The Chinese food that you get in Chinese restaurants may seem simple, but trying to make the same dishes at home often yields umami-less results. Is it the soy sauce, is it the wok, or is it something more?
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00:00The Chinese food that you get in Chinese restaurants may seem simple, but trying to make the same
00:05dishes at home often yields umami-less results. Is it the soy sauce, is it the wok, or is
00:10it something more?
00:12Most people only have a few Chinese sauces in their pantries when attempting to make
00:16Chinese food at home. The husband of a Chinese restaurant owner said that he was always perplexed
00:20by the thousands of different sauces his wife used in her restaurant.
00:23Maybe a thousand sauces is an exaggeration, but as he described on Quora,
00:27She has a range of about 10 different soy sauces for different dishes, many different
00:31oyster sauces, black bean sauces, and vinegars of all sorts. Shaoxing wine, rice wine, or
00:36black vinegar will also make Chinese dishes taste more authentic.
00:40Not all Chinese sauces are of the same quality, though. For example, when you look at popular
00:44soy sauces that you might encounter at the grocery store, some barely even qualify as
00:48soy sauce. So keep an eye out for chemical soy sauces that are made from ingredients
00:52like hydrolyzed soy protein rather than fermented or brewed soybeans.
00:56MSG is an ingredient that Chinese restaurants commonly add to their foods to give them a
01:00deeper flavor. There's a myth that MSG in Chinese food causes all sorts of physical
01:05problems, ranging from headaches to numbness and chest pains. However, researchers according
01:10to Mayo Clinic haven't found a clear link between MSG and these symptoms. So with the
01:14fears at bay, you might consider MSG as a possibility for bringing more flavor to your
01:19home Chinese cooking.
01:20The MSG is delicious today.
01:22The Japanese chemistry professor who first created MSG, Kikunai Ikede, discovered it
01:26in his search for a fifth flavor beyond sweet, salty, sour, and bitter. We now know this
01:31flavor as umami. According to the FDA, MSG is the sodium salt of the common amino acid
01:36glutamic acid. MSG actually occurs naturally in some umami-rich foods we eat regularly,
01:42like tomatoes and cheese. So while it has a chemical-sounding name, MSG is not unnatural,
01:47and the FDA considers it generally recognized as safe.
01:50Most commercially available MSG comes from fermenting starches or sugars like sugar beets
01:54or sugar cane. The fermentation process for making MSG is similar to the process for making
01:59wine and vinegar. Our bodies metabolize MSG the same way they metabolize the chemical
02:04when it occurs in food naturally.
02:05The final element in wok hei has to do with the way you add the sauce to it.
02:10The flavors of authentic Chinese stir-fries are achieved through wok hei. Wok hei translates
02:14to breath of a wok and presents itself in the smoky flavor that comes from using a searingly
02:19hot wok. The smoky flavor comes through the caramelization of the food sugars through
02:23the Maillard reaction, which doesn't occur until the food reaches temperatures that aren't
02:27possible with an ordinary home stovetop. To accomplish wok hei, it's essential to wait
02:31until your hot wok begins to smoke before adding oil. That way, the food won't stick,
02:35and it will taste smoky.
02:36It's also necessary to avoid crowding the wok and to toss the ingredients nonstop so
02:40they don't end up steaming instead of browning. Some exceptional Chinese chefs even allow
02:45the cooking flames to enter their wok as part of the cooking process. Cooking enthusiast
02:49Ming Liu says that typical home stoves are only rated at about 5,000 BTUs, whereas the
02:54stoves in commercial Chinese restaurant kitchens are around 15,000 BTUs. To use a commercial
02:59stove at home that can reach temperatures high enough for achieving wok hei, you'd also
03:03need an industrial-level venting system.
03:06Western cooks are familiar with Chinese cooking methods like frying, boiling, braising, and
03:10roasting. However, it's other, less familiar cooking methods like stir-frying, steaming,
03:15and red stewing that can throw us for a loop because they're not a part of our normal cooking
03:19techniques. Stir-frying at home can be tricky because it's impossible to reach the temperatures
03:23on standard home stoves that professional Chinese chefs can. We commonly make stir-fry
03:27mistakes like overcrowding our woks and not having the wrist strength to continually toss
03:31the ingredients. Because of this, as Michelin describes, we may end up with steamed rather
03:36than truly stir-fried veggies. Chef Jeremy Pang tells MyLondon that stirring ingredients,
03:41adding cold ingredients to the wok, and even flipping the wok too much can cool the wok
03:45down when it's important to keep it as hot as possible.
03:47One of the biggest mistakes we make when we steam foods is overcrowding the steamer. Chinese
03:52cooks often use stacked bamboo steamers to be able to cook more food at a time while
03:56also giving the food enough breathing room to truly cook properly.
03:59Red stewing, or red cooking, is a technique Chinese cooks use to soften tough meat cuts.
