Stir Fry Vegetable Recipes Biography
Stir frying (Chinese: 炒; pinyin: chǎo) is a Chinese cooking technique in which ingredients are fried in a small amount of very hot oil while being stirred in a wok. The technique originated in China and in recent centuries has spread into other parts of Asia and the West. Many claim that this quick, hot cooking seals in the flavors of the foods, as well as preserving their color and texture.[1]
Scholars think that wok (or pan) frying may have been used as early as the Han dynasty (206 B.C.E. – 220 C.E.) for drying grain, not meats and vegetables, but it was not until the Ming dynasty (1368-1644) that the wok reached its modern shape and allowed quick cooking in hot oil. [2] Well into the 20th century, while restaurants and affluent families could afford the oil and fuel needed for stir fry, the most widely used cooking techniques remained boiling and steaming. Stir fry cooking came to predominate over the course of the century as more people could afford oil and fuel, and in the West spread beyond Chinese communities. [3]
Stir frying and Chinese food have been recommended as both healthy and appealing for their skillful use of vegetables, meats, and fish which are moderate in their fat content and sauces which are not over rich, provided calories are kept at a reasonable level.[4]
The term "stir-fry" was introduced into the English language in Buwei Yang Chao's book How to Cook and Eat in Chinese (1945), to describe the chǎo technique.[5]
During the Tang dynasty (618–907) chao referred to roasting tea leaves. Stir frying became a popular method for cooking food only later, during the Ming dynasty (1368–1644).
The Chinese character "chao" (炒) is attested in inscriptions on bronze vessels from the Eastern Zhou period (771–256 BC), but not in the sense of stir frying.[6] Dry stirring was used in the Han dynasty (206 BC – 221 AD) to parch grain.[2] Although there are no surviving records of Han dynasty stir frying, archaeological evidence of woks and the tendency to slice food thinly indicate that the technique was likely used for cooking.[7]
The term chao appears for the first time in the sense of "stir frying" in the Qimin Yaoshu, a sixth-century agricultural manual, including in a recipe for scrambled eggs. In sources from the Tang dynasty (618–907), chao refers not to a cooking technique, but to a method for roasting tea leaves. It reappears as a cooking method in a dozen recipes from the Song dynasty (960–1279). The Song period is when the Chinese started to use vegetable oil for frying instead of animal fats. Until then, vegetable oil had been used chiefly in lamps.[2]
Historically, stir frying was not as important a technique as boiling or steaming, since the oil needed for stir frying was expensive. The technique became increasingly popular in the late Ming dynasty (1368–1644),[8] in part because the wood and charcoal used to fire stoves were becoming increasingly expensive near urban centers, and stir-frying could cook food quickly without wasting fuel.[9] "The increasingly commercial nature of city life" in the late Ming and Qing (1644–1912) periods also favored speedy methods.[2] But even as stir frying became an important method in Chinese cuisine, it did not replace other cooking techniques. For instance, "only five or six of over 100 recipes recorded in the sixteenth-century novel Jin Ping Mei are stir fry recipes and wok dishes accounted for only 16 percent of the recipes in the most famous eighteenth century recipe book, the Suiyuan shidan".[2]
By the late Qing, most Chinese kitchens were equipped with a wok range (chaozao 炒灶 or paotai zao 炮臺灶) convenient for stir-frying because it had a large hole in the middle to insert the bottom of a wok into the flames.[2]
Scholars think that wok (or pan) frying may have been used as early as the Han dynasty (206 B.C.E. – 220 C.E.) for drying grain, not meats and vegetables, but it was not until the Ming dynasty (1368-1644) that the wok reached its modern shape and allowed quick cooking in hot oil. [2] Well into the 20th century, while restaurants and affluent families could afford the oil and fuel needed for stir fry, the most widely used cooking techniques remained boiling and steaming. Stir fry cooking came to predominate over the course of the century as more people could afford oil and fuel, and in the West spread beyond Chinese communities. [3]
Stir frying and Chinese food have been recommended as both healthy and appealing for their skillful use of vegetables, meats, and fish which are moderate in their fat content and sauces which are not over rich, provided calories are kept at a reasonable level.[4]
The term "stir-fry" was introduced into the English language in Buwei Yang Chao's book How to Cook and Eat in Chinese (1945), to describe the chǎo technique.[5]
During the Tang dynasty (618–907) chao referred to roasting tea leaves. Stir frying became a popular method for cooking food only later, during the Ming dynasty (1368–1644).
