Cantonese cooking

[ChefSiu]

Hello! I am new to the site, I wanted to share my fathers cooking. I have just started a youtube channel for cooking, We have only a few videos up, but I would like have some feedback on them. If there are any request for a particular dish we would love to make it and show how its done. I hope you enjoy the traditional cooking style. If there are questions please ask away!

Egg Noodle

Pan-fried Wonton

Ginger and onion Crab

[abcdefg]

I watched the pork and shrimp fried wonton video. Looked delicious. Your father is clearly an excellent cook and his explanations were clear.

Only suggestion would be to pay more attention to the microphone placement. Sometimes it was difficult to hear what he was saying.

[skylee]

Thank you. The wontons look delicious. Wondered if the pork could be fully cooked that way, but then the cook added some water and I thought it would be fine.

And I can make that noodle too. (You don't call that a dish, do you? Hehehe). My mum, back in the days when she still cooked, also used to heat oil in a similar way to pour over steamed fish.

[ChTTay]

Request:

Chao mien... The crispy noodles and with sauce, meat etc.

Drunken Chicken or Soy Chicken. Are they Cantonese? :-)

When you just do simple green vegetable, has a kind of clear sauce... What is that and how do make it? Hope you know what i'm talking about haha

Thanks. Looking forward to following your youtube channel when I get home!

[ChefSiu]

Thank you so much for the comments, I'm happy to see people are watching

abcdefg- Thank you! I will try to get better quality sound for the next video

香港分舵舵主- Yup, you are right the water steams the wontons helping it cook all the way:) And yes the hot oil is the same cooking technique for the fish as well, I think that maybe a video we will do soon.

ChTTay- You got it! We will make that video and have it up soon as possible. My father isn't here atm to answer the questions, but as the son of a chef I can answer the best I can. I believe drunken chicken is a shanghai dish and I'm almost 100% sure soy chicken is cantonese, you can find that one in almost any chinatown, and 90% of chinatowns are cantonese. In terms of the clear sauce for veggies... I wanna say its the water, salt,and oil residual that is from the pot when cooking them. Usually when my folks make veggies, its usually in a pot, first with hot oil, then with a couple piece of ginger slice, and then you put the veggies in and it should make a loud noise, finally a cup of water and cover, then after 4-5 minutes its done. Typically done with bok choy but can be done with a variety of veggies. I hope that answers your question

• 
  

[triunfo]

I have another request too! Fish fillet with sweet corn and egg sauce My favorite.

[abcdefg]

#4 --

When you just do simple green vegetable, has a kind of clear sauce... What is that and how do make it? Hope you know what i'm talking about haha

Not sure whether it's what you had in mind, but this method is easy enough for green leafy vegetables such as spinach and kale, and is good for cai xin 菜心 (Choy Sum in Cantonese.) Also works well with Chinese broccoli/gai lan/ 芥蓝, small cabbage/bok choi/xiao bai cai/小白菜 and most other fresh green vegetables you might find in a Chinese wet market. This method isn't specifically Cantonese, but it works well for me in Kunming on a day to day basis.

-- Wash the vegetables well (especially important in China.) Let them stand for a while in a pan of water as well as doing several rinses. This gets off dirt, as well as maybe some surface chemicals.

-- If the vegetables have thick stems, slice them a couple times along their long axis so that their cooking time will be similar to what is needed for the leafy parts. If you're cooking cai xin, you may even want to cut the leafy part off so you can give the stems a head start.

-- Heat some good oil in a wok.

-- If you want to add augmenting flavors such as garlic, onions, ginger or dried chilies, put them in the pan first to develop and release their aromatics. Very short time; only a few seconds; don't burn the garlic.

-- Add vegetables and stir fry till still slightly crunchy. Optionally near the end, give them a splash of oyster sauce 蚝油 and/or some sesame oil 芝麻油 (light or dark; dark has a stronger flavor.)

-- If you want to thicken your dish with a velvety sauce, you can do this near the end. Here's how.

In the west, use corn starch; in China, use 小分. First add a little of the powder (on the order of half a teaspoon) to a small cup and add a little cold water to dissolve it -- not the other way around. Stir it into the dish and it will make a light gravy after a minute or two of stirring. Salt to taste. MSG can also be added near the end if you like it.

Variations are endless. Suggest using this method very plain and simple at first and then only adding one or two extra notes so it doesn't become all confused with competing flavors. The vegetables need to be the star; their flavor needs to shine through.

