Stir frying
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Stir frying (
Wok frying may have been used as early as the Han dynasty (206 BC – 220 AD) for drying grain, not for cooking. It was not until the Ming dynasty (1368–1644) that the wok reached its modern shape and allowed quick cooking in hot oil.[1] However, there is research indicating that metal woks and stir-frying of dishes were already popular in the Song dynasty (960–1279),[2][3] and stir-frying as a cooking technique is mentioned in the 6th-century AD Qimin Yaoshu.[4] Stir frying has been recommended as a healthy and appealing method of preparing vegetables, meats, and fish, provided calories are kept at a reasonable level.[5]
The English-language term "stir-fry" was coined and introduced in Buwei Yang Chao, How to Cook and Eat in Chinese (1945) to translate the Chinese term chǎo 炒.[6] Although using "stir-fry" as a noun is commonplace in English, in Chinese, chǎo is used as a verb or adjective only.[7] [8]
History
In China
The Chinese character 炒 is attested in inscriptions on bronze vessels from the Eastern Zhou period (771–256 BC), but not in the sense of stir frying.[9] Dry stirring was used in the Han dynasty (206 BC – 220 AD) to parch grain.[1] Although there are no surviving records of Han dynasty stir frying, archaeological evidence of woks and the tendency to slice food thinly indicate that the technique was likely used for cooking.[10]
The term initially appears in the sense of "stir frying" in the Qimin Yaoshu (齊民要術), a sixth-century agricultural manual, including in a recipe for scrambled eggs.[11] In sources from the Tang dynasty (618–907), chao refers not to a cooking technique, but to a method for roasting tea leaves. It reappears as a cooking method in a dozen recipes from the Song dynasty (960–1279). The Song period is when the Chinese started to use vegetable oil for frying instead of animal fats. Until then, vegetable oil had been used chiefly in lamps.[1]
Historically, stir frying was not as important a technique as
By the late Qing, most Chinese kitchens were equipped with a wok range (chaozao 炒灶 or paotai zao 炮臺灶) convenient for stir-frying because it had a large hole in the middle to insert the bottom of a wok into the flames.[1]
In the West
Stir frying was brought to America by early
The term "stir fry" as a translation for "chao" was coined in the 1945 book How To Cook and Eat in Chinese, by Rulan Chao Pian. The book told the reader
- Roughly speaking, ch'ao may be defined as a big-fire-shallow-fat-continual-stirring-quick-frying of cut-up material with wet seasoning. We shall call it 'stir-fry' or 'stir' for short. The nearest to this in western cooking is sauté. ... Because stir-frying has such critical timing and is done so quickly, it can be called 'blitz-cooking.'[15]
Although using the term "stir-fry" as a noun is commonplace in English, in Chinese, the word 炒 (chǎo) is used as a verb or adjective only.[7] [8] In the West, stir frying spread from Chinese family and restaurant kitchens into general use. One popular cookbook noted that in the "health-conscious 1970s" suddenly it seemed that "everyone was buying a wok, and stir frying remained popular because it was quick." Many families had difficulty fitting a family dinner into their crowded schedules but found that stir-fried dishes could be prepared in as little as fifteen minutes.[16]
Technique
Broadly speaking, there are two primary techniques: chao and bao. Both techniques use high heat, but chao adds a liquid and the ingredients are softer, whereas bao stir fries are more crispy because of the Maillard reaction.[17]
Chao technique
The chao (炒) technique is similar to the Western technique of sautéing.[18] There are regional variations in the amount and type of oil, the ratio of oil to other liquids, the combinations of ingredients, the use of hot peppers, and such, but the same basic procedure is followed in all parts of the country.
First the
A single ingredient, especially a vegetable, may be stir-fried without the step of adding another ingredient, or two or more ingredients may be stir-fried to make a single dish. Although large leaf vegetables, such as cabbage or spinach, do not need to be cut into small pieces, for dishes which combine ingredients, they should all be cut to roughly the same size and shape.
Wok hei
Wok hei (simplified Chinese: 镬气; traditional Chinese: 鑊氣; Jyutping: wok6 hei3)
When read in Mandarin, the second character is transliterated as
To impart wok hei the traditional way, the food is cooked in a seasoned wok over a high flame while being stirred and tossed quickly.[20] The distinct taste of wok hei is partially imbued into the metal of the wok itself from previous cooking sessions and brought out again when cooking over high heat. In practical terms, the flavour imparted by chemical compounds results from caramelization, Maillard reactions, and the partial combustion of oil that come from charring and searing of the food at very high heat in excess of 200 °C (392 °F).[21][26] Aside from flavour, wok hei also manifests itself in the texture and smell of the cooked items.
Bao technique
In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the bao technique (Chinese: 爆; pinyin: bào; lit. 'pop', 'explosion') of stir-frying on a high flame was typical of cuisine from the northern Chinese province of Shandong.[1] The wok is first heated to a dull red glow over a high fire. The oil, seasonings, and meats are then added in rapid succession. The food is continually tossed, stopping only to add other ingredients such as broths, vegetables, or more seasonings. The purpose of bao is to highlight natural tastes, so minimal seasoning is added.[27] Because of the high heat, bao is ideal for small amounts of food that cook quickly, so the juices do not flow out of the items.[28] Meat is coated with egg white or starch in order to contain the juices.[27] When the food is cooked it is poured and ladled out of the wok. The wok must then be quickly rinsed to prevent food residues from charring and burning to the wok bottom because of residual heat.
A larger amount of cooking fat with a high smoke point, such as refined plant oils, is often used in bao. The main ingredients are usually cut into smaller pieces to aid in cooking.