04:04The red meat cooks for several hours in a sauce made from soy sauce, sugar, wine, broth,
04:08and spices. You either start out blanching or browning the meat before braising it in
04:12the simmering sauce. According to Gourmet Traveler,
04:15If you're trying to stir-fry vegetables in anything other than a wok, you won't get results
04:22even close to what you find at a Chinese restaurant. When picking out a wok to use, the best type
04:26is made of carbon steel with a long handle on one side and a helper handle on the other
04:31side to assist with flipping the wok ingredients. You should be sure to season your wok to help
04:35create a nonstick cooking surface for your stir-fry.
04:38Some people mistakenly think that seasoning means they shouldn't scrub their wok clean
04:41after each use. However, you want to build the patina naturally over years of gentle
04:45seasoning. It shouldn't be from old food. According to the Woks of Life, after you buy
04:49a new carbon steel wok, you should wash it with soapy water, then place it over high
04:53heat until it starts smoking and turning dark, tilting it toward the heat to darken the whole
04:58After it's cooled down for a minute, you'll add about a cup of hot water to the wok before
05:02washing it with soap and water at the sink. Dry it on the stove on medium-high heat before
05:06lowering the heat and adding about a tablespoon of vegetable oil. Then wipe the oil around
05:10the wok with a paper towel and heat until smoking. You should repeat the washing and
05:14oiling process every time you use your wok.
05:17The typical major American chain grocery store, even those with a good-sized Asian section,
05:22won't have the ingredients necessary for a restaurant-level Chinese food. To find the
05:25authentic Chinese sauces, spices, noodles, and other ingredients you need, you'll want
05:30to locate an Asian grocery store. Since many vegetables in the produce section and products
05:34on the shelves may not have English labels, if you do not know Chinese, you may want to
05:38do a little research ahead of time to know what the different vegetables or popular product
05:42brands look like.
05:43Otherwise, you can use apps on your phone to help. Taking a photo with Google Lens can
05:47help you identify unfamiliar produce, while the camera function in Google Translate can
05:51assist with reading Chinese labels. Neither of these provides 100 percent accurate results,
05:55but if you don't have a friend who is familiar with Chinese cooking ingredients to go with
05:59you to the store, it can prevent you from being overwhelmed. Of course, you can always
06:03ask someone who works at the store for help, which is a far more efficient method than
06:06relying on phone apps.
06:08Look out, Asian carbonated beverage market. Here comes trouble."
06:12Chinese cooks use some types of sugar that may be familiar, like white granulated sugar,
06:16brown sugar, and molasses. However, others may not be as familiar. For example, Chinese
06:21cooks use Chinese brown sugar, Chinese rock sugar, palm sugar, coconut sugar, maltose,
06:26and rice sauce.
06:27Chinese brown sugar, also known as black sugar, has different flavor profiles depending on
06:31the region where it's grown. Chinese rock sugar isn't quite as sweet and overwhelming
06:35to the taste buds as regular white sugar, and it comes in a variety of forms, including
06:39polycrystalline rock sugar, monocrystalline rock sugar, and brown rock sugar bars.
06:44Rock sugar helps provide a shiny appearance and delicate flavor for braised meat and a
06:48delicate sweetness to drinks. Palm sugar and coconut palm sugar can substitute for
06:52Chinese brown sugar in recipes. Rice sauce, also formally known as junyang, is a fermented
06:57rice and yeast sweetener that Chinese cooks often use for soup desserts, or that may be
07:01used as a sweet flavoring in Sichuan recipes, according to MalaFood.
07:05Even if you don't live anywhere near the ocean, it's possible to use fresh seafood in your
07:09Chinese dishes. The longer that seafood is dead, the more bacteria it acquires, which
07:13may give it a fishy taste and smell. So it's important to find a fish market with fresh
07:17seafood for your Chinese dishes. If you live hours from the coast, you'll want to find
07:21a source that flies in fresh seafood, or keep seafood fresh in tanks.
07:25Often, some of the freshest fish in your city will be at an Asian market. In fact, many
07:29times, you can choose from a variety of tanks of live fish on the premises. However, you
07:33will want to avoid purchasing fish from tanks with a number of dead fish in the water. Many
07:37fish markets smell fishy because of the sheer amount of fish they process daily. However,
07:42the important thing is that the seafood you buy is fresh, so you can have the best-tasting
07:45Chinese seafood dish possible.
07:48Different soy sauces have different uses and flavor profiles. Regular soy sauce works for
07:52most types of cooking to help deepen the umami flavor and saltiness of any dish. You're more
07:56likely to encounter dark and light soy sauce in Cantonese cooking. Dark soy sauce belongs
08:00in braises or adds color and strong and salty flavors, while light soy sauces are more appropriate
08:05for dishes that need to stay light in color. Southern Central Chinese cooks are the most
08:09likely to use sweet soy sauce, which includes caramelized sugar and spices. Some serious
08:13Chinese cooks use finishing soy sauces to add an interesting final flavor layer, often
08:17sweet at the end of cooking.
