There are many techniques in Chinese cooking, yet the most common methods are pan-frying, stir-frying, deep-frying, blanching/poaching, stewing, simmering, steaming and roasting/grilling. Cooking the same food ingredients using different methods not only creates different flavours and appearances, it can also affect the nutritional value of food. Cherry TSANG, is a registered dietitian (USA) and the Assistant Webmaster of the Hong Kong Dietitians Association, tells of how you can maximise nutritional intake by controlling the cooking temperature, cooking time and the amount of oil to be used.

According to Cherry, use low-fat cooking methods, such as steaming, blanching/poaching, stir-frying in a little oil, and roasting /grilling. Blanching vegetables before stir-frying to reduce oil and cooking time.