Effects on nutritional value
Writers extol the quick cooking at high heat for retaining color, texture, and nutritional value.[29][30] One study compared the effects of boiling, steaming, and stir frying on bamboo shoots. Boiling and steaming decreased the amount of protein, soluble sugar, ash, and total free amino acids by more than one third. Stir-frying bamboo shoots increased their fat content by 528.57% due to the addition of oil. With 78.9% retention, stir frying preserved significantly more vitamin C than boiling. Taking into consideration the total retention of nutrients, the study concluded that stir frying is the method best suited for bamboo shoots.[31] Similar results were found for stir frying red peppers.[32]
Another study examined the nutritional value of broccoli after five common cooking techniques: steaming, boiling, microwaving, stir-frying and stir-frying followed by deep frying. The study found that the two most common methods of home cooking in China, stir-frying and stir-frying combined with deep frying in
Stir frying is not without
Uses in traditional medicine
The process of stir-frying is used in the preparation of some Chinese herbal medicines under the term 'dry-frying'. Stir frying a medical herb with honey is commonly used to increase its sweetness and therefore its spleen and stomach qi tonic effects. Stir frying in vinegar is typically used whenever one wants to direct the properties of an herb more to the liver based on the principle that the sour taste belongs to the liver.[36] There is no scientific evidence for any of these medicinal claims.
Stir fried dishes
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Stir-fried peasprouts
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Stir-fried octopus
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Stir-fried eggplant
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Stir fried razor clams
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Catfish stir fried in a spicy curry paste
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Korean stir-fried inshore hagfish
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Chinese-style stir-fried spinach with tofu
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Chinese stir-fried ginger and onion beef
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Stir-fried water convolvulus (Ipomoea aquatica)
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Stir-fried spinach and garlic
See also
Notes
- ^ a b c d e f g Wilkinson 2012, p. 459.
- ^ Anlan, Li (14 September 2018). "Ancient utensils were not just for cooking food". SHINE. Retrieved 21 November 2023.
- ^ "叫外賣、逛夜市 宋朝人一日三餐". 8 December 2019.
- ^ "齊民要術/卷第六 - 維基文庫,自由的圖書館". zh.wikisource.org. Retrieved 11 March 2023.
- ^ Foreword, Paul Dudley White in Chen 1962
- ^ Chao 1945, pp. 43–44
- ^ a b "辭典檢視 - 教育部《國語辭典簡編本》2021". dict.concised.moe.edu.tw. Retrieved 31 December 2021.
- ^ a b "What is 炒 in English Translation? Mandarin Chinese-English Dictionary & Thesaurus - YellowBridge". www.yellowbridge.com. Retrieved 31 December 2021.
- ^ Institut Ricci 2001, p. 257.
- ^ Anderson (1988), p. 188, 52.
- ^ 《齊民要術.卷第六.養雞第五十九·炒雞子法》:「打破,著鐺中,攪令黃白相雜。細擘蔥白,下鹽米、渾豉,麻油炒之,甚香美。」https://zh.m.wikisource.org/zh-hant/齊民要術/卷第六
- ^ Newman 2004, p. 5.
- ^ Anderson (1988), p. 188.
- ISBN 978-0-313-38712-8.
- ^ Chao 1945, p. 43
- )
- ^ Klosse 2010, pp. 131–132.
- ^ "Chinese cooking method — Stir-Frying". www.hugchina.com. Retrieved 5 July 2014.
- ^ Newman (2004), p. 73, 90, 93, 95.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-7432-3827-4(2004), pp. 4, 38, 40
- ^ a b "What does Wokhei mean?". Wokhei. Archived from the original on 21 October 2011. Retrieved 4 March 2012.
- ^ Young, Grace, The Wisdom of the Chinese Kitchen, New York: Simon & Schuster, (1999), pp. 20
- ISBN 978-0-7432-3827-4(2004), pp. 60
- .
- ISBN 978-1-74045-413-1.
- ^ "What is...wok hei?". Michelin Guide. 12 October 2016. Retrieved 17 November 2019.
- ^ a b "Chinese Cooking Techniques". www.flavorandfortune.com. Retrieved 23 February 2016.
- ^ Klosse 2010, p. 131.
- ISBN 9780495107453.
- ^ "VARY YOUR VEGGIES: How to Prepare Vegetables". North Dakota State University. Retrieved 17 November 2019.
- PMID 21887851.
- PMID 24471098.
- PMID 19650196.
- PMID 17995900. Retrieved 10 July 2014.
- ^ National Cancer Institute (19 October 2015). "Chemicals in Meat Cooked at High Temperatures and Cancer Risk". National Cancer Institute. Retrieved 21 October 2015.
- ^ Tierra L.Ac., O.M.D., Dr. Michael. "PROCESSING CHINESE HERBS". Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 7 July 2014.
References
- Anderson, Eugene N. (1988). The Food of China. New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-04739-8.
- Chao, Buwei Yang (1945). How to Cook and Eat in Chinese. New York: John Day.. Several reprints.
- Chen, Joyce (1962). Joyce Chen Cook Book. Philadelphia: Lippincott.
- Institut Ricci (2001), Grand dictionnaire Ricci de la langue chinoise (in French), Paris and Taipei: Institut Ricci (Paris–Taipei), Desclée de Brouwer (Paris), ISBN 2-220-04667-2.
- Klosse, Peter (2010). The Essence of Gastronomy: Understanding the Flavor of Foods and Beverages. CRC. )
- Newman, Jacqueline M. (2004). Food Culture in China. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press. ISBN 0-313-32581-2.
- Wilkinson, Endymion (2012), ISBN 978-0-674-06715-8.
Further reading
- Young, Grace (2014), Stir-Frying to the Sky's Edge, New York: Simon & Schuster, ISBN 978-1-4165-8057-7.