If the green vegetables are thick (not leafy) and don't get cooked soft enough that way to suit your taste, you can add a splash or two of water to the wok near the end, turn down the heat, and cover for a minute or two. That's often done for western broccoli/西兰花 and for green beans. Then uncover and reduce the juice over high heat; it should be thick and coat the vegetables (not be a thin soup.)

After doing this a few times, you can make personal modifications. It's a rough and ready method, not a true recipe. It is a forgiving style of cooking; doesn't require fussy measurement and exact timing. It's what we refer to here as 家常菜, family style cooking. Disclaimer: I'm definitely no chef.

[liuzhou]

When you just do simple green vegetable, has a kind of clear sauce... What is that

Water.

[Kobo-Daishi]

Are you in the US? Do you have ready access to a large Chinatown or a well-stocked Chinese (Asian) market?

I don't know which foods are specifically Cantonese or just regular Chinese, but, lately I've gotten back into Chinese cooking.

I was going to do a series for my blog, but, am real lazy. I'm amazed I've only ever done 10 posts and I've had my blog for more than 5 years.

Anyway, I was looking at the Wikipedia entry for Cantonese food.

http://en.wikipedia..../Cantonese_food

It might give you some ideas.

And here are some foods that I like, (don't know if they're strictly Cantonese. I think they are or might be), that I was going to write about.

http://www.google.co...h?tbm=isch&q=田雞 frog

http://www.google.co...h?tbm=isch&q=田螺 snail

http://www.google.co...bm=isch&q=鹹魚豬肉餅 salted fish in steamed pork

http://www.google.co...?tbm=isch&q=芙蓉蛋 egg foo young

The Americanized version is very like potato pancakes.

http://www.google.co...bm=isch&q=牛腩雲吞麵

Beef wonton noodles either in soup or dry stir-fried.

And with plenty of 牛筋 beef tendons. Just love beef tendons.

http://www.google.co...bm=isch&q=叉燒雲吞麵

Cha siu (bbq pork) wonton noodles.

http://www.google.co...?tbm=isch&q=菜乾湯

Dried kale soup.

http://www.google.co...?tbm=isch&q=豆腐湯

Tofu soup.

http://www.google.co...tbm=isch&q=西洋菜湯

Watercress soup.

http://www.google.co...?tbm=isch&q=節瓜湯

Hairy melon soup.

http://www.google.co...?tbm=isch&q=冬瓜湯

Wintermelon soup.

http://www.google.co...?tbm=isch&q=南瓜湯

Pumpkin soup.

http://www.google.co...?tbm=isch&q=糯米雞

Lotus leaf wrapped rice.

http://www.google.co...?tbm=isch&q=炒年糕

Fried year cake? Heard Ariel Lin mention it in "It Started With A Kiss". ;-)

The first two I saw on my last trip into Los Angeles' Chinatown. They were in the frozen aisle of a Chinese supermarket. Snails and frogs (euphemistically called field chicken in Cantonese)

Keep up the good work! And ga yau!

Kobo.

[ChefSiu]

As requested!

Crispy Chow mein with pork and veggies

Fish Fillet with corn and egg sauce

[abcdefg]

Wow! Thanks so much, Chef. The crispy chow mein with pork and veggies looks delicious. I should never watch one of your cooking shows when I'm hungry. 流口水！

I like the classic simplicity of your style. It's like poetry. I will make this dish tomorrow.

[Kobo-Daishi]

And I can make that noodle too. (You don't call that a dish, do you? Hehehe). My mum, back in the days when she still cooked, also used to heat oil in a similar way to pour over steamed fish.

I wonder if they have a word for that method of heating oil and then pouring over scallions. Probably do. They've probably got a word for everything.

Another dish that uses that method would be 蔥(葱)油雞(鸡). Green onion or scallion oil chicken.

http://www.google.co...?tbm=isch&q=蔥油雞

The cooking method is easy.

You just make your basic white cut chicken 白切雞(鸡) or 白斬雞(鸡). A Chinese poached chicken brushed with sesame oil and then chop up Chinese style.

http://www.google.co...?tbm=isch&q=白切雞

http://www.google.co...?tbm=isch&q=白斬雞

The Cantonese like the marrow within the bones a bit blood red and the chicken flesh adhering to the bone to be a bit pinkish.

Then you julienne some scallions and ginger. Cutting them into about 1 1/2 inch slivers. Place them on top of the chicken.

Heat a few tablespoons of oil till smoking and then pour it over the scallion & ginger.

There are plenty of recipes online with different little variations, so, I won't link to any specific one.

