Chinese cooking question?

Question

i need rice wine for a recipe, but in the chinese supermarkets i can only find rice vinegar....can i use the rice vinegar instead?

Also the same recipe asks for 'chinese cooking oil'.Is this just any oil like canola oil or vegtable oil?

thanks

Answer 1

Are you sure that the Chinese store doesn't carry any rice wine? Any good Asian grocery store should carry at least two kinds of wine. Take a second or third look around the shelves; it might be in an odd place.

And, as other people have said, you cannot substitute rice vinegar for rice wine any more than you can substitute balsalmic vinegar for red wine in beef stew. If you truly can't find any rice wine, a dry white grape wine or a dry sherry would make a good substitute.

I would think that "Chinese cooking oil" would mean peanut oil; it's what most take-out restaurants use because of its high smoking point. You could also use canola oil, but don't try to use olive oil or sesame oil--olive oil has a very low smoking point and sesame oil burns very quickly. Happy cooking!

Answer 2

There are different varieties of Chinese rice wine but the most commonly used ones for cooking are Shao Xing & Hua Tiao. When stir-frying, towards the end just drizzle some wine against the side of the hot wok to burn off the alcohol & heighten the fragrance, then mix the remaining reduced liquid into the food. Another wine you might encounter is Mei Gui (rose) which is good for marinating meats eg. making char shao (Chinese BBQ pork). Besides alternatives like sherry, you can also use Japanese sake, mirin & plum liqueur for cooking.

As for cooking oil, many types are suitable for Chinese cooking. You can even use mild olive oil. No need to buy a separate oil just for Chinese cooking. As for sesame oil, those unfamiliar with its use may end up using too much & ruining the dish. Sesame oil is never used as a main cooking oil but more for its fragrance. Just add only a few drops at the end of stir-frying or before serving Chinese soups. When used in marinades, add only as the last ingredient. However there are a few dishes where sesame oil takes on the leading rather than minor supporting role, eg. Sesame Oil Chicken (Chinese confinement dish for post-natal nutrition).

Answer 3

Use half the amount of rice vinegar.  Typically peanut oil would be used for chinese cooking.

Answer 4

No, you cannot replace rice wine with rice vinegar (vinegar tastes sour), you may try to find whether there is any Japanese sake in your Asian supermarket, if not, white wine or sherry is better choice.

Peanut oil is highly recommended for Chinese cooking, but you may also use corn oil, canola oil, sunflower seed oil, or any other vegetable oil for most of the recipe.  Sesame oil has low boiling point and is not recommended for stir frying because the flavor would evaporate quickly.

Answer 5

Rice wine is equivalent to Saki which you can buy in most liquor stores.

The Chinese primarily use peanut oil,  mostly because of it's high smoking point. If there is no specific type named, then stick to peanut.

Answer 6

I worked in a really popular Chinese takeaway in Ealing to learn the dishes years ago.They used dry sherry instead because it was cheaper and tasted great.

All Asian food joints use peanut oil for frying.It has ultra high burning temperature and no taste..

Answer 7

What is the food?

Answer 8

I believe rice wine is SAKI

Answer 9

Rice Vinegar is totally different from rice wine.  If you can't find cooking rice wine, you can substitue with these suggestions :

http://chinesefood.about.com/od/cookingf...

Sometimes, it can be omit too.

Chinese cooking oil, you can use any type of oil - vegetable oil, olive oil, soybean oil, corn oil, peanut oil. These can be used for deep-frying and stir-frying.

Sesame oil is not use for stir-fry, more for fragrant and giving the dish a kick.

Answer 10

Rice wine.... not the same as vinegar, and chinese cooking oil depends because

looking at the chinese, that could be many different oils, it depends on what you are cooking.

Answer 11

Chinese rice wine is known as "shaoxing" wine where I'm from - try in an asian supermarket.  You can substitute dry sherry if you can't find it - not vinegar  If you don't have anything like that, just leave it out.  Use peanut oil for the oil, or a canola oil - it won't matter.

Answer 12

Keep looking for rice wine - it makes all the difference! And I think the chinese usually use peanut oil in their cooking. That's what my chinese restaurant uses a lot anyway! Good luck