| Another Chinese utensil, the steamer, though not as | | | | kept thoroughly dry or it will rust. |
| essential or as versatile as the wok, can be adapted | | | | Partner to the cleaver is a chopping block, anywhere |
| for many purposes. The Chinese make steamers in | | | | from four to six inches thick. An experienced chef |
| stacked sets that fit into each other, as many as five | | | | plays on his chopping block as if he were performing |
| at a time, so that several different dishes can be | | | | on a musical instrument, which, in fact, is just what he is |
| steamed at once. Thus the cook saves time and fuel. | | | | doing; next time you get a chance, try to listen to the |
| Steamers look like baskets or like round, shallow bowls | | | | chef at work in a Chinese restaurant. Rhythm is |
| full of holes, and in China are often made of bamboo. If | | | | important, as it is in most physical work: when you |
| these are not available, aluminum steamers are just as | | | | become proficient you will be able to co-ordinate the |
| good and probably easier to wash. | | | | effort of chopping so that everything, with the cleaver, |
| A resourceful cook can improvise perfectly good | | | | your hand holding the food, your whole body just |
| substitutes for the steamer; the plate-within-a-pot for | | | | works as one. Try to think of using the cleaver with |
| instance, consists of a food-laden plate placed on a | | | | the same economy of motion that you would use in |
| rack inside a large, heavy pot with some water in it. | | | | making golf or tennis strokes. |
| The plate ought to stand at least two inches above | | | | The size of the pieces the cook cuts with his cleaver |
| the level of the water. Cover the pot securely and boil. | | | | depends on the kind of food he is working on. It is a |
| Instead of using a rack you can put the plate on a | | | | rule in most Chinese cooking that all the pieces of food |
| bowl, directly in the water; the water should reach no | | | | in a dish, vegetables and meat or fish, should be of |
| more than three-quarters of the way up the sides of | | | | roughly the same size and shape, not merely for |
| the bowl so that the boiling water cannot spill in. | | | | aesthetic reasons, though these matter too, but |
| While you can do without a steamer, the Chinese | | | | because only in that way can one be sure of uniform |
| cleaver really is indispensable. Like the wok, the | | | | cooking. With a cleaver, food can be cubed, sliced, |
| cleaver is a splendid tool. It may look clumsy and | | | | chopped or shredded to any size. |
| heavy compared with the gleaming carbon-steel | | | | The cleaver's broad blade is often used to carry |
| chopping knives so loved by French chefs, but it | | | | cut-up food from chopping block to pot. A Western |
| is even more versatile. Once you have mastered the | | | | housewife might laugh at this idea and say that a plate |
| cleaver you are bound to find how useful it truly is, and | | | | would surely be better, but the aim in a Chinese kitchen |
| not only for cooking Chinese food. A cleaver performs | | | | is to keep things simple and quick. It saves another dish |
| almost every kind of cutting technique with ease,, and | | | | to use the cleaver as a carrying tool, and it saves the |
| besides is used for pounding and crushing, and even | | | | time that would be taken in getting, and cleaning a |
| for scooping up on its blade otherwise unmanageable | | | | plate. Anyone who watches a Chinese cook at work |
| scraps of food. | | | | must be struck by the way he or she cleans up as he |
| It comes in two weights; heavy for cutting bones, and | | | | goes along. There is no trail of dirty pots and utensils. |
| lighter for meats and vegetables. Both have wooden | | | | The cook keeps a clean damp cloth at hand and is |
| handles and broad blades about three inches across | | | | continually wiping his cleaver or the table at which he is |
| and eight inches long. Some cleavers are made of | | | | working. He completes each action as he does it, |
| stainless steel, but most cooks prefer those made of | | | | which is one reason he can produce elaborate meals |
| tempered carbon steel, for they can be sharpened to | | | | in a tiny kitchen. |
| a finer edge. Like your iron wok, the cleaver must be | | | | |