Chinese cooking techniques

Understand the action. Learn what to look for. Bring it to your next meal.

Start with a skill your recipe calls for, then check the preparation and signs of success before you turn on the heat.

24 skills

Core techniques

Raw chicken slices with a thin, even starch coating, lifted with chopsticks.

Starch-coating chicken

Prepare a thin coating before cooking chicken for a stir-fry.

Chicken and broccoli in a stainless-steel skillet with visible space between the pieces.

Stir-frying

Cook small pieces in stages, then bring them together while their textures are distinct.

Put skills to work

Thin scallion strips with light golden edges lifted from oil in a strainer.

Making scallion oil

Infuse oil with scallions and stop at golden edges, before bitterness develops.

Explore the library

Minced garlic, ginger slivers and dried chilies sizzling in shallow oil at the edge of a wok.

Aromatic blooming (bao xiang)

Bloom ginger, garlic, and chili in hot oil to build the aroma base.

A spider strainer lifting bright green greens from boiling water in a pot.

Blanching (chao shui)

Par-cook in boiling water to clean, tighten, or prep ingredients.

A ladle of clear, lightly amber chicken stock lifted from a gently simmering pot.

Chicken stock (gao tang)

Simmer bones and aromatics slowly for a clear, savory base.

Hot oil poured over ground red chilies and sesame, blooming to a vivid red.

Chili-oil infusion

Pour hot oil over ground chilies and spices to extract color and heat.

Smashed cucumber pieces tossed with a glossy dressing until evenly coated in a bowl.

Cold dressing (liang ban)

Toss cooked or raw ingredients with a bold chilled dressing.

Separate rice grains with egg ribbons being turned in a wok, no clumps.

Day-old rice pan-frying

Toss chilled rice over high heat so every grain fries separately.

Chicken pieces mid-fry in deep oil with active bubbles and a light golden crust forming.

Deep-frying

Cook food fully submerged in hot oil for crisp crust and moist interior.

Blistered green beans with frizzed browned edges being turned in a dry wok.

Dry-frying (gan bian)

Drive off moisture in a bare wok to concentrate flavor and chew.

Thin egg ribbons forming in a swirling, clear hot soup as beaten egg is poured in.

Egg-drop finishing

Swirl beaten egg into hot liquid for silken ribbons.

Eggs just set into glossy pale ribbons in a wok, pushed by a spatula.

Fried egg ribbon

Set eggs into soft ribbons before combining with other ingredients.

Ginger-scallion water being stirred into ground pork until glossy and sticky.

Ginger-scallion water

Whip ginger-scallion water into ground meat for juicy texture.

Raw pork slices evenly coated with a dark soy marinade, turned with chopsticks in a bowl.

Marinating

Season protein ahead with soy, wine, and starch for flavor and texture.

A dark aromatic master stock with star anise and cinnamon around braising food.

Master-stock braising (lu)

Simmer in a spiced soy-based stock that is reused and deepened.

A spatula lifting a pan-fried piece to show its even golden-brown underside in a shallow-oil skillet.

Pan-frying (jian)

Sear food in a shallow layer of oil, one side at a time.

Pork belly chunks in a glossy mahogany braising liquid, one lifted on a ladle.

Red-braising

Slow-simmer in soy-sugar-aromatic liquid for deep mahogany flavor.

A pot of broth at a gentle simmer with small bubbles and tender meat below the surface.

Simmering (dun)

Gentle low-heat cooking in liquid until flavors merge and meat softens.

Glossy sauce lightly coating the back of a ladle lifted from a wok.

Starch thickening (gou qian)

Thicken sauce so it clings to every piece.

A bamboo steamer over a wok with its lid lifted and steam rising from the food inside.

Steaming

Cook with moist vapor for tender, clean-tasting results.

Melted sugar swirled to an amber caramel stage in a small wok.

Sugar caramelizing (chao tang se)

Melt sugar into amber caramel to color and flavor braises.

A glossy sweet-and-sour sauce clinging to rib pieces lifted with chopsticks.

Sweet-sour sauce

Balance sugar and vinegar into a bright, glossy coating sauce.

Sliced pork with curled, crisped edges stir-fried with leeks and chili in a wok.

Twice-cooking

Simmer meat first, then slice and stir-fry with bold sauce.