\tThere are quite a few traditional utensils that have been used in cooking for thousands of years in China. Some of them are still seen in most of families, some can only be seen in rural areas, or may be disappearing in the modern world. But to cook authentic Chinese food that always tastes like grandma's, some of the utensils simply cannot be replaced by what you see in American stores.<\/p>\n
\tChinese Wok<\/strong><\/p>\n \tDeep pan with round bottom used in several ways. Comes in iron, stainless and stainless with layer of copper on the bottom. Iron heats most evenly, but should be seasoned before using or food will stick.<\/p>\n \tTo season: Fill pan with water. Add soap and soda and bring to boil. Pour off water, wipe dry. Place pan over strong heat. Add oil and rotate till pan is coated. Pour off excess oil. Place pan over weak fire and wipe with dry cloth.<\/p>\n \tTo clean: After using pan, wash while still hot. Wipe and place over heat to dry completely.<\/p>\n \tKnife<\/strong><\/p>\n \tHeavy and wide. All purpose – for paring, cutting, slicing, chopping and carving.<\/p>\n \tIron Palette<\/strong><\/p>\n \tComes in square or round front. Rounded ones are easier to use with Chinese wok. Use for frying, sautéing and basting.<\/p>\n \tIron Spoon<\/strong><\/p>\n \tUse back side for mixing food with minimum breakage.<\/p>\n \tSteamer<\/strong><\/p>\n \tUsed for steaming buns, chicken, meat, fish. Place over Chinese wok filled with boiling water. Buy one size smaller than wok. There are new styles of steamers on the market made of different materials. But Chinese believe that the traditional steamer works the best.<\/p>\n \tSlotted Spoon<\/strong><\/p>\n \tUsed for deep frying and boiling to get rid of excess oil or water.<\/p>\n \tWire Sieve<\/strong><\/p>\n \tWith handle. Used for boiling noodles, dumplings, etc.<\/p>\n \tSteamers for Pastries<\/strong><\/p>\n \tSmall in size – about 15cm (6") in diameter. Used in same method as large steamer. Serve hot pastries in steamers. Typical foods served are small meat buns (small steamer meat buns, or Xiao Long Bao Zi), steamed meat dumplings (Shao Mai), etc.<\/p>\n \tMoulds for cookies<\/strong><\/p>\n \tMade from wood with various carved designs. No longer popular in the modern society since people tend to buy cookies off the shelf. Some may still use the moulds for major holidays, or just Chinese New Year.<\/p>\n \tBamboo Brush<\/strong><\/p>\n \tUsed for washing hot wok. Guess only people in some rural areas still use this type of brush. More people use regular washing cloth found on market.<\/p>\n \tRolling Pin<\/strong><\/p>\n \tUsed for preparing noodles, dumpling skins, Chinese pancakes, and more. With the busy daily life nowadays, most of time people choose to buy ready to cook fresh noodles and dumpling skins from the small vendors seen on the street to save us time. Choose ones made from sturdy wood.<\/p>\n \tCopyrighted: You may freely republish this article as long as author bio and active hyperlinks are kept intact.<\/p>\n