remarks from pleased diners. Customers highly value a clean and pleasant place to dine. Immaculate dishes and cutlery, well-groomed staff and well-maintained bathrooms give a good impression that makes people feel safe about eating food prepared on such premises. If these areas are lacking, even the best food in the world cannot make up for it.

4. Flexibility wins customer loyalty
Good Chinese restaurants are willing to work with customers in order to meet special requests. Vegetarians are an increasing share of restaurant business and most of them do not want a single speck of meat or meat products in their food. Offer a vegetarian menu and make certain that no animal fat, broth or gelatin is used in the preparation of items from that menu.

5. Nixing the MSG shows a commitment to customer health.
MSG, or monosodium glutamate, is almost never used in real Chinese cooking. Its use as a flavor enhancer has been under a lot of scrutiny over the years due to the effects that it has on some people who ingest it. It makes them dizzy, lethargic, and causes headaches. Most of the best restaurants assure their patrons that their food is free of MSG.

The restaurant business is not easy and many new ones fail within a few years of opening. Those who make certain that they can earn a good reputation at the start have a better chance of surviving. It seems that Chinese restaurants are on every corner in some places, so it is crucial to stand out for all of the right reasons.

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5 Handy Tips to Cook Healthy Foods with Great Taste

admin | January 25th, 2013
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5 Handy Tips to Cook Healthy Foods with Great Taste
Cooking finger-licking food is certainly an art and you need to keep certain important things in mind in order to come up with delicious dished each time you go to the kitchen. There are multiple dishes that have various recipes. In this article we will provide you some tips that will help you to cook healthy and nutritious food. Many of us believe that foods that healthy foods tastes pretty bad because they are mostly boiled wand without any sort of spices. However in his article we will provide certain tips that will help you to cook yummy heath foods.

Quality ingredients – this is the first thing that you need to focus on. Without proper ingredients you will never be able to produce tasty food. Especially if you are looking to cook a continental dish make sure that you have fresh cooking materials. Even the best chefs in the world make sure that the ingredients they are cooking with are of refined quality.

Proper uses of spices – Spices can be effectively used to add great taste to foods. Moreover certain spices are really good for health. A couple of months back I found that my waist line had increased by 4 inches. And I was hell-bent to shed it off and started skipping meals. Shortly after that I started feeling weak. Then my mom who is a dietician charted a diet list for me. She suggested me to take heavy breakfast. She used to bake the breads and stuff them with boiled potatoes, beans, carrots, capsicums and onions. She used to fry the stuffs with a minimal amount of oil and add a bit of garlic to that. Trust me that used to taste like heaven.

Add color to your dish – Another great way to make your dish exciting is to add colors to it. You can add things like yellow squash, tomatoes, capsicums, blueberries, beans, eggplant and others. These will help in adding colors to your food.

Trying new recipes – Trying new recipes helps you to avoid boredom. If you have been eating the same thing over and over again, you will get bored quite easily no matter how tasty it might be. So you need to try new things periodically. The easiest ways to get started with this is to buy a new fish that you haven’t tried before. You can simply fry the fish and have it as a side dish.

Add healthy oils – Use healthy oils such as coconut, olive and mustard oils. If you love the Indian cuisine then you need to use oils. Things such as chicken tikka or fish curry tastes great. However you have to make sure that you do not use much oil as that would spoil the taste of the food.

These are some of the effective things that can help you to cook better. On a concluding note I would like to say that irrespective of what you cook, make sure that you garnish it properly as that will help in making it an exciting addition on the table.

Author bio: Myke Thomas is an amazing writer and mainly known for his remarkable columns on numerous Bulk Nuts relevant issues.

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Best Asian Dishes One Must Try

admin | January 21st, 2013
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When it comes to Asian food, you’re more than spoilt for choice. The selection of Chinese dishes alone is bewildering, with basically four main regions all having their own particular way of preparing food. But then you have Japan and Korea both of which are in Eastern Asia and offer a selection of dishes that are out of this world.

In south eastern Asia there’s Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines. South Asia encompasses India, Burma, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh and so the list goes on.

When it comes to Asian specialities that you have to savour at least once, there are classic dishes known and loved the world over. Asian restaurants serve these dishes to discerning customers who eat out on a regular basis just so they can taste the flavours of the orient – here are just a few of the best Asian dishes in the world.

