Cooking Oil

The most commonly used oil in Chinese restaurants is a blended vegetable oil that is sold in a 20 litre drum. This is not practical for the home, so I recommend a cooking oil made from peanuts (groundnuts), soya beans, rape seeds or sunflower seeds. Corn oil and olive oil are not really suitable for Chinese food, and sesame seed oil is meant for garnishing only, therefore it should never be used for cooking.

Whichever type of vegetable oil you choose (my personal favourites are sunflower and soy oils), it should be seasoned before use – the Chinese term is lian (refine; temper with fire). The idea is to neutralize the flavour of a particular oil, so that it does not dominate the flavour of the dish.

How to Season Raw Vegetable Oil

Pour 600ml (about 1 pint) vegetable oil into a pre-heated wok or saucepan over a high heat, add 2–3 small pieces of peeled ginger root. In a few minutes, the ginger pieces should rise to the surface. Now watch the colour of the ginger: when it turns from pale yellow to dark brown, turn off the heat and let the oil cool down a little before removing the ginger pieces. Then store the seasoned oil in a container.

The seasoned oil can be reused a number of times. This is one of the reasons why simple vegetable dishes taste so good – because they have been cooked in oil in which meat, poultry, etc has been cooked. It may be necessary to filter and season the oil again. After a while, the oil may become rancid, then it should be discarded. In a restaurant kitchen, certain dishes require freshly seasoned oil, and this will be indicated in the recipes.

hancheng

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