The essence of Chinese cooking

[email protected] One of my favorite books in my humble library is "The Thousand Recipe Chinese Cookbook" authored by Gloria Bley Miller. She understood the essential elements of Chinese Cuisine and succeeded in communicating them in a straightforward and clear manner.

The Chinese have recognized that second-class ingredients can never produce first-class dishes: The best example would be aquatic animals like fish. A dead fish is classified as a second-class ingredient, so most Chinese restaurants will always have aquariums or tanks to display live fresh-water or seawater animals. How about dried abalone, one of the more expensive ingredients in Chinese cuisine? Yes, it was live and fresh to start with. (Try sun drying a rotten fish and you will get a rotten dried fish!)

There are no dairy products: Very few milk and milk- products like butter and cheese made its way into traditional Chinese cuisine. During the time of Genghis Khan and his descendants (Yuan Dynasty, 1271-1368 AD), they fermented horse milk into an alcohol beverage called kousmiss or kuyms. In Mongolia today, this beverage is called airag (up to 18 proof). In Tibet, they produce butter from yak's milk and mix this with barley. This constitutes their main diet. They also add yak butter into their tea.

In their absence, the Chinese invented its own "cow" which produces its own "milk" and "meat". They transformed the ordinary soybean into soymilk and bean curd. It was only much later in Chinese civilization that some dairy products inched its way into the Chinese diet and often in negligible quantities.

The cook, not the diner, cuts the food: In Chinese culture, knives are instruments of the barbarians; desirable in the kitchen, but not in the dinner table. Meat and vegetables are cut into bite-size pieces, or cooked to a very tender state that cutting is not needed. In fact, to enjoy a full 8-course Chinese banquet, all you need is a pair of chopsticks and a soup spoon. In some western dinners, so many spoons and so many forks including so many knives are sometimes displayed that their mere presence makes it intimidating to a greenhorn. For large chunks of meat like fried chicken, these are carved into bite-size pieces that are then rearranged artfully as to resemble the animal in its natural form. How about lechon? Well, in Guangdong cuisine, only the roast crispy skin is served. The rest is for the kitchen help!

The cook, not the diner, seasons the food: Most of the seasonings in Chinese cooking are added during cooking with the heat setting chemical reactions (like a marriage matchmaker) between the condiments and the ingredients.

This is also the reason why it is difficult to duplicate stir-fry dishes served in Chinese restaurants at home (using the lower heat generated by table top stoves). In the absence of intense heat, cooking time is often prolonged, changing entirely the character of the dish. I had my frustrations using low temperatures early in my culinary adventures.

In stir-fry, when very intense heat is used (enough to melt the wok if left empty!), only certain oils like peanut oil are used. Pag butter, sunog gyud! You also need a wok made of cast iron to endure such intense heat. There is no main dish: In western cuisine, it is common to have one main dish and several subordinate side dishes; in Chinese cuisine, they will have several dishes with equal importance.

The Chinese people love variety; hence, the presence of several dishes will improve appetite and monotony is avoided. Eight dishes (excluding appetizer and dessert), seems to be the maximum number to be served and that would make you a very generous and hospitable host.

At one time, I tried to serve sixteen dishes for one dinner (marketing, preparation and actual cooking, only three days!). When the tenth dish was served, complain na mga guest kay busog na!

Desserts are nearly negligible. This is one of the weak points in Chinese cuisine, compared to the other great cuisine of the world-French cuisine. And almost always to end a very fine banquet, fruit selection na lang!

Guandong and Hong Kong chefs have perfected these essences of classic Chinese cooking. Last week, select members of Cebu's finest in print media were able to taste some of the best dishes of Chinese cuisine, as shown in these photos. Our most hospitable host was East Ocean Seafood Restaurant (Ginza Compound, Old Banilad Road, phones, 231-3898. 231-5899).

A Chinese dinner is best enjoyed in the company of close friends and relatives. However, some of my friends with deep pockets have a difficulty in what dishes to order. I have no problem in selecting dishes to satisfy even the most discriminating guest; however, all I have are pockets ra!

Selecting from a list of set menu best solves this question. No main ingredients are duplicated, no two cooking methods are used in succession (try eating fried pigeon, then fried sea food roll) and you can prepare your budget even before the meal starts.

At East Ocean Restaurant, a set menu serves twelve persons.