Peking Duck
Duck is an Asian delicacy which is now thought of as a Chinese national dish and it’s one that discerning diners have appreciated since Imperial times. The way the dish is served is quite unique, with slivers of crisp duck skin and a little of the meat being sliced right in front of diners by waiters or even the cook themselves. The crispy duck is rolled in thin pancakes with added hoisin sauce, thinly sliced cucumbers and onions.

Simply put – crispy duck pancake rolls are delicious.

Singapore Noodles
Although the name suggests the dish originates in Singapore, the truth is it is virtually unknown in that part of the world. It’s a full flavour, spicy noodle dish that’s popular in Hong Kong.

The dish is made up of rice noodles seasoned with curry powder and then stir fried with bean sprouts, pak choi cabbage, soy sauce and chillies. Thinly cut chicken, beef, char siu pork or prawns are added to the noodles which makes the dish a meal in itself.

For vegetarians, Singapore noodles is a great choice because the meat or fish can be left out and it’s still just as delicious.

Fried Rice
There are lots of varieties of Fried Rice and each one of them is delicious – it’s a tasty dish that forms part of a staple south eastern Asian diet. The rice is steamed and then stir fried in a wok with loads of other ingredients including egg, vegetables, meat, chicken and prawns.

In fact, there are so many variations of this dish with the most famous being Yangzhou and Fujian fried rice – a firm favourite served in many restaurants around the world is Special Fried Rice.

Sushi
For the last couple of decades or so, Japanese food has become extremely popular all over the globe. These delicious dishes are made with raw ingredients although there’s a nice selection of cooked Japanese food too.

One Japanese delicacy many people love is sushi which is made out of a specially vinegared rice known as shari. The rice is combined with other ingredients, usually fresh raw fish which is then rolled up in sheets of nori, a type of dried seaweed. The long rolls of filled nori leaves are cut into smaller portions and served with Wasabi and Gari, a pickled ginger finely sliced.

All over the world variations of sushi have appeared to meet different Western tastes. Not everyone likes the idea of eating raw fish – so it’s been replaced with crab meat, prawns, and vegetables like cucumber all rolled up in nori leaves.

If you have never tried some Western style sushi, you are missing out because it’s delicious and very healthy too!

Chicken Inasal
If you are heading for the Philippines or eating at a Filipino restaurant, check out if they serve Chicken Inasal. This is a wonderfully tasty grilled chicken dish – a real Filipino speciality.

The chicken is marinated for hours in lemon grass, calamansi (a citrus fruit), salt, pepper and garlic and then brushed all over with achuete oil (made from annatto seeds). The whole bird is grilled and then served with garlic rice and the orange oil the chicken was marinated in.

You might get lucky and find an authentic Inasal restaurant in a town close to where you live!

Lamb Korma
This wonderfully creamy dish originates from South and Central Asia. Today it’s one of the most popular Indian dishes around. It’s traditionally made with yoghurt, cream, seed and nut pastes or coconut milk with the main ingredient being meat or chicken and often seafood.

Lamb Korma is spicy, it has cardamom, cinnamon, cumin as well as coriander seeds added to the dish and each one of the spices brings its own very distinct flavour that when combined is out of this world.

Served with Basmati rice and lots of other condiments, this is one Indian dish that will have you coming back for more.

Conclusion: Above are just a few examples of tasty and delicious Asian dishes you’ll find served in restaurants the world over. They are popular choices which if you haven’t already tried, then you really should in order to appreciate not only the flavours but why other diners find them so wonderfully tasty.

Written by Tom Reynolds, food specialist, interior design maniac and fancy cookware expert, who finds himself comfortable with everything from wmf pressure cooker to fancy wine glasses and cutlery. So he prefers staying around the kitchen… he spent 3 month travelling from Khiva, Uzbekistan to Singapore, where he had the chance of trying out the many exotic Asian dishes.