08:19Other types of Chinese soy sauces you may encounter include mushroom-flavored dark soy
08:23sauce, double black soy sauce, and seasoned soy sauce. Keep in mind that if you're using
08:27Japanese or Thai soy sauce for your Chinese food, you're not going to end up with a dish
08:31that tastes the same as one made with Chinese soy sauce. So if you've always defaulted to
08:35a Japanese soy sauce like Kikkoman, that's one reason your Chinese food doesn't taste
08:38right. And if you've been using a chemical-based rather than soybean-based soy sauce like Ma
08:42Choy, it's certainly not going to taste as it should. So next time you see
08:46"...non-soy dairy-based soy sauce."
08:49it's probably best to avoid it if you're going for authenticity.
08:52If you visit an authentic Chinese restaurant, even cooks with the most attuned palates may
08:56not be able to guess which spices created the most memorable flavors. Five-spice powder
09:00contains common spices like cloves and cinnamon, but it also contains star anise, fennel, and
09:05zhejuan peppercorns. Zhejuan peppercorns leave your tongue feeling pleasantly numb
09:09and tingly, while star anise and fennel have licorice-like flavor notes. You might encounter
09:13spicy fermented bean paste in dishes like Mapo Tofu. Other spices may include specific
09:18types of chili flakes or powder, dried mandarin orange peels, coriander seeds, or cumin seeds.
09:23Chinese chefs also often use three types of cardamom, black, green, and white. Curry powder
09:28is featured in some dishes, and in addition to ginger and turmeric, Chinese restaurants
09:32sometimes use ginger and turmeric's relative, galangal. Don't forget the MSG to add deeper
09:37umami flavors to your food.
09:39If you're health-conscious, it's entirely possible that you're not using enough fat
09:42in your Chinese cooking to produce food as flavorful as you'll find in a Chinese restaurant.
09:46No two fats or oils taste the same, so the types of oils you choose can make a profound
09:51difference in how your home-cooked Chinese food tastes. Different oils have different
09:54purposes in a Chinese restaurant. You should never use olive oil for your Chinese food
09:58because it has such a low smoke point and doesn't go well with Chinese cuisine. Instead,
10:02you'll want to use oils with a high smoke point for frying, like peanut, corn, and coconut
10:07Soybean and safflower oils are also common in Chinese cooking, but they can develop a
10:11fishy flavor. Many home cooks overuse sesame oil when trying to mimic Chinese restaurant
10:15food at home. One Chinese restaurant secret is to use sesame oil for flavor rather than
10:20cooking, because using too much sesame oil or burning it can ruin your Chinese food according
10:24to the walks of life. Other oils you might encounter in Chinese cooking include lard,
10:29chili oil, or Sichuan pepper oil.
10:31You may think you know how to cook rice, but do you know how to cook sticky rice? Cooking
10:35Chinese sticky rice is different from cooking some other types of rice. Many Chinese restaurants
10:39use a rice cooker to make the process foolproof, but some make it on the stovetop instead.
10:44Most Chinese restaurants use sticky rice, which is short-grained rice. You may see it
10:47labeled as sweet rice or glutinous rice. If you use parboiled rice like Uncle Ben's, you're
10:52not going to end up with the same flavor or texture.
10:55If you don't have a rice cooker and plan to use a steaming basket, you should always soak
10:58your sticky rice before you cook it. You'll want to ensure that you cover the rice with
11:02at least three extra inches of water to account for expansion over the six to 24 hours you
11:06soak it.
11:07While some rice cookers have programs for glutinous rice that don't require pre-soaking,
11:11some people still find that you end up with a better rice texture that's not too wet or
11:15sticky if you pre-soak your rice. To ensure you've added enough water to your rice once
11:19it's in the rice cooker, you'll want to use the knuckle method to measure the water. Basically,
11:23the water should come to the line of your first knuckle, according to NexShark.
11:28Velveting is a Chinese cooking technique that can help you achieve the most tender meat
11:31possible. According to Michelin's discussion with Chinese chef Liu Qinghai, other than
11:35locking in flavor, it also enhances the texture and fragrance of the finished dish. It provides
11:39a protective coating for heat control, which helps to capture the smoky essence of wok
11:43hay and Chinese food you find in Chinese restaurants.
11:46Liu says that there are a variety of ways to velvet meat. You start with a marinade
11:49of ingredients like soy sauce, rice wine, sugar, and seasonings like garlic. However,
11:54the most essential ingredients are starch flours, like potato starch or cornstarch,
11:58or egg whites, which provide a protective coating to prevent the meat from overcooking
12:02and becoming tough. According to Liu, you should marinate your meat for 10 minutes to
12:06an hour, depending on how tough the meat is. Then you'll par-cook the meat in oil or water
12:10until it's about 70 percent done.
12:12Frying the meat at temperatures between 140 and 160 degrees Fahrenheit is the best choice
12:17for maintaining the taste of the marinade, but you can also try blanching it in boiling
12:21water. Then, it's ready to add to your stir-fry.