Hints & Tips

Always add the meat or chicken in two or three batches. Adding it all at once lowers the temperature and stews the meat, making it tasteless and tough. You can either push the first lot to the side, which is cooler, and continue with the next lot in the base, or remove each batch to a plate.

Sold under both these names bean curd or tofu is made from the soya bean. Sold as firm or silken, its flavour is mild. The firm type is best for stir-fries while the silken bean curd is added to soups and some stir-fry dishes at the end of the cooking time. It readily absorbs flavours of other ingredients particularly sauces.

Changs Egg Noodles are a great family meal standby, they cook quickly and easily and kids love them. To cook the egg noodles bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil, place the noodles in the boiling water. Stir the noodles with a fork or chopsticks to separate. Cook for 5 to 7 minutes or until noodles are just tender, stir the noodles a few times as they cook. Drain and serve or use immediately.

These noodles are made from 50% soy flour and 50% wheat flour. They taste great and are good for you. Thicker than the other style of Changs Crunchy Noodles they are great as a garnish or added at the end of the cooking time in a stir-fry to absorb flavours.

If you thought soy sauce was just for stir-fries then think again. It has a myriad of uses other than in Asian cooking. Use soy sauce as a dip for barbecued sausages or skewered pork, chicken or prawns add a splash of sweet Thai chilli sauce if you like it spicy. A simple marinade of soy, honey and lemon juice is delicious with oily fish like salmon, tuna or trout. Splash soy and olive oil over chunks of potato and pumpkin, roast in a hot oven – the soy seasons and gives colour to the vegies. Mixed with olive oil and a little vinegar soy make a great salad dressing particularly for vegie salads like shredded cabbage and carrot.

The meatballs may hiss and the oil may splatter as they cook, this is because chicken mince is not as dense as other minced meats, more water content makes the oil splatter. Chicken mince is very lean and very delicious and in the majority of our recipes can be interchanged with pork mince.

When stir frying meat or chicken, try to let each surface come in contact with the wok for a few minutes before stirring, so the meat is sealed and coloured and cooks more evenly. Do not move the meat in the wok for at least one minute or it will stick.

Cut the meat and vegetables into the same size pieces so they cook evenly and quickly.

Dark soy is you would expect much darker than Light soy, it is also slightly thicker in texture. Dark soy adds colour and depth while Light soy is salty and full of flavour use it for flavour and seasoning. Light soy is better than dark for a dipping sauce.

For a quick meal for two, whisk 3 eggs with a splash of cold water and little salt and sugar. Brown a little minced pork (around 150g) in a hot wok with a little oil; add 2 teaspoons of Changs Dark Soy Sauce and one finely chopped shallot. Add a little more oil to the wok and pour in the beaten egg, turn the egg mixture gently until just cooked not scrambled or dry. It takes just two or three stirs or folds of the egg mixture in the hot wok to cook it.

To wash rice as Chinese cooks do, place it in a bowl and swish the rice in cool water, pour off the cloudy water, do this a couple of times until the water is clear. For fried rice it’s best to cook the rice the day before and cool. Store it covered in the refrigerator, a plastic bag works fine. When you are ready to use it wet your hands with a little cool water and run your fingers through the rice to break up any lumps and separate the grains.

Stir-fries are best eaten as soon as they are cooked.

When you add ginger or garlic to the hot oil in the wok, stir-fry for just 30 seconds or they may burn and make the oil bitter. Have other vegies or meat ready to add to reduce the heat.

The Basis of Good Pho
Well-flavoured beef stock is the principal ingredient for this soup. If you’re short of time and haven’t any homemade beef stock use purchased liquid stock rather than powdered stock for the best flavour. For depth of flavour and if you have the time place the purchased stock in a pan, add a few peppercorns, a small handful of coriander leaves, a small peeled onion left whole and a few slices of unpeeled fresh ginger. Simmer the stock for about 20 minutes or as long as it takes to prepare the other soup ingredients. Strain the stock and bring to the boil to serve.

You can blanch hard vegetables like carrots before stir-frying so they cook evenly with other ingredients. If using a combination of vegies, start with the ones, which take the longest to cook.

Always make sure that your wok is really hot before cooking so that food doesn’t stick to it. Heat the wok or pan over high heat for 2-3 minutes before adding oil.

To prevent burning, keep the food moving at all times- with a wok charn or wooden spoon or by carefully shaking the pan. Keep moving the food from the hottest part of the wok, which is the centre, to the least hot part, the sides.

You may have seen pairs of large, long wooden or bamboo chopsticks in Asian grocers. These are obviously too large for eating but you will find they are great to use as you prepare Asian dishes. Mixing, untwining noodles, moving food from wok to serving plate even moving food in the wok as it cooks. They are like the western wooden spoon in the Asian kitchen, they cause no chemical reaction to food and are easy to use and care for.

These Vietnamese wrappers are sold in packs of about 100 in Asian grocers. They are very thin dried sheets made from rice flour and water; they will often have a slight imprint of the bamboo trays they dry on. To use them dip each briefly in warm water to soften them, making them pliable. They can be filled and rolled and eaten fresh or filled and stored in the refrigerator for later use for up to two or three hours. Cover them with a damp clean tea towel. They can also be rolled and deep-fried; the result is similar to spring rolls just a bit lighter.

Add a few drops of sesame oil at the end of the cooking process to add that wonderful sesame fragrance to a dish.

Shredding is a technique where the food is cut into fine matchstick like shreds. You first cut the food into slices and then stack a few slices on top of each other then cut lengthwise into fine thin strips. This is often called for when preparing vegies likes carrot and ginger. Slicing be it fine or more thickly cut pieces is a conventional cooking term for cutting the ingredients into even slices.

Dan dan noodles are traditionally served with chopped Sichuan Preserved vegetables, if you can get hold of some they are great addition. Mostly sold in tins in Chinese grocery stores they are the roots of the mustard green that has been pickled in salt and hot chillies. To use rinse them in cold water and chop, they add a crunchy texture and spiciness. Store any leftover in an airtight container.

If your kids like the flavours of sweet and sour sauce at the local Chinese resturant, you can quickly make much the same at home by combining 2 tablespoons each of Changs Light Soy Sauce and tomato sauce, ¼ cup vinegar, ¼ cup sugar, 2 teaspoons cornflour and ½ cup water. Bring mixture to the boil, stirring constantly until it just thickens. This sauce is great for not only spring rolls but also barbecued sausages or skewered chicken.

Add oil to your wok after the wok is hot so the oil doesn’t burn. Give the oil a few seconds to heat and then start cooking. Have all the ingredients ready before you start.

The most commonly used wine in Asian cooking is Shaoxing, a rice wine. Unlike Sake the Japanese wine made from rice Shaoxing is has a rich mellow taste where as sake is far more dominant. A good quality dry sherry is a good substitute for Chinese wine.

You might have enjoyed a Sunday morning treat of “yum cha”, at a Chinese restaurant but did you know that yum cha actually means, “drink tea”. That’s why you’ll be served a pot of Chinese tea as you sit down. Enjoy the tea as you eat all of the yummy Chinese dumplings and other yum cha specialities as the tea is said to help digest rich food.