Chinese Food

Ba Kut Teh Spiced Pork Bone Soup Hainanese Chicken Rice Claybot Rice Hokkien Fried Noodles Popiah Hokkien-style Fresh Spring Roll Tea-smoked Sea Bass Yu-Sheng Chicken Soup with Ginger

When two Chinese meet, the traditional greeting is "Cha pah bway?", which means roughly "Have you eaten yet?". The polite answer, by the way, is always "Yes". This highlights the central place of food in Chinese culture. The greeting must surely have been brought about by the cycles of famine long a part of Chinese history, which have made Chinese cooks firm followers of the adage "waste not, want not." This approach to food is also characteristic of a people with strong roots in the soil; you ate whatever was plentiful, or in season, and you made the best you could of it. And Chinese everywhere, including those in Singapore, do make the best of everything they can get their hands on.

A little can go a long way when there are several kinds of ingredients cut small, tossed into a hot kuali (wok) with a little oil and stir-fried with fragrant garlic and salted soya beans. Cutting food into bite-size pieces makes for rapid, even cooking. Small pieces are also easier to eat when you are manipulating two thin pieces of wood to pick up your food, and they simplify sharing in the communal style of eating. Although large chunks of meat are not unknown, these are braised until the meat falls away from the bone and can be eaten in bite-sizes, or else the meat is cut into small pieces before being taken to the table.

While stir-frying is very Chinese, so is steaming, where the prepared food is placed in bamboo steamers over a kuali of boiling water. Equally popular is braising or stewing, long slow cooking with such basic seasonings as garlic, soy sauce, bean paste or oyster sauce which turns tough cuts into favourable melting morsels. Deep-fryng or stir-frying are sometimes combined with braising or steaming. A sauce can be prepared with stock, rice wine, soy sauces, sweet-smelling greens such as spring onions and coriander leaves and other colourful vegetables, to be poured over the deep-fried ingredients.

Many Chinese dishes combine several vegetables with meat or seafood, making for naturally colourful food. Pit-roasting is another cooking technique to get that delicacy of roasted suckling pig, and various roasted meats are done in kiln-like ovens or large drums, although Chinese "roast" chicken is actually deep-fried.

From ancient times in China, some foods were "cooling" or "ying" while others were "hot" or "yang", and some were neutral. The human constitution was classified the same way, with some people being more ying and some people being more yang.

It was believed that balancing the yin and yang in your body by eating the correct foods kept you in good health, and it was therefore important to eat everything in moderation and to eat a wide range to maintain the correct balance.

"Tim Sum" or "Dim Sum" is a very popular breakfast with the Chinese all over the world. Normally, this breakfast is served with pork dumplings and many other different kinds of dishes.

Clear-Steamed Chicken Soup with Ginger

Six servings

Clear-steaming, otherwise known as double-boiling, is a simple technique used by Chinese cooks where a food is cooked slowly within a closed container. The result is a very clear, intense broth.

1 whole chicken, about 3 to 3-1/2 pounds

Soup Broth

6 cups boiling water
1-3/4 cups rice wine, preferably Shaoxing wine
   (available at Asian markets)
10 whole scallions, ends trimmed and smashed
   lightly with the flat side of a knife
10 slices fresh ginger, the size of a quarter,
   smashed with the flat side of a knife
1 teaspoon salt, or to taste

1. Remove any fat from the cavity opening and around the neck of the chicken. Rinse lightly and drain. Using a heavy knife or a cleaver, cut the chicken, through the bones, into 10 to 12 pieces. Heat 2 quarts water until boiling and blanch the chicken pieces for 1 minute after the water reaches a boil to clean them. Drain the chicken, discarding the water, then rinse in cold water and drain again.

2. Place the chicken pieces and the Soup Broth ingredients, except the salt, in a heat-proof pot or 2-quart soufflé dish. Cover tightly with heavy-duty aluminum foil and place on a steamer tray or small rack. Fill a wok with enough water to just reach the bottom of the steamer tray or rack and heat until boiling. Place the food on the steamer tray or rack over the boiling water, cover, and steam 2 hours over high heat, replacing the boiling water in the wok as necessary. Alternatively, you may steam the soup in the oven: Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Place the ingredients in a Dutch oven or casserole with a lid and, before putting on the cover, wrap the top tightly with heavy-duty aluminum foil; then cover. Place the pot in a lasagna pan or a casserole and fill with 1-1/2 inches boiling water. Bake for 2 hours, replenishing the boiling water as necessary.

3. Skim the top of the broth to remove any impurities and fat. Add the salt. Remove the ginger and scallions, ladle the soup and pieces of the chicken into serving bowls, and serve. To reheat and retain a clear broth, steam or bake in a closed pot for 10 to 15 minutes, or until piping hot.

As do other cultures, the chinese consider chicken soup a universal panacea for many illnesses and conditions. Chicken Soup with Ginger is often eaten by new mothers every day for a month after they have given birth. it is believed to restore and renew the body's energy.

Fried Rice

Makes 4 to 6 servings as part of a multi-course meal.

The traditional recipe is with cooked long grain rice. The XO Sauce mentioned in the recipe is a relatively new condiment, made from dried scallops, shrimp roe, chili peppers, garlic and spices, used to enhance the flavor.

2 large eggs
6 ounces Chinese barbecued pork,
   store-bought or homemade
2 teaspoons plus 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
3 cups cooked brown rice, cooled
1 cup frozen peas, thawed
1/3 cup finely minced scallions
1 tablespoon thin soy sauce
1 teaspoon XO Sauce
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper

Lightly beat eggs. Cut barbecued pork into 1/4-inch dice to make about 1-1/4 cups. Heat a large wok over medium-high heat until hot but not smoking. Add 2 teaspoons oil and beaten eggs, and cook 1 to 2 minutes, tilting the pan so that the egg pancake will be as thin as possible. When the bottom side is just beginning to brown and the egg pancake is just set, transfer to a cutting board. Allow pancake to cool slightly and then cut into 1/4-inch-wide and 2-inch-long strips.

Add remaining 1 tablespoon oil and rice, and stir-fry 2 to 3 minutes, breaking up the rice to separate the grains, until rice is lightly coated with oil. Add the diced barbecued pork, peas, scallions, and egg strips, and continue stir-frying 3 to 4 minutes or until rice is beginning to brown slightly. Add soy sauce, XO Sauce, salt, and pepper, and stir-fry 1 more minute or until well combined. Serve immediately.