Chinese cooking is based on a few simple principles that have been staples of Chinese society for thousands of centuries. These range from the flavors used for preparation, the heating and cooking techniques, and even to specific equipment that must be used. These elements combine to make Chinese cooking an exquisite, unique experience – one that must be tried firsthand to be truly appreciated.

6 Basic Tastes
The most basic aspect of Chinese cooking lies in its seemingly simple list of “basic flavors.” These flavors range the spectrum of six easily identifiable tastes; specifically, there is a sweet, sour, bitter, hot, salty, and fragrant taste.

The sweet taste is basically what it sounds like – any ingredient that is added to a dish in order to sweeten it is considered to have a sweet taste. The most common sweetingredients would include white sugar or any other sugars (brown slab sugar, rock sugar, malt sugar), sweet soy sauce, molasses, hoisin sauce, and honey.

On the opposite of sweetwould be the sour taste. Common souringredients would include rice vinegar, black vinegar, red vinegar, juice of lime and lemon.

The bitter taste is accomplished by adding ingredients that will make a dish have a more acrid or sharp taste. The bitter taste is created through the use of all the zest of most fruits (such as lime, lemon, orange, tangerine), and any bittersweet solution.

The hot taste is the taste that leaves your mouth burning after eating. In Chinese cooking, the hot taste can range from milder versions that simply make foods spicier and much hotter versions that can, literally, make you cry. The most common hot ingredients are white pepper powder, black pepper powder, chili peppers (such as finger hot peppers, serrano, jalapeño, and habanera), chili oil, hot bean sauce, curry powder, and chili sauce.

The salty taste is created through the use of sodium chloride (table salt), soy sauce (either light or dark), and all salted vegetables (like turnips, cabbages, Szechwan pickles, etc.)

Lastly, the fragrant taste is a, somewhat, controversial flavor, as it isn’t really a flavor that distinctly changes the way a dish tastes. To most westerners, this would imply that the fragrant taste is not important. Chinese cooking, however, is concerned with much more than simply taste; to the Chinese, the smell, aroma, and even the look produced by a dish is just as important as the meal itself. Thus, fragrant taste is one of the most important tastes, and is created through the use of any ingredient that arouses the nasal senses. These fragrant ingredients are Szechwan peppercorn, simple wine, sesame oil, garlic, ginger root, star anise, tangerine peel, fennel seeds, spicy ginger root, parsley, basil, fermented bean, and any other ingredient that produces a distinct aroma.

Cooking Methods
The Chinese cooking method can be similarly broken into smaller, easily remembered parts. These methods will usually stress the use of very little oil, a high flame technique, and a fast cooking method to create healthy, tasty food with a high amount of retained vitamins (in fact, Chinese food is considered to be some of the healthiest food on the planet because of this). The Chinese cooking method is broken into eight parts: stir fry, steam, simmering, deep fry, shallow frying, dry cooking, red cooking, and par cooking.

Stir fry cooking is the most common cooking method used in Chinese cooking. Using a wok and little bit of oil, ingredients are cooked on a high flame setting while being continuously stirred. Stir fry cooking is usually done without a cover.

Steaming is the 2nd most popular cooking process. Basically, steam, usually boiled off of water, is used to heat and “cook” the food. The steam method uses a large pot with water boiling on the bottom. A bowl or plate is then held over the boiling water by a stand, and a cover is used to encapsulate the steam.

Simmering is a relatively simple process that involves the use of any liquid substance that can be brought to a boil. The liquid (which can be water, a broth, or wine) is brought to a rapid boil using a high flame. Then, the flame is lowered just enough so that the liquid continues to lightly bubble.

Deep fry is the process of using a large amount of cooking oil to cook an ingredient. The cooking oil is brought to a temperature of 325-350 degrees and the ingredient is dipped into the oil and allowed to cook.

Shallow frying is the use of ½ to 1 cup of oil brought to a frying temperature. The ingredient to be cooked will then be placed into the pan. It is usually required to turn the ingredient over on each side in order to ensure a proper and even cook.

The dry cooking method means to not use any oil in cooking. In Chinese cooking, dry cooking is usually done in a wok in order to bring out a marinated flavor.

The red cooking uses only liquid and solid spices such as soy sauce, wine with star anise, and funnel seeds in order to give food a zesty, exotic flavor.

Par cooking or par-cook stands for partially cooking. It, basically, uses any of the above processes to partially cook food. After being partially cooked, the food will usually be returned a wok for the final cooking process.

The tastes, cooking methods, and equipment are only starting points in the discovery of Chinese cooking. In the end, the only way to gain a true understanding of Chinese cooking is simply to experiment with different ingredients and practice. In addition, a fun, relaxed attitude to learning a new subject, as well as the patience to make mistakes, would be huge benefits in the mastery of Chinese cooking. Hopefully, Wok Fusion is only the beginning point in your love of learning about Chinese cuisine.