Chinese Cooking Recipes - How to Make Ramen Dashi

Chinese Cooking Recipes - How to Make Ramen Dashi
By Zane Minninger

Ramen is the general term for a bowl of noodle soup in Japan. It originated from la mian, one of many old Chinese cooking recipes involving noodle that were pulled. Noodles are generally the texture and filling part of the dish while the broth, also known as dashi, gives the dish flavor.

The Recipe

Ingredients
--1 can (14oz) of your favorite broth (chicken, beef, vegetable, ETC)
--1/2 cup of scallions or green onions (sliced)
--4 or 5 shiitake mushrooms
--1 egg
--1 sheet of dried kelp or sushi seaweed (nori)
--1 teaspoon of fresh ginger
--1 tablespoon of soy sauce
--1 tablespoon of teriyaki sauce
--3 oz of any meat thinly sliced (optional)

The Preparation

Preparing your vegetables before you start is a must as they will be added quickly at different points in the cooking process. Begin by organizing your harder vegetables away from your softer vegetables. Harder vegetables need to cook for a little more time than the softer ones. This would include bamboo shoots, water chestnuts and broccoli if you chose those vegetables. This recipe only has softer vegetables.

Once separated, prepare each vegetable. Green onions should be sliced, kelp and seaweed should be cut into 2-3 inch strips about 1/2 inch wide. A vegetable peeler can be used on the fresh ginger to clean the skin off and then to slice it into small strips. Shiitake mushrooms can be either sliced or left whole depending on how you want to eat them.

The Cooking

First pour the can of broth into a pot and set the high to heat. Add the soy sauce and teriyaki sauce. You don't have to use the full tablespoon but it should be added to taste. Place any hard vegetables you have in the broth now.

Once the broth starts to boil turn down the heat to medium and add the scallions or green onions, ginger, and the meat. When the boiling has stopped add the mushrooms. Let this cook on medium for 5 minutes.

After the 5 minutes has passed get ready to add the egg. Once you break the egg and add it to the broth quickly stir the egg breaking it up before it cooks completely. This will give you small egg ribbon like pieces. If you choose to hard boil your egg, simply peel it and cut it in half length wise and wait to put it in the dashi after it is in a bowl.

Pour the dashi into a bowl adding the kelp or seaweed to it as a garnish.

Other Choices

Chinese cooking recipes use so many different vegetables to flavor their dishes that just about any vegetable can be used in dashi and ramen. Because of the variety of vegetables you can add to the Chinese cooking recipes, choose the vegetables that you like. Check out these other Chinese cooking recipes at http://www.squidoo.com/chinese-cooking-recipes-the-best-places-for-recipes-of-chinese-cooking.

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Chinese Cooking Recipes - How to Make Ramen Noodles With a Pasta Machine

Chinese Cooking Recipes - How to Make Ramen Noodles With a Pasta Machine
By Zane Minninger

Ramen Noodles

Ramen noodles are the Japanese version of la mien which came from Chinese cooking recipes for pulled noodles. The dough is easy to make but there are a couple of different methods to making the noodle themselves. One way is to fold the dough onto itself several times then cut the noodle ribbons.

The Recipe

The easier way to make ramen is to use a pasta machine to roll the dough out and cut it. Although a pasta machine wasn't used in traditional Chinese cooking recipes, it makes it easier. To make ramen noodles from scratch, this recipe works great.

Ingredients
- 3/4 Cups of Flour
- 1 Egg
- 1 Tablespoon water
- (any dry herb or seasoning you like)

Making the Dough

First start by combining the egg and the water together. Use a small cup and a fork to make sure they are well mixed. Put the flour, the crushed dried herbs, and seasonings into a bowl and make a dent in the middle to hold the water and egg mixture

Add the water and egg to the flour and then combine the two. Start slowly until the liquid is absorbed into the flour then kneed the dough until it no longer sticks to your hand when you pull away from it. Once most of the flour is in the ball, start kneading it on a counter or table so you have more room to work with.