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Food Blogs to Watch Out for this 2013

admin | January 20th, 2013
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Top 100 food blogs to follow

An infographic by the team at CouponAudit

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Cooking Asian Food with Vanilla

admin | January 18th, 2013
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I know what you’re thinking: vanilla isn’t exactly a traditional Asian food ingredient. And you’re right, there is nothing particularly Asian about vanilla. It’s certainly not in the same league as Chinese five spice, lemongrass, or ginger. But that doesn’t mean that there’s no place for vanilla in your repertoire. In fact, you can concoct some truly delicious fusion dishes with the help of this tasty little bean. Read on for some helpful vanilla product-related hints.

A Note on Pandan
You might be familiar with the pandan plant, which is sometimes called ‘the vanilla of the East’. It is true that the flavour of pandan is similar to that of vanilla, but the two are not identical. Vanilla has a more robust taste that is suitable for intensive flavouring. By contrast, pandan leaves are often used to wrap meat before cooking in order to give an almost nutty subtle edge. The following recipes are for ‘real’ vanilla, not pandan.

Using Vanilla in Sweet and Spicy Dishes
Though you could be forgiven for thinking that the use of this ingredient was limited to desserts, in fact the vanilla pod can be used to give either a subtle or strong flavour to main courses. Dishes which combine sweetness and heat are often dominated by sugary sweetness and the flavour of hot chili peppers. By substituting sugar for honey and adding a little vanilla flavouring, however, you can produce something that is every bit as tasty but which is somewhat more subtle. Try combining 3 tbsp soy sauce, 2 tbsp honey, 1 tsp hot sauce and 1 tsp vanilla extract and using the mixture to marinate chicken breasts. The resulting taste will be less unambiguously sweet, and will add a new layer of flavour. If you have opted to use vanilla pods instead of extract, it’s perfectly fine to slice the pod and scoop out the seeds with the tip of your knife. These may then be added straight to your mixture, but be warned – you only need about a third of a vanilla pod’s seeds to equal 1 tsp of extract.

Vanilla in Asian Desserts
Vanilla products can also be used in desserts, preferably in combination with other spices. One typically Asian ingredient that blends well with vanilla is ginger. Boil a 2-inch long piece of ginger with a whole pod’s worth of seeds in a sugar solution. After a few minutes, or whenever the mixture is thick enough to be served, remove the ginger and pour over sliced pears. Alternatively, you could try a traditional favourite – Vietnamese Che Kho, or mung bean pudding. Combine equal parts mung bean paste and sugar in a pan, cooking over a low heat and stirring until very thick. Add vanilla extract or seeds to taste – try 1 tsp of extract for every 500g of sugar. Top with sesame seeds and serve.

John Gilbert is a professional blogger and keen amateur cook. He is writing on behalf of a vanilla pods and product provider.

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Cats, Coriander and Frozen Herbs

admin | January 12th, 2013
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As every self-respecting domestic goddess/god knows, fresh herbs make all the difference to any dish and work particularly well in winter stews and soups. At least they would, if it weren’t for the fact that they are singularly difficult to get hold of at this time of year. My attempts at “grow your own herbs” are valiant and persistent, but unfortunately due to a spate of recent frosts my oregano has gone the way of all flesh and my coriander has withered away. This is partly due to a lack of attention on my part; in one case I forgot that the herb in question would prefer to be on the inside of the kitchen window, while in the other I forgot the cat loves coriander. Winter herbs are not that difficult to maintain and there are several useful ways of storing them over winter, which is useful if you have a healthy crop towards the end of the year. Even if you buy herbs as part of your regular fresh food delivery, storing them to save waste can also make sense. Freezing herbs is a simple way to store them, but frozen without some preparation will cause them to ‘burn’ in the freezer and the quality will be worse. Freezing herbs in butter is one common way to deal with the problem and you can also freeze them in olive oil.

Suitable Herbs for Freezing in Oil or Butter
Most soups and stews will call not only for herbs but will also require oil of some variety. Olive oil has a distinct flavor of its own and is usually a good base. By freezing your excess herb harvest, or the leftovers from the fresh food delivery, in oil you’ll have the perfect base for all manner of dishes. Frozen cubes of herb filled oil can be popped into the pan and used to fry off onions and garlic, creating a rich flavored base as the starting point of your meal. Generally the softer herbs such as basil, mint and dill are not best suited to this type of freezing; dill does work pretty well though if you melt some butter in a pan, add the chopped dill and allow to heat for a minute or two. Remove from the heat and pour straight into ice cube trays and freeze; the resulting herby butter is packed with dill flavored punch and helps to make a fresh sauce for fish dishes in the winter.

