Free At Home with Chinese Cuisine by T P Hong Page A

colour, one should be careful in using it for light-coloured dishes.
     
    Red yeast rice is red in colour and is the product of rice being cultivated with the fungus Monascus purpureus. It is more popular in the South and is often used as a condiment or a natural colouring agent. It is used to prepare the red strip of barbecued pork hanging on a hook by the entrance to a GuangDong restaurant. The barbecued pork can be sliced to serve as a cold plate, or it can be used as the filling for the popular dim-sum selection of steamed buns. One can also find small pieces of fermented bean curd with red yeast rice sold in a glass jar all over China as a traditional breakfast side dish to go with congee.
     
    Buying tips for vinegar: We will be in trouble with the shop owner if we try to open a bottle of vinegar on the spot for sniffing and tasting, or to pour it out to check its clarity and body for quality before we pay for it. But it is exactly the colour, the aroma, the taste and the texture of the liquid that are the points of reference for choosing quality vinegars. Chinese aged vinegar tends to have an amber, red-brownish colour that turns dark brown with aging. Visually, the liquid should be clear and free of floating particles. The sediment in the bottle is not itself an indicator of quality either way. The naturally fermented grain-based vinegars all have their unique aroma from the esterification process. When sniffing at the aged bottle, the aroma should be pleasing with no pungent kick on the nose.
     
    After the purchase, taste the vinegar before using it. Acidity is the dominant taste, preferably with the absence of tannin. With aging, the acidity becomes softer and rounder. The acidity should carry with it the taste of sweetness. And the taste of sweetness is part and parcel of the umami taste. To check on its texture, pour one or two tablespoons of vinegar onto a white plate and tilt it to see whether the vinegar coats the plate. The quality one should have a thin layer clinging on to the plate.

4 . Knif e Wor k fo r Flavour
    Knife Work
    After getting hold of the quality ingredients, we have to consider the knife work required to prepare the ingredients to the shape and size suitable for the designated cooking method. The knife work we carry out on the table during the meal in the West is to cut the food in bite size so that we can then fork the food into our mouths. This task is done in the food preparation stage in the Chinese kitchen. The most obvious reason is because the food has to be made easy for the chopsticks to pick up, which involves cutting larger chunks of ingredients into bite sizes.
     
    Knife work makes possible the quick, high-heat style of cooking methods such as stir-frying. The most basic knife work for a quick stir-fry is to slice the ingredients thinly and in uniform or complementary shapes and thickness, so as to achieve the same degree of doneness within a very short period of cooking time. The uniform or complementary shapes and thickness likewise have a bearing on the presentation of the dish. A neatly presented dish has a positive influence on the perception of the flavour of the dish. In addition, the greater contact area of the finely sliced ingredients is conducive for the initial marinade and the final coating of the sauce for fuller flavour.
     
    For example, tougher meat with connective tissues is normally cut across the grain so that it is tenderer when cooked. For more fragile and moist meat such as pork tenderloin, cutting along the grain is often recommended for a quick stir-fry. With more fibrous vegetables such as the leek, the knife work and the cooking method will determine their texture when cooked. Cut the stem of the leek into three-or four-centimetre sections and shred finely along the fibre (for julienne), which creates a crunchy texture when stir-fried quickly. Cut the leek across the fibre and stir-fry until soft to give a tender and smooth feel.
     
    Practicing knife