You don't have to go to school to learn the art of Chinese cooking from a professional teacher if you just want to know how to cook for your own family or to entertain friends. In fact, almost without exception, Chinese women learn the skill by watching and working together with their mothers or grandmothers.
By the time they have become wives or mothers themselves, the most diligent ones will try to improve their techniques by consulting cook books and exchanging experiences with their neighbors and friends. In this way they eventually become as skilled as the best chefs in the established restaurants. It should be noted, of course, that most of the well-known chefs in famous restaurants are men, because many men in Chinese homes are just as good at cooking as their wives.
This set of Learn to Cook Chinese Dishes has been compiled by master chefs. They have used simple explanations to introduce the ingredients, the ways of cutting, and cooking procedures for each Chinese dish. Readers can follow the directions and before long they are sure to become skilled in the art of Chinese cooking. The total set consists of nine volumes, covering freshwater and seafood dishes, meat dishes, vegetable dishes, courses made from soy beans, soups, cold dishes, pastries, dishes of eggs and poultry meat, food carving techniques and family banquet dishes. This volume presents forty recipes of vegetarian dishes.
A great variety of vitamins, minerals and trace elements that humans rely on to maintain physical health and the balance of acid and alkaline in the body, as well as to resist attacks of diseases can be obtained from fruits and vegetables. If the way of cooking - the vegetables is correct and the mix of different kinds of vegetables is right, then vegetable dishes are of great benefit to one's health.
The types of fruits and vegetables on the market often vary from season to season and from region to region. There is an ancient Chinese saying: "Eat young shoots in spring, leaves in summer, fruits in autumn and roots in winter. " Today, thanks to the development of new techniques for cultivation, new varieties of vegetables are emerging and the impact of seasons on the growth of vegetables has markedly decreased. The result is that there is a greater choice of vegetables to select as ingredients for cooking, more ways of combining different varieties of vegetables, and larger numbers of new cooking techniques.
Cooking of vegetables may seem easy, but only meticulous preparations lead to good dishes. First, vegetables should be washed before being cut and then, once cut, they should be immediately cooked. If left aside too long, the cut vegetables will lose much of their color and luster. More importantly, vitamins and nutritious elements will be lost in the process.
The way of cooking should be chosen according to the quality of the vegetables. For instance, green-leafed vegetables should be quick-fried to maintain their tenderness and crispiness. Ingredients taken from vegetable fruits and roots can be sauteed, simmered on low fire, steamed or boiled so that they will fully absorb the desired flavor of the dishes. Besides, a strict procedure for adding salt and other seasonings should be observed.
Stir-frying and boiling are the chief means for cooking vegetable dishes and the temperature of the oil or water is controlled by maintaining the right kind of fire. In short, vegetable cooking requires good control of the fire. Only with right fire and right time, can the dishes maintain the deliciousness and freshness of the vegetables, the balanced complement of "sweet, sour, bitter, spicy and salty" flavors and good combination of the color, aroma and flavor
