Chinese Cooking Methods
Steaming, Clear-Simmering & Quick-Sizzle Poaching
STEAMING
Steaming as a method of cooking appears to be very much underestimated in the West. Here its use seems to be confined to be cooking of a new traditional puddings - some savoury, others sweet. In China steaming is used just as roasting is used in the West; mainly because there is seldom an oven in a Chinese kitchen, but there is always a large cauldron which generates steam when rice is cooked. Particularly in cooking congee a very large amount of steam is generated over a long period of time- almost 2 hours - and this is utilized for cooking as many as half a dozen dishes in several layers of basket steamers.
There are two types of steaming used in China : the first is done by cooking the food in a closed receptacle over a long period of time ( over an hour ), and the result is much the same as in clear-simmering. The second, "open-steaming" or "quick-steaming" is carried out by cooking the food in an open dish or bowl thus subjecting the food to the direct action of the steam. This second method is usually done very vigorously and only for a comparatively short time - between 10 and 20 minutes. Because the process is comparatively short, and once started it is usually carried through to completion, the bulk of the materials are usually prearranged and pre-flavored, seasoned or marinated. This is where the refinement comes in - the selection of materials an marinades to be used. The foods are cut into small pieces or thin slices so that they will be thoroughly cooked in this shirt time, and it is best to select ingredients which require roughly the same amount of cooking so that they will all be ready at the same time. The length of cooking will depend on the ingredients, the quantity being cooked and the size or thickness of the items. For "open-steaming" the steamer is preheated.
Steaming is considered a very "pure" method of cooking in that it is a static method where foods which break up easily when stirred or subjected to the agitation of fast boiling water will, after steaming, retain their original shape and arrangement. It is a method reserved for foods which are absolutely fresh ( except for any salted, dried or pickled ingredients which may be included to provide added flavor ). Steaming is most often used to cook fish, eggs and vegetables in Chinese cookery as these dishes seldom require steaming does not exceed 100 °C ( 212 °F ), and this seems to retain the nutritional value of the foods better than, say, boiling where some vitamins are dissolved in the water and washed away; or roasting and grilling where prolonged or excessive application of heat also destroys some nutrients. Nevertheless, certain foods are sometimes partially coked first by other cooking methods such as frying or cooking in a Master Sauce before being given a final burst of quick-steaming. This is where the opportunity to orchestrate flavor comes to add interest to what would otherwise be a fairly bland result.
CLEAR-SIMMERING
 "Steaming in closed vessels", or clear-simmering can be achieved by very slow cooking in a casserole or heavy pot placed over the lowest heat, with an asbestos sheet inserted under the pot, or alternatively by placing the casserole or pot in an oven at 150 °C ( 300°F ). In China , clear-simmering is practiced when cooking in earthenware casseroles ( glazed on the inside ) on top of a small charcoal fire. When the smoldering or half-burning charcoal is partly buried in its own ashes the heat can be maintained at a very slow simmer, with the result that the materials and ingredients are cooked in a completely undisturbed state. The pieces of food become very tender and the resulting soup or broth is crystal clear - a very good accompaniment to rice and other bulk foods. Foods so cooked are particularly suitable for elderly people who are unable to chew and grind effectively with their teeth, and yet they are also the very people who appreciate flavorsome food and variety of ingredients. With an eye to health-cooking, a percentage of "quick-to-cook" ingredients may be added to the simmering soup or stock to cook for just 10-12 minutes, so that when the dish is served it will provide the richness and flavor of the long-cooked materials as well as the sweet-freshness of the short-cooked ingredients.
Clear-simmering can also be done by cooking in a closed receptacle placed in a steamer, which has the same effect as cooking in a double-boiler in the West, which is to ensure that the temperature of the food being cooked will reach no higher than boiling point.
QUICK-SIZZLE POACHING
Quick-sizzle poaching is a very similar process of cooking to ordinary poaching, except that it is done at a more rapid rate on the table, in a charcoal-burning or methylated-spirit-burning hot pot, or one which is electrically heated. Several pints of light chicken or bone broth are kept at a steady boil in the hot-pot, and a variety of food materials ( meat, fish, seafood, pasta and vegetables ) are cut into razor-thin slices, inserted for a moment's cooking ( usually about 30 seconds - 2 minutes ) and then eaten mouthful by mouthful as soon as they are ready. It is quite unlike ordinary cooking in that the cooking is done by the dinners piecemeal throughout the dinner, which may last 11/2 - 2 hours, and in that time few things are cooked in the broth for much more than 1-2 minutes. The result is that everything is very freshly cooked, and because everything is cooked only for a very short while, all the materials and ingredients used have to be very fresh to start with. The consequence of cooking a host of very fresh materials for only a short duration of time in the same liquid for nearly 2 hours, is a very delicious soup which is also very fresh and sweet tasting ( "sweet" in the savoury sense ) - in other words, a soup which is very flavorsome without being heavy or over-rich; in short, an incomparable soup. Normally during the very last stage of the cooking a limited amount of egg-noodles is added, along with some more fresh vegetables, such as cucumbers, bean sprouts, young cabbage, spinach or lettuce. These are allowed to simmer together for 5-6 minutes, and then drunk and consumed as a concluding soup. Not only does such a dinner a considerable quantity of food but it usually leaves a fresh taste in the mouth, because of the long period of continuous eating of hot, freshly cooked food direct from the pot. And a healthy sweat, as if one had been having a sauna, or Turkish bath! An emergent cold, or even a latent flu, has been known to have been "steam-rolled" out of existence after a period of two hours of continuous eating! What seems to suppress the flu or cold is not just the considerable heat generated through the eating, but the lengthy period in which the heat is being increasingly applied, without one's being aware of the length and continuity of its application ( due to eating ). It is therefore a way of cooking and eating which is often quite colorless and insipid, and when eaten the food is nearly cold. Here in "quick-sizzle poaching" the food is eaten within seconds of being cooked, and is therefore always very hot.
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