Chinese cooking techniques


Chinese cooking techniques are a set of methods and techniques traditionally used in Chinese cuisine. The cooking techniques can either be grouped into ones that use a single cooking method or a combination of wet and dry cooking methods.

Single

Many cooking techniques involve a singular type of heated cooking or action.

Wet

Wet-heat, immersion-based cooking methods are the predominant class of cooking techniques in Chinese cuisine and are usually referred to as zhǔ. In fact, this class of techniques is so common and important that the term zhǔ is commonly used to denote cooking in general.

Quick immersion

Quick wet-heat based immersion cooking methods include:
English EquivalentChinesePinyinDescription
BraisingShāoBraising ingredients over medium heat in a small amount of sauce or broth and simmering for a short period of time until completion. Known as hóngshāo when the sauce or broth is soy sauce based.
Quick Boiling汆 or 煠Cuān or ZháAdding ingredients and seasonings to boiling water or broth and immediately serving the dish with the cooking liquid when everything has come back to a boil.
Blanching焯 or Chāo or TàngPar cooking through quick immersion of raw ingredients in boiling water or broth sometimes followed by immersion in cold water.

Prolonged immersion

Prolonged wet-heat based immersion cooking methods include:
English EquivalentChinesePinyinDescription
Bake stewing煨WēiSlowly cooking a ceramic vessel of broth and other ingredients by placing it in or close to hot embers.
Steam stewing焖MènCooking with liquid, covering in a tight-fitting lid until absorbed
Gradual simmeringDùnAdding ingredients to cold water along with seasonings and allowing the contents to slowly come to a prolonged simmering boil. This is known in English as double steaming due to the vessels commonly used for this cooking method. The term is also used in Chinese for the Western cooking technique of stewing and brewing herbal remedies of Traditional Chinese medicine.
Slow red cookingLǔCooking over prolonged and constant heat with the ingredients completely immersed in a strongly flavoured soy sauce based broth. This technique is different from, but in English synonymous with, Hóng shāo.
Decoction熬ÁoCooking slowly to extract nutrients into the simmering liquid, used to describe the brewing process in Chinese herbology with the intention of using only the decocted brew.

Steaming

Steaming food is a wet cooking technique that has a long history in Chinese cuisine dating back to neolithic times, where additional food was cooked by steaming over a vessel of food being cooked by other wet cooking techniques.
English EquivalentChinesePinyinDescription
Steaming蒸 or 燖Zhēng or XúnSteaming food to completion over boiling water and its rising water vapour.
Distillation simmering醇ChúnA cooking technique requiring the using of a unique lidded vessel, known as the steam-pot with a chimney rising from inside the bowl that is covered also by lid. Food ingredients are placed without cooking liquid in the vessel and the entire lidded vessel is seated on top of a pot of boiling water. Steam rising from the pot distills as hot water in the lidded vessel and cooks the ingredients while immersing it in soup. Used to prepare "pure" restorative foods such as :zh:汽鍋雞|steam-pot chicken.

Dry

Air-based

Food preparation in hot dry vessels such as an oven or a heated empty wok include:
English EquivalentChinesePinyinDescription
Baking or Roasting烤KǎoCooking by hot air through convection or broiling in an enclosed space
Grilling炙zhì Cooking by direct radiant heat typically on skewers over charcoal.
Smoking熏XūnCooking in direct heat with Smoke. The source of the smoke is typically sugar or tea.

Oil-based

Oil-based cooking methods are one of the most common in Chinese cuisine and include:
English EquivalentChinesePinyinDescription
Deep frying or Frying炸ZháFull or partial immersion cooking in hot oil or fat
Pan frying煎JiānCooking in a pan with a light coating of oil or liquid and allowing the food to brown.
Stir frying or high heat Sautéing炒ChǎoCooking ingredients at hot oil and stirring quickly to completion. This technique, as well as bào chǎo and yóu bào, is known in English as stir frying. This technique uses higher heat than that of Sautéing.
Flash-frying or High heat Stir frying爆BàoCooking with large amounts hot oil, sauces, or broth at very high heat and tossing the ingredients in the wok to completion.
Stir frying
Kian Lam Kho identifies five distinct techniques of stir frying:
English EquivalentChinesePinyinDescription
Plain stir-fry or Simple stir-fry清炒qīngchǎoTo stir-fry a single ingredient. A plain stir-fry using garlic is known as 蒜炒, suànchǎo.
Dry stir-fry or Dry wok stir-fry煸炒biānchǎoTo stir-fry a combination of protein and vegetable ingredients
Moist stir-fry滑炒huáchǎoTo stir-fry a combination of protein and vegetable ingredients
Dry-fry or Extreme-heat stir-fry干煸gānbiānTo scorch in oil before stir-frying
Scramble stir-fry软炒 ruǎnchǎoA technique for making egg custard.

Without heat

Food preparation techniques not involving the heating of ingredients include:
English EquivalentChinesePinyinDescription
Dressing拌BànMixing raw or unflavoured cooked ingredients with seasonings and served immediately. Similar to tossing a dressing into salad.
Marinating or pickling腌 or 醬Yān or JiàngTo pickle or marinade ingredients in salt, soy sauce or soy pastes. Use for making pickles or preparing ingredients for addition cooking.
Jellifying冻DòngTo quickly cool a gelatin or agarose containing broth to make aspic or agar jelly
Velveting过油Guò yóuThis technique involves marinating meat in corn starch and other ingredients before cooking. This produces a velvety texture.

Combination

Several techniques in Chinese involve more than one stage of cooking and have their own terms to describe the process. They include: