Browse Techniques

Lu shui: the continuously replenished master stock of Chinese braising — soy, dark soy, Shaoxing wine, rock sugar, aromatics (star anise, cassia, dried tangerine peel, sand ginger, cloves, Sichuan pepper, dried chili), and stock. Used to braise meats, tofu, eggs, and offal. Old master stocks in traditional restaurants are decades old and are among the most prized culinary assets.

Lu shui is the mother of Chinese flavour — a perpetual braising liquid built from soy sauce, Shaoxing wine, rock sugar, and a complex spice bundle, added to over years of use. Each addition of a protein enriches the stock; each replenishment adds fresh aromatics. Some restaurant master stocks are claimed to be decades or centuries old. Different from Western stocks — this is a seasoning medium, not a neutral foundation.

Yao shan (medicated diet) principles: the systematic use of food as medicine according to Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) theory. Every ingredient has properties — warming/cooling, drying/moistening, entering specific organ meridians. Cooking methods and ingredient combinations must harmonise these properties. Goji berries, jujubes, ginger, astragalus root, and many mushrooms are both food and medicine.

Ba bao zhou (八宝粥) — eight treasure congee — is the most celebrated Chinese medicinal food dish, eaten particularly on the seventh day of the lunar new year (Laba). Eight (or more) nourishing ingredients are simmered together: red dates, lotus seeds, longan, goji berries, peanuts, different glutinous rice varieties, barley, and dried lily. Each ingredient carries TCM health properties.

Yao shan — medicine food — is the integration of Chinese materia medica (herbs, seeds, animal parts) into everyday cooking for health maintenance and treatment. Key yao shan ingredients: astragalus (huang qi) for immunity in chicken soup; wolfberries (gou qi zi) for eyesight; red dates (hong zao) for blood nourishment; goji and lotus seeds in congee for calming; dried longan for fatigue. The philosophy is that food is the best medicine.

Cantonese double-boiled soups (dun tang) are a 3–4 hour commitment producing intensely concentrated medicinal broths. The ingredients are sealed inside a covered ceramic pot which sits inside a larger pot of boiling water — the double-boiler method extracts maximum compounds without agitation. Typical preparations: old hen with ginseng and red dates; pork ribs with lotus root and red bean; sea cucumber and snow fungus soup.

Jiaozi at Chinese New Year: the northern Chinese tradition of making and eating dumplings as a family on New Year's Eve. The dumpling's shape resembles ancient gold ingots (yuan bao) — symbolising wealth. One dumpling in the batch is traditionally filled with a coin — finding it brings luck. The act of making jiaozi together is as important as eating them.

The most important meal in the Chinese calendar — the New Year's Eve reunion dinner brings all family together. Dishes are chosen for auspicious symbolism: fish (年年有余 — surplus each year), dumplings (shape like gold ingots), spring rolls (wealth), nian gao (year-rising), tang yuan (reunion), whole chicken (prosperity), longevity noodles (long life). The number and variety of dishes signals family status.

Nian ye fan: the Chinese New Year's Eve reunion dinner — the most important meal of the Chinese year. Every dish carries symbolic meaning: whole fish (yu) = surplus (the word sounds like 'abundance'); dumplings (jiaozi) = wealth (shaped like gold ingots); tang yuan = family unity (round = wholeness); nian gao = advancement; spring rolls = wealth (gold bars); longevity noodles. The meal must include all family members and should feature the symbolic dishes of the family's home region.

Imlek — Chinese New Year Food in the Indonesian Peranakan Context

The nian ye fan (年夜饭) — Chinese New Year Eve reunion dinner — is the most important meal of the year for Chinese families. Menu architecture follows symbolic principles: fish (yu — homophone for surplus), whole chicken (ji — luck), lotus root (lian ou — continuous good fortune), long noodles (longevity), dumplings (yuanbao gold ingot shape). The number of dishes should be even and auspicious.

Chao nian gao: Shanghainese stir-fried nian gao (rice cakes) — savoury, not sweet. Cylindrical white rice cake slices stir-fried with napa cabbage, pork, dried shrimp, and soy. A year-round Shanghai dish that shares the name with the sweet festival nian gao but is a completely different preparation — these rice cakes are firm, slightly chewy, and take on the wok hei of the stir-fry.

New Year ji (chicken): whole chicken — cooked whole with head and feet intact — is the essential offering at the New Year altar (bai shen) and the subsequent New Year feast. The chicken must be presented whole and intact — cutting it before the ritual offering is inauspicious. The character for chicken (ji) is also the first syllable of ji xiang (auspicious/lucky) — hence its ritual importance.

Chou dou fu: firm tofu fermented in a brine of vegetables, meat, and dried shrimp for days to weeks until pungent, then deep-fried until golden and crispy. The contrast between the intense smell, crispy exterior, and soft interior is the signature paradox of Chinese night market food.

Gui hua gao (桂花糕) — osmanthus cake/jelly — is a delicate Chinese dessert made by setting osmanthus-infused liquid (water or rice wine) with agar-agar or gelatin, layered in alternating clear and golden tiers. Osmanthus flowers (sweet osmanthus, Osmanthus fragrans) are used fresh in season or preserved in syrup. The fragrance is intensely floral, apricot-like, and uniquely Chinese.

Zhi bao ji: marinated chicken pieces individually wrapped in parchment or greaseproof paper, then deep-fried in the paper pouches until cooked through. The paper seals the marinade and chicken juices inside, creating a steam environment — the chicken steams in its own aromatic juices while the paper develops a slight char. One of Cantonese cuisine's most theatrical dishes.

Chinese pickled vegetables span dozens of regional traditions distinct from each other and from the Korean kimchi tradition. A taxonomy: Sichuan pao cai (brined, crunchy, short ferment); Dongbei suan cai (long-ferment Napa cabbage); Tianjin pa pai bai cai (pressed salted cabbage); Guangdong turnip and radish pickles; Fujian sour plum preparations; Yunnan pickled mustard greens; Hunan gan suan cai. Each has specific uses and flavour profiles.

You zi (pomelo) in Cantonese cuisine: the large citrus fruit associated with Mid-Autumn Festival, New Year gifts, and autumn cooking. The pith (which is enormous — up to 3cm thick) is braised until it absorbs all the flavour from the cooking liquid, becoming silky and deeply savoury. The flesh is eaten fresh. Pomelo pith braised with dried shrimp and soy is one of Cantonese cuisine's most unusual and satisfying preparations.

A survey of the diversity of pork belly (wu hua rou — five-flower meat) preparations across Chinese cuisine: red-braise (hong shao), white-braise (clear stock), smoked (Hunan la rou), steamed with preserved vegetables (mei cai kou rou), twice-cooked stir-fry (hui guo rou), salt-baked (yan ju), cured (preserved lap yuk), crispy roast (Cantonese siu yuk). No other cut appears in more diverse preparations across China's culinary landscape.

Rou song (肉松) — pork floss or meat floss — is made by cooking pork (shoulder or loin) with soy, sugar, and spices until very tender, then shredding and slowly dry-frying over low heat until all moisture evaporates and the protein fibres separate into a light, fluffy, savoury coating. Used as a topping on congee, rice, pastries, and bread, and in the classic 'rou song bao' (pork floss bun).

Air-dried preserved duck — salt-cured, flavoured with soy, five-spice, and sugar, then hung to dry in cool dry winter air for 2–4 weeks. A seasonal Cantonese tradition practised from late November through January when cool winds provide ideal drying conditions. Used in clay pot rice, congee, or steamed over rice. Different from Peking Duck — this is a preserved, not freshly roasted, preparation.

Pi dan (century egg / thousand-year egg): duck or chicken eggs cured in a mixture of clay, ash, salt, quicklime, and rice husks for 3–6 weeks. The alkaline environment transforms the egg — white becomes translucent dark jelly, yolk becomes creamy green-grey. The result is an intensely savoury, slightly sulphurous condiment with umami depth far exceeding fresh eggs.

Xian ning meng (salted/preserved lemon): Cantonese technique of preserving lemons, tangerines, and kumquats in salt — fermenting for months to years until the flesh softens and the flavour concentrates to intense, savoury-sour depth. Used: preserved lemon in steamed fish, preserved tangerine peel (chen pi) in braises, preserved kumquat in drinks. Each has distinct culinary applications.

Dou gan (豆干) — pressed tofu — is tofu that has been compressed under weighted boards to expel most of its water, transforming the soft block into a dense, chewy, protein-rich ingredient. It slices cleanly, holds its shape in stir-fries, absorbs marinades deeply, and develops a chew that no soft tofu can provide. Essential to Chinese Buddhist cuisine and Sichuan cold dishes.

Pu-erh (puer cha): post-fermented tea from Yunnan — the only tea that improves with age like wine. Two types: sheng (raw/green — naturally aged over years to decades) and shou (ripe/cooked — artificially fermented in large piles for 45–60 days). High quality aged sheng pu-erh from Xishuangbanna commands prices comparable to fine wine. Key areas: Yiwu, Bulang, Jingmai, Nannuo mountains.

China's dumpling traditions span dozens of regional variants with distinct wrappers, fillings, cooking methods, and cultural contexts. The overarching framework: jiaozi (boiled/pan-fried dumplings — North), tang yuan (sweet glutinous balls — South), xiao long bao (soup dumplings — Shanghai), har gow (steamed shrimp — Cantonese), sheng jian bao (pan-fried buns — Shanghai), guotie (potstickers — North). Each tradition reflects the region's cooking philosophy and ingredient access.

China produces and consumes rice across an enormous variety of varieties and preparations — and the choice of rice variety is as culturally and culinarily specific as the choice of wheat flour for bread. The fundamental division is between long-grain indica rice (南方米, nan fang mi — southern rice) and short-grain japonica rice (北方米, bei fang mi — northern rice), with southern China strongly preferring indica and northern China traditionally preferring wheat but consuming japonica where rice is eaten. The specific variety — jasmine (香米, xiang mi), Thai jasmine, Chinese long-grain, short-grain, glutinous (糯米, nuo mi), black rice — each has a specific application and a specific cultural home.

Sha he fen: the wide fresh rice noodles of Cantonese cuisine, named after the Sha He district of Guangzhou where they originated. Made from rice flour and water poured onto a cloth over a steamer — steamed until just set, then oiled and peeled off. Used in: dry stir-fry (gan chao niu he — dry-fried beef ho fun), soup, or cold with sauce (cheung fun). The technique requires the cloth to be pulled taut and the batter thin.

Shaoxing Huadiao jiu: the essential rice wine of Chinese cooking. Made in Shaoxing, Zhejiang from glutinous rice, wheat, and local well water. Aged 3–10+ years, it develops amber colour and complex dried fruit, nutty, slightly caramelised flavour. Used for deglazing, marinades, braising liquids, and flavouring sauces. The 'cooking Shaoxing' sold in grocery stores is inferior — real Shaoxing is used for drinking and cooking alike.

Shaoxing wine (绍兴酒, Shào xīng jiǔ) is China's most important and prestigious rice wine, produced in Shaoxing City, Zhejiang Province, from glutinous rice (nuomi), wheat koji (mai qu), and the locally sourced 'mianshui' water from Mirror Lake. Dating to at least 2,500 years ago, Shaoxing wine has been integral to Chinese cuisine, medicine, and culture throughout recorded history. The aged expressions (花雕酒, Huā diāo jiǔ — 'carved flower wine') in traditional ceramic jars represent China's version of aged wine culture, with some expressions aged for decades. While primarily used as a cooking ingredient in Chinese cuisine (red-braised pork, drunken chicken, beggar's chicken), premium aged Shaoxing is also consumed as a warming beverage served hot in ceramic cups.

Jiao yan (Sichuan pepper and salt): the quintessential Chinese dry dipping condiment for fried foods — toasted and ground Sichuan pepper combined with fine salt. Applied to: whole fried prawns, soft-shell crab, squid, deep-fried pork chops. The Sichuan pepper contributes floral numbing; the toasted salt provides deep savoury flavour. Different from table salt — the toasting transforms it.

Shao bing: the sesame-crusted flatbread of Northern and Central China — leavened or unleavened, with sesame seeds pressed into the surface. Stuffed versions (filled with pork, red bean, sesame paste, or beef and scallion) are a major street food category. The Xinjiang version (nang) is a related tradition; the Beijing version is slightly leavened, oval-shaped, and often stuffed with beef and spring onion.

Chinese sesame paste (zhi ma jiang) and Middle Eastern tahini are both roasted sesame pastes but are produced differently and taste distinctly different. Chinese sesame paste uses deeply roasted sesame seeds — producing a darker, more intense, bitter-sweet, nutty paste. Tahini uses lightly roasted or raw sesame — lighter in colour and more neutral. In Chinese cooking, they are not interchangeable.

Cha ye dan: eggs hard-boiled, shells cracked (not removed), then simmered for 1–2 hours in a spiced tea broth (black tea, soy, star anise, cinnamon, five spice, salt). The cracked shells allow the dark, aromatic liquid to seep in, creating a beautiful marbled pattern and deeply flavoured white. Sold on virtually every street corner across China.

Traditional Chinese technique of using tea leaves, rice, sugar, and wood chips as smoking agents in a wok or clay pot. Tea-smoking is particularly associated with Sichuan and Hunan traditions. The smoked tea duck (Zhang Cha Ya) is the most famous application — brined duck tea-smoked over camphor wood and tea leaves before deep-frying.

Tofu (豆腐, doufu) production is one of the foundational food technologies of Chinese civilization — a process of extracting protein from soybeans, forming it into a stable gel, and pressing it to varying degrees of firmness. The process was developed in China approximately 2,000 years ago (with the legendary attribution to Liu An, a Han dynasty prince) and spread to Japan, Korea, Southeast Asia, and eventually the world. Chinese tofu varies from silken (嫩豆腐, nen doufu — extremely smooth, the texture of barely-set custard) through soft (soft but holds shape) to firm (can be sliced and pan-fried without crumbling) to extra-firm (pressed until dense enough to be shredded or cut into noodles).

Dou jiang: freshly made soy milk — the canonical Chinese breakfast drink. Soybeans soaked overnight, blended with water, strained through cloth, then simmered to deactivate antinutritional factors. Served hot or cold, sweet or savoury. The savoury version (xian dou jiang) is particularly Shanghainese: hot soy milk coagulated with black vinegar, topped with dried shrimp, you tiao, preserved mustard, and chili oil.

Chinese soy sauce production begins with soybeans (sometimes wheat-blended) fermented over months or years in salt brine with the mold Aspergillus oryzae (qu, 曲) as the primary fermentation organism. The result — after pressing the liquid from the fermented solids — is a raw soy sauce (shen chou, 生抽) of immense complexity. Light soy sauce (sheng chou, 生抽) is the first pressing — thinner, saltier, with bright umami and a clean, complex flavour. Dark soy sauce (lao chou, 老抽) is either a subsequent pressing (thicker, less salty, more complex) or light soy sauce with added caramel and often molasses — darker, more viscous, less salty, used primarily for colour rather than seasoning.

The taxonomy of Chinese soy sauce: light soy (sheng chou) — thinner, saltier, used for seasoning and marinades; dark soy (lao chou) — thicker, sweeter, used for colour in braises; double dark soy — for deep lacquered colour; sweet soy (jiang you gao) — thick and caramelised; mushroom soy — infused with shiitake for extra umami. Each serves specific technical functions.

Chinese soy sauce exists on a spectrum: light soy (sheng chou) — thin, salty, for seasoning and marinades; dark soy (lao chou) — thick, sweet, for colour and braising; double dark or premium (shuang huang chou) — aged, complex; mushroom soy — infused with shiitake. Each variety serves a distinct culinary function and cannot be interchanged without fundamentally altering a dish.

