Ziyi Cheng - Dine Like a Dragon: The Complete Chinese Cookbook: Master Chinese Cooking with 999 Legendary Recipes (Asian Cookbook)

A significant share of all Chinese recipes are cooked quickly over high heat. It is usually a good idea to marinate the ingredients of such recipes before throwing them into the frying pan, as doing so can add delicious flavours to the final recipe.

While a lot of the recipes in this book recommend a marinade in the recipe itself, feel free to play around and experiment with different marinades and condiments. Youll find some of the most common Chinese marinade and condiment recipes below.

Yield: 375 ml/13 fl oz/ cup

Ingredients:

• 1 slice ginger root, minced
• 15 ml/1 tbsp brown sugar
• 15 ml/1 tbsp rice wine or dry sherry
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 250 ml/8 fl oz/1 cup soy sauce

Directions:

1. Combine all the ingredients and pour over spare ribs.
2. Allow to stand for one hour, basting intermittently, then eliminate the excess liquid and cook.
3. Baste with the marinade while cooking or use as the base for a sauce.

Yield: about 75 ml/5 tbsp

Ingredients:

• 10 ml/2 tsp Szechuan peppercorns
• 60 ml/4 tbsp salt

Directions:

1. Heat the salt and peppercorns using a dry pan over a low heat, shaking constantly, for approximately five minutes until slightly browned.
2. Crush the peppercorns then store the mixture in a screw-top jar.
3. Serve with fried or roasted foods.

Yield: 350 ml/13 fl oz/1 cups

Ingredients:

• 1 slice ginger root, minced
• 15 ml/1 tbsp brown sugar
• 250 ml/8 fl oz/1 cup chicken stock
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed
• 30 ml/2 tbsp rice wine or dry sherry
• 60 ml/4 tbsp soy sauce

Directions:

1. Combine all the ingredients and pour over spare ribs.
2. Allow to stand for one hour, basting intermittently, then eliminate the excess liquid and cook.
3. Baste with the marinade while cooking, or use as the base for a sauce.

Yield: about 250 ml/8 fl oz/1 cup

Ingredients:

• 250 ml/8 fl oz/1 cup groundnut (peanut) oil
• 4 fresh red chilli peppers

Directions:

1. Heat the oil and chilli peppers over low heat until the oil becomes dark.
2. Strain and store ready for use.
3. Feel free to alter the strength of the oil according to your taste by adding more or fewer chilli peppers.

Yield: about 75 ml/5 tbsp

Ingredients:

• 15 ml/1 tbsp ground ginger
• 2 ml/ tsp freshly ground pepper
• 30 ml/2 tbsp ground cinnamon

Directions:

1. Heat all the ingredients using a dry pan over a low heat, shaking constantly, for a few minutes until the mixture is hot.
2. Store in a screw-top jar and serve with chicken dishes.

Yield: 120 ml/4 fl oz/ cup

Ingredients:

• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 30 ml/2 tbsp groundnut (peanut) oil
• 5 ml/1 tsp five-spice powder
• 5 ml/1 tsp salt
• 5 ml/1 tsp sugar
• 60 ml/4 tbsp soy sauce
• freshly ground pepper

Directions:

1. Combine the ingredients and rub the mixture over chicken, inside and out.