Deep-Frying

This is another cooking method that is well worth mastering. Especially in Chinese dishes, deep-frying is often the last step in the multi-step cooking of things such as chicken, duck and pork. It’s also a great trick for dinner parties — the ingredients can be prepared in advance and then just fried crisp and hot when you want to serve. There are two easy ways to deep-fry: the first is to buy a small deep-fryer — there are a lot of good ones on the market and, for how handy they are, they are relatively cheap. The second way is to use a pot or a wok with a thermometer. Thermometers are cheap, easy to use and allow you to always be in the driving seat, as keeping a constant temperature, around 180°C (350°F), is the secret to good deep-frying. I tend to use vegetable or peanut oil for deep-frying, but just make sure that whatever you use, you add enough oil to the wok or pot so that the ingredients can be completely submerged.