Saute Chinese Food
While you don’t see sauté in many Chinese dishes, it’s good to know how to do it. Remember, that the purpose of sautés are to cook food on the outside quickly, while leaving the inside warm, possibly even uncooked. Sauté is actually similar to stir fry. The only difference is that in stir frying, one cooks ingredients at the same time and in similar shapes. Sautéing you add ingredients one at a time, and they can be in different sizes. Here are some tips to make sure you’re getting the best out of sautéing.

  1. Only sauté foods on Medium or High heat.
  2. Always let the skillet, or pan, heat on the burner before cooking. Saute should never be started in a cold skillet.
  3. Add just enough oil or cooking fat to THINLY coat the bottom of the pan. Too little or too much oil can change the taste of foods, and sautés depend on foods being cooked evenly with just a small amount of oil.
  4. Do not overheat the oil. You’ll know you overheated the oil if it starts smoking.
  5. After the oil gets hot, add the food carefully, as the pan might sizzle and burn you.
  6. Stir foods that have been cut up so that each piece has the same amount of contact with the bottom of the pan. For larger pieces, simply cook one side, and then flip it over to cook the other side.