is fully heated. Make sure that the oil completely coats the bottom surface of the wok or skillet.
3 Cut the ingredients, such as chicken, beef, pork, or seafood, into uniform pieces. Also, it’s very important to have all the ingredients prepared, measured, and placed close to the wok or skillet. Once in the wok or skillet, spread the ingredients in one layer to ensure even cooking.
4 Stir-fries are generally prepared with a light sauce. Mix the sauce in advance in a small bowl by combining all the ingredients in the sauce. If cornstarch is used, make sure that it’s completely dissolved. Before adding the sauce into the stir-fry, quickly stir the sauce one last time to ensure that nothing settled at the bottom of the bowl. An authentic Chinese stir-fry dishes shouldn’t be doused in too much sauce; the sauce should barely cling to the ingredients.
5 The spatula should play an active role in stir-frying. Use it to continuously stir and toss the ingredients in a back and forth, circular, turning, and/or flipping motions.
Basic Tools and Utensils
Believe it or not, I don’t have a big kitchen at home. Living in a small townhome, I have limited counter, working, and storage spaces in my kitchen (no kitchen island for sure!). So when it comes to basic tools and utensils for Chinese cooking, I use only the essentials—electronic rice cooker, wok, spatula, Chinese cleaver, bamboo steamers, etc. Living in a typical American home, with a smoke detector planted right above my kitchen, I also have a stir-fry pan that I use alongside my two woks because the intense heat from the wok sets off the smoke alarm every two days! Nonetheless, there is one thing I can’t complain about in my kitchen: I have a gas range, which is superb for Chinese stir-frying and cooking.
Here is the list of basic tools and utensils for making delicious Chinese food at home.
Bamboo Steamers I love making dim sum and dumplings at home so I have stocked up on traditional Chinese bamboo steamers of various sizes: large, medium, and small. My favorite would be the 6-inch bamboo steamers that nestle comfortably in my wok, plus the smaller steamer that always reminds me of my enjoyable dim sum experiences at a Chinese restaurant.
The size of the bamboo steamer is a personal preference, but do make sure that you get the ones that would fit perfectly in your wok or stir-fry pan (your cooking pan should be approximately 2–3 inches wider than the bamboo steamers). If you buy smaller bamboo steamers, buy at least two baskets so you can stack them up and steam more food. If you get a bigger size, say a 12-inch bamboo steamer, one basket should be sufficient.
Please take note that the bamboo steamer should sit at least 1–2 inches above the boiling water inside the wok and the domed lid should be closed tightly to allow the food to steam efficiently. For cleaning, simply scrub and rinse the bamboo steamers with water.
Chinese Strainer or Slotted Spoon A traditional Chinese strainer with a bamboo handle and wire/steel mesh always reminds me of street vendors who use it to quickly drain and shake off the excess water from boiled noodles. In my kitchen, I use the strainer for a couple of purposes: scooping and draining food after deep-frying and removing blanched foods from boiling water.
Chinese-style strainers—both traditional and modern—can be found at Asian supermarkets or kitchen supply stores. If you can’t find them, western-style slotted spoon with extra generous scoop size will also work.
Clay pot Also called a “sand pot,” most clay pots have a sandy and coarse exterior, with a glazed and smooth dark brown interior for cooking. The clay pot is a great utensil for stewing and braising because of its ability to retain heat. It commonly comes in three different sizes: big, medium, and small. A medium sized clay pot is big enough for most Chinese clay pot cooking recipes. Foods cooked in a clay pot are usually served as is, meaning, you can just eat directly from the pot. After use, the clay pot can be washed with just warm water (using soap is not recommended).
Cleaver When my late parents came to visit us in 2000, the first thing that my mother bought me was a Chinese cleaver. She didn’t like my “western-style” knives. The Chinese cleaver is just as versatile as a wok, it’s used for an array of kitchen tasks: slicing, cutting, dicing, shredding, chopping, peeling, pounding, and mincing. My mother had such great cleaver skills that she even used it as a can opener!
The Chinese cleaver might appear intimidating because of the large blade but it’s such a nifty tool once you get over the initial apprehension because of its size and appearance. I use a Chinese cleaver on a daily basis—the very same one that my mother bought me, which now holds great sentimental value.
Cutting Board A cleaver would have no place in the kitchen without a proper cutting board. A cutting board is one of the most vital tools in the kitchen. Without a cutting board, prepping would be almost impossible. While I grew up watching my late mother working on her old wooden cutting board made from a tree stump, my preferred cutting boards are those made of bamboo. I have one that I have been using for many years—it’s hygienic, easy to clean, sturdy, heavy, and doesn’t slip off a wet counter top like those white plastic cutting boards. Also, it doesn’t get scratched easily so the likelihood of un-cooked food sticking on the surface almost never happens.
Rice Cooker The rice cooker is an indispensable tool for Chinese cooking. Of course, you can make perfect boiled rice with your gas or electric range, but a rice cooker is so efficient and a great time-saver.
A rice cooker is compact and fits just about anywhere on your kitchen counter-top, as long as it’s close to the electric outlet. The biggest virtue is that a rice cooker makes perfect, fluffy, and soft rice every single time and the “Keep Warm” function guarantees moist and heated rice anytime of the day!
My favorite brand of rice cooker is Zojirushi. They are not cheap, but it’s worth investing in a high-quality rice cooker because, trust me, you will only ever need one! Zojirushi rice cookers come with a thicker nonstick inner cooking pan that is durable, easy to clean, and does not get easily scratched. The menu is also quite simple to use and very intuitive.
Wok, Stir-fry pan, or Skillet The Chinese wok is a distinguished utensil in the kitchen because of its versatility. It’s used for stir-frying, deep-frying, steaming, boiling, blanching, braising, stewing, and smoking—it’s an all-purpose tool for a wide spectrum of Chinese cooking styles. A Chinese wok is also a kitchen tool that you want to use and keep for a long time as the glorious patina builds over time, which essentially “coats” the wok with a nonstick layer.
There are two kinds of woks: cast iron and carbon steel. In my kitchen, I use both a pre-seasoned 14-inch lightweight cast iron wok by Wok Star (http://wokstar.us) as well as a carbon steel wok. I also have a high quality stir-fry pan, which I use for braising and stewing and other dishes that don’t require intense heat. It’s