Chun juan: spring rolls of the Chinese New Year — thin wheat-starch or rice paper wrappers filled with stir-fried vegetables and pork/shrimp, then deep-fried until golden. The wrapper must be thinner than the Vietnamese rice paper version; the filling must be dry (excess moisture causes wrapper burst during frying); the roll must be tight.

Gou qian (勾芡) — the Chinese art of starch thickening — transforms cooking liquid into a glossy, clingy sauce that coats ingredients uniformly. Unlike Western roux or cream reductions, Chinese starch slurry is added at the last moment to a nearly-finished dish, creating instant glossy sauce. Technique critical for hot and sour soup, mapo tofu, and all braised dishes.

Nuomi ji (Lo mai gai): glutinous rice mixed with chicken, Chinese sausage, dried mushrooms, and dried shrimp, wrapped in dried lotus leaves and steamed. A dim sum cornerstone that combines multiple techniques: the glutinous rice must be par-cooked; the filling cooked separately and flavoured richly; the lotus leaf provides aromatic steam during cooking.

Xi hong shi chao ji dan: the most universally cooked Chinese home dish — stir-fried tomatoes and eggs. Appears simple but has significant technique: the egg must be large-curded and barely set; the tomato must release its juice to form a light sauce; the balance of salt and sugar must enhance the tomato's natural flavour. Every Chinese person has a version; every version is slightly different and deeply personal.

Stir-frying (chao — literally 'to stir-fry over high heat') is the fundamental Chinese high-heat wok technique — rapid cooking of small pieces of food in a small amount of oil over the highest available heat, with continuous movement to ensure even contact with the hot wok surface. It is not merely rapid sautéing: the combination of very high heat, the wok's specific thermal properties, the small pieces of food, and the continuous movement produces flavour and texture results that cannot be replicated at lower temperatures or in other vessels. Dunlop's treatment in *Every Grain of Rice* and *The Food of Sichuan* is meticulous — the sequence of ingredient additions, the specific oil temperature, the pre-preparation requirements, and the seasoning timing are all addressed with precision.

Chinese cooking uses a hierarchy of stocks (tang) that form the foundation of braised dishes, soups, and sauces. High broth (shang tang): the most refined, made from chicken, pork, ham, and sometimes dried seafood; used for delicate soups and luxury dishes. Master broth (er tang): secondary extraction; good for everyday cooking. The philosophy that the quality of the stock determines the quality of every dish is as fundamental in Chinese cuisine as it is in French.

Chuī tang ren (吹糖人) — blown sugar figures — is an ancient Chinese street art: caramelised maltose sugar is heated until pliable, then blown through a straw and shaped by hand into animals, birds, goldfish, and human figures within seconds. Dating to the Song Dynasty, the craft is now largely practiced by street artisans using traditional techniques passed down through generations.

Tang ren (sugar figurines): the ancient art of blowing and pulling hot caramelised sugar into figurines of animals, mythological creatures, and zodiac animals on the street. The sugar is heated to hard-crack stage, pulled and blown through a small tube, shaped in seconds before cooling and hardening. Temple fairs and New Year markets are the primary contexts for this disappearing craft.

Gu lao rou (咕噜肉) — Cantonese sweet and sour pork — is the template for one of the most globalised Chinese dishes. The authentic version uses a batter of egg and cornstarch (not the thick flour batter of takeaway versions), a balanced sweet-sour sauce made with tomato, Worcestershire sauce, vinegar, and sugar, and includes fresh pineapple (not canned). The sauce should be light and translucent, not heavy and neon-red.

Jiu niang (fermented glutinous rice / sweet rice wine): glutinous rice fermented with qu (a natural mould and yeast culture ball) for 24–48 hours at warm temperature until the rice grains are surrounded by a sweet, slightly alcoholic liquid. Used in Shanghainese and Jiangnan desserts, as a cooking ingredient, and drunk as a light rice wine. The key application: jiu niang tang yuan (sweet dumplings in fermented rice soup).