Chinese Cuizine
By: Sophie Kelly - Tech1 - Year 8
History Of China And Its Culture & Customs
China, being the People's Republic of China is inhabited by over 1.35 billion people. It covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres, it being the second largest country by land area and fourth in the world by total area. China was founded on the 1st October, 1949 by Qin Shi Huang who then became the Emperor of China. The Capital of China is Beijing and it's largest city is Shanghai.
China is very big, so therefore there are many customs, cultures and groups. In China there are 56 ethnic minority groups and there is the Han Chinese (being the biggest group as there is 900 million people in it) and other groups including the Tibetans, the Mongols, the Manchus, the Naxi, and the Hezhen which is smallest group (with fewer than 2,000 people).
Chinese Food
China has many different foods, the most popular ones include Fried Rice, Chow Mein, Wonton, Spring Rolls and Kung Pao Chicken, just to name a few.
The Chinese have many significant celebrations, one of the biggest is 'Chinese New Year' which is also know for the 'Spring Festival' and is celebrated on the 19th February every year. For Chinese New Year it is important that all Chinese families have a large get together and feast on yummy food. The one dish they have to have is a fish dish. The significance of a fish dish is that to the Chinese fish means abundant and abundance is big! When making this fish dish you must make sure to keep the whole fish in tact from head to tail.
Fried Rice
Chow Mein
Wonton
Recipe For Lamb In Black Bean Sauce
Ingredients:
- 3 tablespoons salted, fermented black beans, or 2 tablespoons ready-made black bean sauce
- 400 g (14 oz) lean lamb neck fillet or leg steak
- 2 tablespoons nut or olive oil
- 100 g (3½ oz) carrots, cut into matchsticks
- 100 g (3½ oz) shallots, sliced
- 1 fresh red chilli, deseeded and sliced
- 4 cloves garlic, sliced
- 1 tablespoon finely sliced ginger
- 100 g (3½ oz) shiitake mushrooms, large ones roughly sliced, small ones left whole
- 2 tablespoons dark soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon tomato purée
- 300 ml (10 fl oz) lamb or chicken stock, or dry white wine
- To garnish: chopped fresh coriander
Method:
- If using fermented black beans, put them in a bowl, pour boiling water over them and leave them to soak for 20 minutes, then drain.
- Trim any fat off the lamb and slice the meat across the grain into 5 mm (¼ in) slices and then with the grain into 5 mm (¼ in) strips.
- Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a wok or heavy-based frying pan and when it is very hot, add the meat and stir-fry for 1-2 minutes until lightly browned. Lift the lamb out and keep it hot. If your wok or pan is small, cook the lamb in two batches to prevent it stewing.
- Wipe the wok or pan clean with kitchen paper, add the rest of the oil and, when it is very hot, add the carrots, shallots, chilli, garlic and ginger and stir-fry for 3-4 minutes until they start to brown. Add the mushrooms and continue frying for 2-3 minutes.
- Add the soy sauce, tomato purée, stock or wine and fermented black beans or black bean sauce. Bring the mixture to the boil then simmer for 10 minutes.
- Increase the heat and boil the sauce hard until it is slightly reduced, then add the meat and warm it through for 1 minute. Sprinkle with the coriander and serve.
- Variation: you could use chicken, lean duck or seafood instead of lamb.
Cost Of Recipe:
To make Lamb In Black Bean Sauce the following costs are involved:
- Black bean sauce: $3.15 per bottle and the bottle holds 510g
- Lamb (Leg): $12.49 per kg and it was half a leg
- Olive Oil: $8.25 per bottle and the bottle holds 500ml
- Carrots: $2.48 per kg and I needed 4 carrots to make the 100g
- Shallots: $2.48 per bunch and I needed 5 bunches to make 100g
- Red Chilli: $15.90 per kg and I only needed 1 small chilli (0.1kg)
- Garlic: $0.72 per kg will only need 1
- Ginger: $3.24 per kg will only need 1
- Shiitake Mushrooms: $3.59 per pack or $7.18 per 100g
- Soy Sauce: $3.70 per bottle and the bottle holds 500ml
- Tomato Puree: $1.70 per tin and the tin holds 401g
- Chicken Stock: $2.05 a carton and the carton holds 500ml
- Coriander: $2.98 a bunch (Preferably only get 1 bunch as it is for garnishing)
*Total Cost Of Ingredients: $66.32
*This costing is based on purchasing minimum quantities of ingredients as sold by Woolworths.