Chinese Cooking Ingredients

Chinese Cooking Ingredients - Bamboo Shoots

The young, edible shoots of the bamboo are well recognized amomg chinese cooking ingredients as part of stir-frys and chow mein type dishes. Widely available in cans, these of course as in any ingredient are best when fresh. You might get a better quality in a Chinese or Asian market, but there are some canned brands that offer good quality. Bamboo shots are usually harvested from the provinces to the south and southwest of Shanghai, but are featured in most types of Chinese cooking, especially Hunan and Cantonese.

Bean Curd

This healthy protein-rich food is more recognized by its Japanese name of tofu. As you may know, tofu or bean curd is very popular in vegetarian and vegan recipes as well as in organic and vegetarian restaurants. There are two main types of bean curd used in Chinese cooking, the silken or soft type, and the more firm “cake style” tofu which is used in stews and stir fry dishes. Bean curd is readily available nowadays not only in Asian or Oriental markets but in mainline supermarkets and health stores as well.

Bean Sprouts

These staples of Chinese cooking are the sprouts of mung beans, originally from India, they were brought to China thousands of years ago and are revered for their health benefits. They are used for fillings in egg rolls and stir-fried. They don’t keep as well as other chinese cooking ingredients, so should be bought fresh and eaten quickly.

Bird’s Nest

Everybody has heard of Bird’s Nest Soup, and though it is considered a delicacy, it really is a flavourless jelly like substance that takes its taste from whatever broth or sauce it is cooked in. There are various types of Bird’s Nest used in Chinese cooking, and they have been chinese food ingredients for over four hundred years. The birds whose nests are harvested for this unique dish are known as Swiftlets, either Black or White, the nests of the White Swiftlet being the preferred by connoisseurs.

Black Beans

Everybody’s heard of these Chinese cooking ingredients – “in Black Bean Sauce” ring a bell? Black beans are actually small soya beans, and are preserved by fermenting them in salt and spices, which give Black Bean Sauce its unique flavour. Often they are used together with ginger and garlic and are a great way to add fibre and protein to your diet. You can buy them in Asian specialty store and Chinese grocers, and will store for long periods in the refrigerator.

Chinese Cooking Ingredients - Chinese Broccoli

Chinese Broccoli is not especially available in western supermarkets, but can be found in Asian stores around the world. It is actually a member of the mustard family that resembles Swiss chard in flavour, but is prepared in a manner similar to broccoli. It’s delicious in a stir-fry but can also be used to give a peppery flavour to salads.

Chinese Cabbage (Chinese Flowering cabbage)

Choi sum is also part of the mustard green family and is not to ne confused with Bok Choy (Chinese White Cabbage). The small yellow flowers of this vegetable are eaten along with the stems and leaves, and besides tasting great, adds a dash of colour to your stir-fry.

Chinese White Cabbage (Bok Choy)

Bok Choy is probably the best known of the Chinese cabbages and is one of the most popular Chinese cooking ingredients on the planet. The smaller the plant, the sweeter and tenderer it is. This is a superbly tasting vegetable, my all time favourite amongst Chinese cooking ingredients.

Chinese Long Beans (Yard Long Beans)

These beans are sometimes called yard long beans because they can actually grow up to a yard or meter in length. These beans are not related to green beans and are usually best harvested when they reach between 18 and 20 inches in lengths. They actually cook faster than string beans, but do have the same crunchy texture and a similar taste. The Long beans can be used in stir-fry’s, casseroles, soups, or can be steamed or blanched and chopped and served as a side dish.

Chinese White Radish

The Chinese white radish, or Mooli, is sometimes referred to by its Japanese name, Daikon, which literally means “large root”. A perfect white radish will be heavy, solid and unmarked, and slightly translucent when peeled. It is one of the rarer Chinese cooking ingredients, used in dishes like dim sum.

Try Chinese Cooking Ingredients in some of these Chinese Cooking Styles