Chinese Cuisine – Should Chicken in Chinese Chicken Balls Be Precooked?

I tried this out the other night. It's extremely close. As michelle suggested, self-rising flour seems to be the key. The recipe I used was:

• 1/4 cup self-rising flour
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp sugar
• 1/2 cup water (or a little less)

Sift dry ingredients into a small bowl. In another bowl, slowly mix dry ingredients and water, being careful to avoid adding too much water.

It's meant to be really thick. As in, if you lay a small strip of chicken on top of the batter, the chicken should not sink.

Heat up oil for deep frying (360F to 375F). Slice chicken into thin strips, batter them, and deep fry until golden. Check one or two to make sure the chicken is cooked through.

Serve with duck sauce, if you can find it (ask a local Chinese restaurant if you can buy a pint). Nom nom.

There are really only a few secrets to good fried rice:

1. Day Old White Rice (Make it the day before, let it cool, place it in the fridge)
   • This I'd say is absolutely, the main thing.
   • The texture will NOT be right if you use freshly cooked rice. There will be too much moisture.
2. HEAT!
   • Your Wok needs to be hot. You want everything to cook quickly.
3. Cook stuff separately.
   • This is a follow-up from 2. You want it all to cook very quickly, a crowded pan will hinder that.
   • Cook Meat to 80%, take it out, cook the other stuff, add the meat back in.
4. Don't touch it.
   • Unless you have a blazing professional burner, your food needs time against the wok. Put it in, leave it for a bit, mix it some more.
5. Fish Sauce & Chinese Sausage
   • They add great flavour.

If it all seems complicated, it really isn't. Use day old rice & give it lots of heat.

Here are a couple of recipes that give further detail and have great explanations:

• Shrimp Fried Rice on Steamy Kitchen
• Secrets to Cooking the Best Chinese Fried Rice on Steamy Kitchen
• Chinese Fried Rice on Rasa Malaysia