"Chinese" restaurant frying technique

[Dax]

I can't say as I've ever seen more than a glimpse into the kitchens of the more authentic places (based on experiences in Boston and NYC). When you order a S&P fried dish (squid, shrimp, etc) at a more "authentic" (ie not the pan-asian general gao places) "Chinese" (ie serving real regional-based cuisines) restaurant, do most places indivdually wok fry those orders or do they drop them in the deep fryer? It seems that most of the better s&p dishes seem to have a more deft hand on the frying, which does not typically scream deep fryer.

[buttertart]

The recipes I've seen (and used) call for dredging and initial deepfrying and then tossing in the wok with slivered chili peppers, green onions and S&P.

[Dax]

That makes sense as the scallions, ginger, etc. are slightly cooked/wilted when served.

[buttertart]

Yes indeed. This is an easy dish to make at home.

[raytamsgv]

If the only component is the meat or tofu, then it would be cooked in the deep fryer. However, if there are any other components, such as scallions, ginger, etc., they will be cooked in a wok, and the deep fried items will be tossed in. Usually, the deep fryer baskets have openings too large to hold in stuff like scallions. Besides, putting them in the deep fryer will overcook them.

[ipsedixit]

They could also just be "deep fried" in a wok (as opposed to a deep fryer).

[raytamsgv]

I would guess that deep frying would be used because it is the quickest and safest way to do it. If you decide to deep fry it in the wok, you'd probably use new oil. It's cold, so it will take a few minutes to heat up to the proper temperature for that much oil. This will prevent the wok from being used for something else, which might mean an even longer wait time for other customers.

You can alternatively decide to take the hot oil from deep fryer instead, but it's pretty dangerous to do so in a busy kitchen.

After frying the tofu, you need to get rid of the oil, because it's too much to send out with the dish. You also need the wok free for the next order. It is unlikely that they will dispose of it in the oil barrel, and they can't pour it down the drain behind the wok station. This means another dangerous transfer to the the deep fryer because it's too hot to put anywhere else. If you're lucky, you can transfer it to the next wok if that is not being used.

It is possible to use less oil to pan-fry the tofu, but that takes a lot more time because you need to ensure that all sides have been cooked evenly.

[ipsedixit]

This is why we had two woks (well, actually 4) in our restaurant kitchen.

Also, we used to reserve our oil for later uses ... i.e, deep-frying in the wok.

[raytamsgv]

We had four burners but used only three of the woks in our restaurant (last burner was for the broth base). We couldn't afford to keep any woks out of commission by keeping oil in them. We could've used a metal can, I suppose, but storage space was limited.

[ipsedixit]

Hey, ray, can you shoot me an e-mail when you get a moment. I lost yours ...