Technical Tips
The technique for freezing herbs in oil is simple. Once you’ve decided which herbs you’re planning to freeze, simply chop them roughly or tear into smaller chunks. If you have a secret herb mix that you commonly use, you can combine herbs to make a handy batch for winter cooking. Pack each ice cube tray as full as possible with the herbs that you are using and simply drizzle oil into the compartments until full to the top. For easy long term storage it makes more sense to take these out of the freezer once they’ve solidified and pack the cubes into a plastic bag. For the most domesticated, it goes without saying you’ll need to label the bags, for the less experienced it’s worth making a note to do so!

How to Use Your “Fresh” Frozen Herbs
As mentioned above you can use each cube as a base for the soup, stew or casserole in question by adding to the dish at the start of cooking. It’s also a good idea to pop a cube in half, or three quarters of the way, through cooking as fresh herbs (which is what they effectively are) are best added later in the cooking process. If you need to just the herbs to add to a dish at the end, place the cubes in a sieve to quietly defrost over the sink; this is a slightly messy process, but the best cooking usually involves a certain amount of devastation in the kitchen!

Author: Carlo Pandian is a freelance writer and food lover. He blogs about e-commerce and food trying out online retailers offers such as the Milk & More fresh food delivery and healthy products subscription boxes.

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Eating Well With Emergency Stored Food (Bonus: Pork Sisig Recipe)

admin | January 10th, 2013
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It is common in instances of emergencies for power to be lost, which means the refrigerator, freezer, electric stoves and ovens are useless. In the oft chance that you have a gas oven and stove then be sure to keep matches in a waterproof container. If you do have an electric stove and oven and you find yourself having to use a gas grill to cook; remember not to use the grill indoors or in the garage. In conditions where even cooking outside is not possible then these tips may be valuable to know for the best food storage plan:

• Be sure to have plenty of canned and dried foods; make sure they are low sodium and be sure to store them in a cool, dry location with the storage date, or better yet the date of purchase marked or easily displayed.
• Make sure that you have easy recipes for preparing meals with your stored food and to store them right there with the food. Also make sure that you store the proper utensils for food prep.
• Not everything needs to be canned or dried; there are many items called “shelf stable” foods that will keep just fine if stored in a cool dry place. Snack stuffs like chips, dried fruits and broths, stocks, and juice boxes can keep for months or in some cases a few years.
• Be sure to store plenty of water; and not just for drinking. Many if not all recipes call for some water. Many times you’ll need to rehydrate dried foods and don’t forget water for things like brushing your teeth and hand washing.
• Regular fruits and vegetables will keep for days at room temperature. In an emergency you can simply bag fruits and vegetables for use in the near future or immediately. Be sure to always keep fresh fruits and vegetables on hand.

Pork Sisig Prepared From Your Emergency Store

Ingredients for Pork Sisig
• 1 kilo of canned pork
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 1 teaspoon of whole black peppers
• 1 cup of canned pineapple juice
• 2 cups of water
• 1 large chopped onion (approximated from dehydrated onions)
• 2 chopped chilies
• ¼ cup of vinegar
• ¼ cup of soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon of ground black pepper
• 1 calamanco lemon
• 1 raw egg (optional)
• Salt to taste

How to Cook Pork Sisig
1. Prepare the canned pork as needed; i.e. draining etc.
2. Combine the pork in a pot with the garlic, whole black pepper, salt, water and pineapple juice.
3. Bring to a boil and simmer for 30-45 minutes
4. Drain and cool the meat to room temperature
5. Grill the meat (gas or charcoal) until it is crispy and browned
6. If necessary after grilling chop the meat into approximately 1 inch cubes
7. Mix the meat with the onion, vinegar, soy sauce, chilies and ground black pepper
8. On the grill heat a cast iron plate or skillet until it is very hot
9. Remove the skillet or plate from the grill and place the meat mixture on it
10. Serve it up with the calamanco lemon and egg

In an emergency you can eat well with the proper preparation and forethought for the best food storage plan.

Category: Other Food Stuff, Pork Dishes

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