Five-Spice Brined Ribs and….

I’ve become a big fan of brining (soaking an animal protein in a mixture of salt, sugar, and water before cooking), and this recipe is the result of an experiment in that arena. (You can find an excellent in-depth discussion of the basics of brining in Cook’s Illustrated.) I have made this recipe with beef [...]

Back to Basics

It’s odd to post something like this after so much time writing a cooking blog, but something happened recently that reminded me that sometimes, basics are what people crave. I can’t recall how I used to cut and chop things before I went to culinary school – I must have done it, I know…? This [...]

Technique: Smack

It sounds rather funny, but I’ve gone with “smack” for the Mandarin word pai for lack of a better translation. This technique may appear unusual to a western cook, but it’s rather like using a meat tenderizer on vegetables (and it’s a great way to get rid of some extra stress). The method is used [...]

Technique: Braise

In a traditional French braise, the item to be cooked is seared in a pan on the stove, liquid is added, and there usually follows a very long simmer, either on the stovetop or in the oven. In Chinese cooking, braises are usually much briefer, but the basic concept is the same: Start by stirfrying [...]

Technique: Blanch & Shock

Sounds a bit too much like shock and awe, but this is a method used to precook items (usually vegetables, with the exception of starchy ones, like potatoes) that would not cook through in a quick stirfry, or for when you want to prepare something ahead and quickly finish the cooking later. It’s also a [...]

Technique: Roll cutting

This is an interesting technique that is peculiar to Chinese cuisine as far as I know. Its goal is to expose more surface area of a vegetable so that when stirfried, it cooks more quickly. (Unfortunately, it’s sometimes more difficult to pick the chunk up with chopsticks, though!) This method is used to cut long, [...]

“Explode until fragrant”

This is a quick method for flavoring a stirfry or braised dish. In Mandarin, the word is baoxiang, which literally means “explode until fragrant.” The explosion refers to the high heat and instant sizzle when the ingredient hits the wok. Used with seasonings such as fresh ginger root, scallions, and garlic, it quickly flavors the [...]