Once the dough ball becomes a homogeneous mass, meaning it is all the same without layers of dry flour in the middle, wrap it in a damp tea towel for 30 minutes. Try to keep it away from heat or sunlight so it stays moist. This step is different than the Chinese cooking recipes for la mien, but la mien is also kneaded for 30 minutes or more, and doesn't have any egg.

Making the Noodles

After 30 minutes, roll the dough out to about half an inch. This will let it be worked in a pasta machine. Set the rollers of the machine to the lowest setting which should have the widest gap between the rollers. Roll the dough once through this setting. Next mentally divide the dough into 3 equal parts and then fold them together like a tri-fold wallet. There should be three layers now. Rotate the dough 90 degrees so the folds you made are on the outside.

Run it through the rollers again and then repeat the folding and rolling once more for a total 3 passes on this setting. Once you have done that it's time to start making the dough thinner.

Set the pasta machine to the next setting down and roll out the dough. Be sure to add a little flour if it begins to stick. Keep setting the roller down one notch and rolling the dough through until you get to notch 3 or 4.

At notch 3 or 4 the dough will be long and hard to work with. Gently fold in half and use a sharp knife to cut in half. Now you have two sheets of dough the same size.

Chinese cooking recipes call for noodles of all sizes but I found rolling until setting 5 or 6 is perfect for Japanese ramen. Thinner noodles are at the number 7 setting. Once you have the desired thickness put on the spaghetti cutter. Keep a little flour in a bowl and cut the noodles directly into the bowl. Toss with the flour to keep the noodles from sticking.

Additional Information

Ramen noodles are the Japanese equivalent of la mien, one of many traditional Chinese cooking recipes. Ramen is easy to make and very healthy for you as well. For more Chinese cooking recipes and where to find them, please visit http://www.squidoo.com/chinese-cooking-recipes-the-best-places-for-recipes-of-chinese-cooking.

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The Philosophy of Chinese Cooking

The Philosophy of Chinese Cooking
By Gail Cole

Yin and yang dates back to ancient China. The belief that everything in the universe is consigned into two forces that are opposing but harmonious and complementary. The yin and yang philosophy is used in Chinese cooking. The traditional symbol for the forces of yin and yang, are two fish swimming head to tail. The left half is yin and the right half is yang. Taken literally, yin and yang mean the dark side and sunny side of a hill. Yin and yang are not opposing forces. They are complementary pairs. The Chinese believe problems arise when there is an imbalance between them. Earthquakes, floods and fires and etc. all can be attributed to disharmony in the forces of yin and yang.

This concept of yin and yang relates to food. Opposites are set in balance to create harmony in food and body. If harmony is not achieved the body can be vulnerable to disease. Chinese chefs belief in the importance of following the principles of yin and yang in the diet There is always a balance in color, flavors, and textures. In China live seafood, fresh meat, and seasonal vegetables and fruits are used when preparing meals. Chinese daily meals consist of four food groups: meat, vegetable, fruit and grains. Large amounts of dairy products are not consumed. Dairy produces are substituted with soymilk and tofu. Soymilk and tofu contain large amounts of protein and calcium.

Unlike some cultures the Chinese hardly waste any part of the animal. They have found ways to cook nearly every part of an animal. Chinese culture believes that the shape and part of the animal will replenish and strengthen the same part of the human body.

Certain foods have yin properties, while others have yang properties. We think in yin and yang terms everyday hot or cold, fat or no-fat, high-calorie or low- calorie, sugar or sugar free, gluten or gluten-free, yeast and yeast-free and etc. But do not apply these trains of thought to cooking. Chinese yin properties: steaming, poaching and boiling and yang properties: stir-frying, pan frying and roasting. Balance is achieved by using both yin and yang methods. The yin and yang ingredients can be cooked separately or together.

Each province in China has its' own cuisine. There are the Beijing, Hunan, Shanghai, Szechwan and Cantonese cuisines. The most well known are the Szechwan and Cantonese.

Yin and yang cooking methods are used in all Chinese cuisines. Few foodstuff is purely yin or yang - it's more that one characteristic tends to dominate. Some yin will have a little yang and some yang will have a little yin. Chinese cooking reinforces that it is not so much the individual ingredients, as the balance and contrast between the recipe ingredients in each dish, that is important.

Chinese food is a worldwide favorite. Chinese cooking offers artful harmony and balance beneficial to your health and well-being. The Chinese believe balanced and healthy foods brings harmony and closeness to the family and relationships.

Website: Favorite Recipes

http://www.favoriterecipes.biz

[http://www.favoriterecipes.biz/chinese.html]

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Chinese Cooking With a Wok - Mum's Cooking Secrets That Last a Lifetime

Chinese Cooking With a Wok - Mum's Cooking Secrets That Last a Lifetime
By Peter Lim

My mother was of the idea that a man's place was never in the kitchen, and this was ingrained into us as she shooed us out of the kitchen every time whenever we tried to get into the kitchen to see what was cooking. It might not have been the best or correct thing to do, and as a result, her children -the sons, including me, grew up not knowing how to cook until we were college going kids and had to live away from home and to start to cook and fend for ourselves.

Disadvantaged as we were in cooking for ourselves, it made us more aware of the beauty in mum's cooking. Mum's prepared food that was absolutely marvellous, both in taste and smell. Meals prepared by her were never ordinary. They were a delight to behold, a pleasure to consume - no matter how simple the dish was.

Now in her twilight years, mum can no longer cook for herself. She has bouts of amnesia, and old age has taken a severe toil on her. Dependent on others to cook and serve her meals, she can sometimes struggle to the kitchen and still manage to prepare a ten minute fast cooking instant noodle, much to our chagrin and anxiety. The doctor orders were not to let her near a stove for fear of a fit or a fall, lest she burn the house down.

Just yesterday, in the quiet of the night, I was able to recall times I had with mum when I was about to go to college. Vivid in my mind, as history started to flash back, I remembered words of wisdom from mum on cooking. We were always profuse in our praise and bountiful in our appreciation for mum's fantastic cooking.And on one occasion, she revealed the secret formula that had always enveloped the food she cooked.

"In Chinese cooking," she said one day," the two most important things are to have a sharp knife and a hot stove. Always sharpen your knife so that you can slice through your veggie and your meat or fish. Cutting them up becomes a pleasure and not a task. Be sure to have everything prepared before you start cooking: the vegetables washed, drained and cut; the meat cut and marinated; the sauces prepared."

"And get yourself a good wok - It is the one piece of cooking equipment you may want to purchase before you start cooking Chinese food. Always heat up the wok. When cooking meat or poultry, make sure that the wok is very hot before adding the food. If you are going to stir-fried meat and vegetables, stir-fry the meat first and set it aside. Then return it to the wok with a sauce during the final stages of cooking. And use a little cornstartch as a binder at the end of your cooking, if it calls for that. Just remember how the dish tastes like, the way I cooked it", she said.

Throughout the years when I had to cook, her words of wisdom flashed back to me whenever I despaired over my cooking. I had seen my cooking improved, and had added more styles and recipes to vary my cooking in the later years.

"And the secret ingredient in all Chinese cooking is to add a little bit of inner joy to your dish as you cook. When you approach your cooking with this little bit of inner joy, you will have a song on your lips as you cook. Something mysteriously will spur you on to do your best and turn on the magic in your cooking," she added.

That day, last week, when I recalled those words of mum when I prepared a meal for her, I could only add not just a little bit of inner joy, I tried my best to give her a physical massive hug of love.

"Vary your ingredients to add textures, colors and flavors.Then it is possible to find harmony and balance in your meals. This is an important principle in Chinese cooking."

Mum may be frail and too old to handle a wok anymore, but her words of wisdom in Chinese cooking has helped us through the many years. Her simple tips for Chinese cooking may help you too.

In honor of my ailing mum who could prepare the best Chinese meals and dishes, a website providing free tips and cooking recipes with cooking videos, recipes and other resources is available for you. Visit Wok With Betty [http://www.wokwithbetty.com] to gain new skills in Chinese cooking and to obtain free cooking recipes covering the entire range of international cuisine.

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