The Chinese character "chao" (炒) is attested in inscriptions on bronze vessels from the Eastern Zhou period (771–256 BC), but not in the sense of stir frying.[6] Dry stirring was used in the Han dynasty (206 BC – 221 AD) to parch grain.[2] Although there are no surviving records of Han dynasty stir frying, archaeological evidence of woks and the tendency to slice food thinly indicate that the technique was likely used for cooking.[7]
The term chao appears for the first time in the sense of "stir frying" in the Qimin Yaoshu, a sixth-century agricultural manual, including in a recipe for scrambled eggs. In sources from the Tang dynasty (618–907), chao refers not to a cooking technique, but to a method for roasting tea leaves. It reappears as a cooking method in a dozen recipes from the Song dynasty (960–1279). The Song period is when the Chinese started to use vegetable oil for frying instead of animal fats. Until then, vegetable oil had been used chiefly in lamps.[2]
Historically, stir frying was not as important a technique as boiling or steaming, since the oil needed for stir frying was expensive. The technique became increasingly popular in the late Ming dynasty (1368–1644),[8] in part because the wood and charcoal used to fire stoves were becoming increasingly expensive near urban centers, and stir-frying could cook food quickly without wasting fuel.[9] "The increasingly commercial nature of city life" in the late Ming and Qing (1644–1912) periods also favored speedy methods.[2] But even as stir frying became an important method in Chinese cuisine, it did not replace other cooking techniques. For instance, "only five or six of over 100 recipes recorded in the sixteenth-century novel Jin Ping Mei are stir fry recipes and wok dishes accounted for only 16 percent of the recipes in the most famous eighteenth century recipe book, the Suiyuan shidan".[2]
By the late Qing, most Chinese kitchens were equipped with a wok range (chaozao 炒灶 or paotai zao 炮臺灶) convenient for stir-frying because it had a large hole in the middle to insert the bottom of a wok into the flames.[2]
Stir Fry Vegetable Recipes Vegetable Recipes in Urdu Indian Chinese Phlippines Pakistani Pinterest Without Oil Pinoy Style Panlasang Pinoy
Stir Fry Vegetable Recipes Vegetable Recipes in Urdu Indian Chinese Phlippines Pakistani Pinterest Without Oil Pinoy Style Panlasang Pinoy
Stir Fry Vegetable Recipes Vegetable Recipes in Urdu Indian Chinese Phlippines Pakistani Pinterest Without Oil Pinoy Style Panlasang Pinoy
Stir Fry Vegetable Recipes Vegetable Recipes in Urdu Indian Chinese Phlippines Pakistani Pinterest Without Oil Pinoy Style Panlasang Pinoy
Stir Fry Vegetable Recipes Vegetable Recipes in Urdu Indian Chinese Phlippines Pakistani Pinterest Without Oil Pinoy Style Panlasang Pinoy
Stir Fry Vegetable Recipes Vegetable Recipes in Urdu Indian Chinese Phlippines Pakistani Pinterest Without Oil Pinoy Style Panlasang Pinoy
Stir Fry Vegetable Recipes Vegetable Recipes in Urdu Indian Chinese Phlippines Pakistani Pinterest Without Oil Pinoy Style Panlasang Pinoy
Stir Fry Vegetable Recipes Vegetable Recipes in Urdu Indian Chinese Phlippines Pakistani Pinterest Without Oil Pinoy Style Panlasang Pinoy
Stir Fry Vegetable Recipes Vegetable Recipes in Urdu Indian Chinese Phlippines Pakistani Pinterest Without Oil Pinoy Style Panlasang Pinoy
Stir Fry Vegetable Recipes Vegetable Recipes in Urdu Indian Chinese Phlippines Pakistani Pinterest Without Oil Pinoy Style Panlasang Pinoy
