Why when I make a meal at home why does it not taste the same as from the Chinese take a way?

Question

Do they have some special ingredient I don't know about. Out of interest I find the Chinese use far more ingredients than the Indian when I have had a look in the kitchen

Answer 1

You not the only one buddy; us Chinese at home cannot replicate Chinese restaurant dishes either. It will be 'close' when religiously following classic recipes but never the same. It is in the fire that makes all the difference.

Answer 2

The two answers above that mention the stove have it correct. Many Chinese dishes are made from perfectly ordinary ingredients (more on ingredients in a bit) but the one thing you can't do without is the right KIND of heat. A wok concentrates the heat in the center and does at certain points of cooking use a very high fire. The reason is that when stir frying, you are essentially deep frying in a small amount of oil - this is why everything has to be together in the bottom of the pan, and not spread out over a large flat surface. Try to do the same thing on an ordinary stove with a flat pan, and the meat will come out grey and soggy. You dont need a second stove (though many Chhinese homes will have a special high strength burner installed) but you do certainly need a ROUND bottomed wok - flat bottom wok is a wacky idea that won't do anything but take up space in your cupboard!

Try this recipe - cut up raw chicken breast into thin strips, like 2 inch shoestrings - dust them in corn starch (this keeps the liquid from leeching out while cooking) and cook them in various pans - ordinary flat pan and in a round bottomed wok with sufficient oil. It makes a difference. The ordinary pan will come out dry - the wok will come out juicy. By the way - take that chicken, add cilantro, salt and sesame oil, and you have a classic dish called lanshui ji.

As for ingredients - you can get around it - what you REALLY need are a good soy sauce, sugar, cooking wine (shaoxing - not sherry or such - if you dont have it, get in your car and go buy some! it's worth the trip to do it right), vinegar, sesame oil, dried chilis, ginger, garlic, corn starch. Go to a Chinese home kitchen and you will not see a lot of bottles or jars around - its pretty straightforward. Add to this things like sweet sauce (dou ban jiang - a bit like molasses), black bean sauce, chili sauces and the like and you can make pretty much anything. Start with the basic skills and and ingredients, and move up from there.

Answer 3

If you go to the kitchen Chinese restaurant, you see that they have different stoves. These stoves involve a much stronger fire...The idea of the stir-fry is to cook the ingredients over a very strong heat in a very small amount of time to seal in all the flavors. the average person's home stove cannot produce that amount of heat.

Even the Chinese at home rarely produce the same quality of dishes as in restaurants. IThe secret really lies in the heat, also known as "wok hay." A very affluent friend of mine has 2 kitchens--one for western cooking and the other with the serious stoves for Chinese cooking.
Well, some of the restaurants here do use MSG....that could also be a factor.

Answer 4

Not all Chinese restaurants use M.S.G these days even though some of the Asian sauces still contain M.S.G. But 99% of Chinese takeout places use the cheapest way to make their dishes. And if you are from Hong Kong, you don't even want to look at those foods. But to answer your question, I think with or without MSG, the reason you cannot make your Chinese foods the same as those Chinese takeout places is because of the sauces and the stove/heat used for cooking. The heat generated from a professional Chinese stove can be as high as 200 degree. And the heat can make a huge difference when it comes to cooking. Also you should use the exact ingredients and most importantly, the right sauces to cook. Don't use Japanese sauces to cook Chinese foods or vice versa.

Answer 5

Interestingly enough, a lot of people mentioned about MSG being used in Chinese cuisine. MSG was actually introduced by the Japanese. It was commonly used in Japanese cuisine when I was there years ago ( don't know if they still use it so often nowadays ). I remember years ago when I was working in Hong Kong. Most people there hated MSG, and the government did very little to control the using of MSG in restaurants and in other the food industries but at that time, with very little research being done to show how MSG could affect the heath of the general public, all they knew was MSG is not good for health. But as far as I know, every province in China has its own cuisine. People from the North tend to have dumpling and noodle whereas people from the South or East tend to have rice more. And people from certain provinces tend to use MSG less often than people from the East if I remember correctly. But it was interesting how people here in North America associate Chinese cuisine with MSG. I guess it is because the most popular Chinese cuisine here are those located in the food court of the mall and family restaurants, which focus on reasonable price, but at the same time they want to keep the favour of the dishes and using MSG is the cheapest way to enhance the favour, which is why we associate Chinese cuisine with MSG here in North America.

Answer 6

I'm not sure that the Chinese do use more ingredients than Indian, maybe it's just the types of ingredients you see. For instance Indian cuisine uses a lot more spices and herbs whereas Chinese uses more sauces and seasoning.

Answer 7

It may be some of the above, or it could be as simple as you just are not using a quality recipe. I have a General Tso's recipe that is amazing and tastes like anything you would get in any Chinese Restaurant. Made right. Meaning following the directions EXACTLY. comes out perfectly. I think it has to do more in skills then anything above, You can lack the proper cooking items, but still make something come out to taste right. I personally do not have a wok, but that doesn't alter how my Chinese food comes out tasting.

Answer 8

Lucky you if you get to look into a good chinese kitchen. I think the answer would be authentic chinese ingredients and also the balance of quantities. THEY ALSO USE MONOSODIUM GLUTAMATE!!! Apparently that enhances the flavours. Not a good idea for migraine sufferers.

Answer 9

It could be a variety of reasons:

1. Your wok isn't hot enough (and it never will be without the right kind of stove).
2. You don't use MSG (it is NOT illegal).
3. You probably haven't added enough salt or sugar.

I'm Chinese but can never replicate the taste either - which is why having take aways is always such a treat!

Answer 10

Excuse me, but there ain't any cat/dog in Chinese take away or MSG. D probable reason it X taste good is cos u lack ingredient or experience. Cook more & make sure u follow d recipes closely.