The unusual Chinese cookery
Food for Chinese people is not only the satisfaction of the hungry. It is the rite and the ceremony. Till nowadays old people of China instead of greetings use the phrase "Have you had your food yet?" And they say that the person has lost his/her plate with rice meaning the person lost his/her job.
The ceremonies connected with the food eating were playing an important role in the life of Chinese people and even the Emperor family followed all ceremonies. The order of the dishes serving, the service of the table, the clothes of the servants, and the music during meals were chosen attentively.
There were even cooks who were killed for cooking not rather tasty food. But other cooks were honoured and they became the ministers of Emperor. And Chinese cooks like to say that there are no bad products, there are bad cooks. And maybe this is the Chinese secret in cooking.
There are several rules that are followed by Chinese cooks. The first rule is to work up the products carefully. And this rule takes 1/3 of all time of food cooking. Vegetables are carefully washed for a long time. And if the cook cooks the hen he/she plucks it with the special pincers. The second rule is the fast heat work up. Chinese people usually boil or fry products during 2-4 minutes. They use the huge fire for it as well as certain kinds of pans. In such way they keep the quality of products and in such way every ingredient of the dish is cooked separately. And the third rule is the use of a great number of different spices and sauces. Chinese people use almost 300 kinds of spices.
