Cooking in Liquid

Chinese cooking that involves water consists of two types of stocks—the clear (chicken) and the rich (meat); three categories of soups—the simmered, the poached, and the “mixed” soups; and five types of main dishes—the clear-simmered, the white-cut, the salt-water-marinated and salt-cured, the red-cooked, and the flavor-potted. Let’s take the stocks first.

Fukien, a southeast coastal province of China, is best known for its stocks, soups, and soupy dishes. Not until a Fukien cook came to work for my family in Shanghai when I was a little girl did I realize what an extraordinary amount of time and care went into the cooking of these exceptional broths.