Precooking Techniques

Precooking techniques	Precooking techniques

Chinese cooking has developed many methods that take advantage of the wide range of foods and ingredients available throughout the nation. Different regions use different methods, and often the same foods will be prepared quite differently.

The basic techniques used in Chinese cooking are precooking techniques such as parboiling and partial frying, and cooking techniques such as frying, sauteing, braising, stewing, boiling, simmering, steaming, "flavor-potting," and smoking. This section also describes cooking temperatures, cooking with oil, marinades, sugar and other coatings, sauces, gravies, stocks and flavoring sauces.

Some meats need to be partially precooked just long enough to get rid of off-odors but not so long their flavor or texture changes. Some vegetables also need precooking to get rid of astringency or bitterness or to heighten their fresh color. Parboiling and partial frying are the two most common methods of precooking foods before they are combined with other ingredients for the remaining steps in a recipe.