Even though this is after the fact:
The rice wine in question is called Xao Xing. Dry sherry may be substituted but it really isn’t the same. Mirin is good but does not have the darker body of the aged Chinese rice wines. An eight year old bottle of Xao Xing cost me about $5.00 USD.
When making a stir fry there are a few simple principles to adhere to;
High heat:
You work should be pretty quick. Food should not remain in the pan for very long. Great care must be excercised when adding garlic to the pan so that it does not brown and get a very bitter flavor.
Shrimp and other raw shellfish like scallops will cook almost instantaneously. They should be added at the very last step in cooking. The high heat allows tender meats like chunks of fish to flash cook and not fall apart.
Oil is your friend. It stops food from sticking to the surface of the pan. Add the oil just before the ingredients go into the pan. Avoid using roasted sesame oil in excessive quantites. Its flavor will dominate the others rather quickly.
The Ingredients:
Your ingredients should all be cut up into pieces of the same size. This will tend to equalize their cooking times so that none of the final serving is too crunchy or too soft.
Remove the “strings” from your celery by breaking the top off while bending it backwards. Pull down smartly as you break the rib and the strings will come free. Cut the ribs on an angle to expose more of the soft interior.
Bell peppers should have all of their seeds and any of the membranes removed from the interior prior to cooking. Peppers with really thick skins can be peeled like a potato.
Unlike a lot of western recipes, one does not usually “sweat” the onions until they are translucent. A more crisp texture is usually desirable in Asian cooking. One way to soften the onions a little bit is to flash steam them with a splash of stock ladled into the pan which is then covered tightly.
Garlic is a highly regarded food in almost all Asian countries and is used in large quantities. It is usually coarsely chopped and add directly into the vegetables instead of being sauted in advance.
Blanching mung bean sprouts in a pot of boiling water for thirty seconds, and then submerging them in iced or cold water to stop the cooking process, eliminates a sometimes bitter taste they can have.
I usually add the ingredients in order of their cooking time. Longer cooking vegetables like carrots, onions, bell peppers and brocolli, will go in before scallions, mushrooms, bean sprouts or meats. Carrots usually go in first because of their fibrous nature. For symbolic good fortune they may be cut into “golden” coins, or better yet, roll the carrot thirty degrees every time you cut a piece of off at an angle. You will get attractive irregular nuggets of carrot.
Seasoning:
The grand triumvirate in Chinese cooking is the combination of garlic, ginger and soy sauce. Look for a nice aged tamari for a real kick. The delicate flavors of seafoods and poultry benefit more from the lighter or “sweet” soy sauces.
Five spice powder is your friend. It is one of the signature flavors in Chinese cooking and its sweeping variety of flavors from star anise to cinnamon give a grand scope to a sauce’s flavor.
White pepper is more appropriate to Asian cooking. The dark fragments of cracked black pepper often provide too sharp a visual and flavor contrast in the more subtle Chinese recipes.
Scallions are a classic component. Be sure to keep a correct balance of the green to white part of the onion. Certain recipes will call for large quantities of the green ends. Usually they are used more sparingly due to their strong flavor.
For true authenticity, try using shitake mushrooms. Their earthy flavor adds a depth of character to your sauce that is hard to replace.
Sauce:
Good chicken or beef stock is critical to a good Chinese stir fry. Better yet, reduce it by half in volume before using it in your dish. Tinned stocks are good, but only after a bit of reduction.
Keep some of your reduced stock nearby. Blend it with a few teaspoons of corn starch and have it ready to add somewhere about two thirds of the way through the cooking process. To allow the starch to thicken properly the liquid that carries it must come to a brief boil. Be sure to stir constantly to avoid clumping or sticking. Be sure there is some small amount of liquid in the pan before adding the cornstarch and stock mixture.
Meats:
Meats are usually thinly sliced to increase their surface area so that they cook quickly. Shrimp and prawns are butterflied for the same reason.
One method that yields a really authentic texture is to silk the meat and to fry it separately before adding the vegetables and sauce. A beef and brocolli done this way becomes truly memorable.
Rice:
Fittingly, at the end of everything comes the rice, as it should. Fluffy rice is no secret and not rocket science, it is just an art that needs practice. Bad rice can ruin a meal so pay careful attention to this mainstay of Asian cooking.
