To tell if the oil in a wok is hot enough for cooking, simply stick a chopstick into it.
When the oil around the chopstick sizzles, you can begin frying.
Always cut ingredients into even-sized pieces for a stir fry.
Not only does it make for better presentation, the food also cooks more evenly.
Allow deep fried food that is meant for a stir fry in a double cooking process to first rest and let its moisture evaporate.
This will ensure that the surfaces remain crisp during the second stage of the double cooking process.
Use the freshest fish for steaming - steaming is unforgiving to food that is not fresh.
Steaming fish with ginger or a preserved sour plum can help to remove any fishy smells.
When cooking white rice, always rinse the uncooked rice to remove excess starch.
Wash under running water until the water runs clear.
This will ensure that the rice cooks and tastes well.
When preparing stir-fried chicken dishes, coat the chicken in a mixture of cornstarch and egg white and then cook it briefly in warm oil or hot water until the colour changes to white.
This process gives the chicken a silky, tender texture and is called velveting.
To cook authentic Chinese dishes, it is essential that a cook learn Chinese cooking techniques.
STIR FRYING The stir fry is the quintessential Chinese fast food.
Stir frying involves the quick wok frying of ingredients in oil under intensely high heat.
The stir fry centres around one dominant ingredient in the dish - usually meat, fish or seafood - as well as secondary ingredients such as a variety of vegetables to embellish the dish and bring out its colours, textures and flavour.
The overall effect should be of contrast.
STEAMING Steaming is the most simple and arguably one of the healthiest cooking methods.
Chinese-style steaming of food is usually done in bamboo steamers placed above vigorously boiling water.
The food is then cooked by the steam produced by the boiling water, without having heat being directly applied to the dish or it being boiled in the water.
Many dim sum dishes such as various seafood and meat dumplings are cooked using this method.
DOUBLE COOKING Double cooking in Chinese cuisine combines two or more cooking techniques used at different stages to produce truly remarkable dishes.
While this technique is not limited to Chinese cuisine - the French also employ double cooking - good Chinese chefs are masters of double cooking.
For example, the Chinese mantou or bun is first steamed and later deep fried to produce a most fluffy pastry with a crispy outer crust.
Similarly, in many Chinese recipes meat pieces are first deep fried before being combined with other ingredients in a stir fry.