A variant I like is where instead of putting the scallion and ginger over the chicken is one where they make a dipping sauce using the scallions and ginger.

Here you chop up the scallions and finely mince the ginger. Cook the ginger, scallions, salt in boiling oil. Cooks instantly. Remove from heat and serve as a dipping sauce with the chicken.

Easy.

Kobo, drooling while he's typing this.

[abcdefg]

I wonder if they have a word for that method of heating oil and then pouring over scallions.

My main cooking teacher last year called it 枪的 qiàngde。I don't know if that was formally correct, and my teacher is not Cantonese. We used the method with 莴笋 wōsǔn.

We Julienned some 莴笋 (also sometimes called 青笋) and tossed it with a simple sauce of aged vinegar 老陈醋, salt and sugar. Then we "qaianged" it with the very hot oil. She said to use an oil with a high smoking point, such as peanut oil.

You can use this technique with a vegetable that only needs minimal cooking or alternatively can be eaten raw.

Since 莴笋 might not be familiar, I've attached a clipped picture of it.

[Milano]

I can cook Szechuan food but am looking forward to eating some Cantonese after reading these recipes.

[ChefSiu]

Here is another update for anyone interested

Hong Kong Style Beef Chow Foon

This was made at Cha Ya restaurant in Columbia, MD. Come to the restaurant if you are a MD local

[skylee]

Is the term "chow foon" commonly used in your area? I didn't know what "foon" meant until I watched the video.

That is one of my favourite dish and I always think that you can tell how good a cha chan tang is by ordering this dish. But I hardly eat it now as it is considered too oily/ unhealthy.

Thanks for the video.

[PhreakOut]

i live in Portugal :/ not many chinese fresh ingredients...

I dont have any chinatown near me, but i know someone that owns a chinese restaurant, maybe she can help me get some nice ingredients? or i can ask her where she gets 'em...

[Kobo-Daishi]

Is the term "chow foon" commonly used in your area? I didn't know what "foon" meant until I watched the video.

In America, the more common is "chow fun", returns 435,000 hits in Google, whereas "chow foon" returns a paltry 18,400 hits.

Surprisingly, 炒粉 returns 741,000 hits. Less than twice that for "chow fun". Thought it would be a lot more.

https://www.google.c...ch?q="chow fun"

https://www.google.c...h?q="chow foon"

https://www.google.c...m/search?q="炒粉"

Perhaps, the original poster is Taishanese. I believe 粉 is pronounced "foon" in the dialect.

That is one of my favourite dish and I always think that you can tell how good a cha chan tang is by ordering this dish. But I hardly eat it now as it is considered too oily/ unhealthy.

There is always rice noodle soup.

http://www.google.co...m=isch&q="河粉" 湯

Though most Chinese restaurants in America probably wouldn't have it or Chow fun, for that matter.

Though Vietnamese restaurants would have Vietnamese style rice noodle soup.

http://www.google.co...isch&q="越式河粉" 湯

http://www.google.co...?tbm=isch&q=pho

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pho

Bit of a controversy as to which character it is derived from.

Kobo.

[roddy]

Some posts on vegetarian cooking split as suggested, find 'em here

[Kobo-Daishi]

i live in Portugal :/ not many chinese fresh ingredients...

I dont have any chinatown near me, but i know someone that owns a chinese restaurant, maybe she can help me get some nice ingredients? or i can ask her where she gets 'em...

I've just got back into cooking and have been going through some of my old Chinese cookbooks.

A lot of them have addresses of Chinese markets in the US that do mail order sales of some of their items.

Though these books are 20 or 30 years old, I guess they'd still do it. Or there might be newer markets that do it now.

Don't know about Portugal though.

Anyway, in the age of the Internet, in America we have Amazon and they have practically everything for sale online. Don't know if they sell to Portugal though. Or if you've got an equivalent.

You could also grow your own Chinese vegetables. I used to subscribe to a catalog that sold seeds by mail.

I also used to subscribe to a gardening magazine and they'd have seed exchanges in the classified section.

All you had to do was mail a SASE (self-addressed stamped envelope) and other gardeners with extra seeds would mail you seeds in exchange for yours. Sometimes you wouldn't even need to send seeds to get seeds. They'd have extra that they'd dry from their own harvest that they'd just mail to you.

A lot of the fruits and vegetables were better than the ones in markets. More flavorful. The markets went for size and looks than flavor. Fruits that would not be photogenic but flavorful wouldn't make the cut.

Kobo.