(Image transferred from Baidu)
theme
① rice
British rice generally includes: brown rice (this kind of rice is yellow and tastes like domestic brown rice, which is called "Indian rice" by many people in China); Rice is the favorite of British people, and it is also common in school canteens. As the name implies, the method is simple. Boil a large pot of water, throw the rice in and cook it, which is called cooking./kloc-Take it out with a colander after 0/5 minutes. The disadvantage is that nutrition is lost and there is no taste); Long-grain rice (this kind of rice is sticky from the beginning, which is the rice eaten by China people. ); Basmati rice (this is authentic Indian fragrant rice, which is characterized by slender body and clear particles, and it is my favorite), and there is also a kind of pudding rice, which is round and sticky and very popular with southerners. Nowadays, there are supermarkets in China in many British cities, where you may buy Thai fragrant rice, small fragrant rice, young rice and even glutinous rice. Broken rice (maybe fragrant rice or American long rice) used to be very popular among students in China. Although its taste is slightly inferior, its price is only about half that of good rice of the same brand.
noodles
Some international students may never cook, but no one dares to say that they don't eat noodles, which shows the importance of noodles to international students. Therefore, it is strongly recommended that every prospective international student take more bags of Master Kong abroad. The first week of studying abroad, perhaps the first half of your study abroad career, depends on it.
Broadly speaking, I think noodles can include dried noodles, rice noodles, Vietnamese rice noodles, pasta and various instant noodles from China. There is little to say about the origin of Vietnamese rice noodles and China. It is said that pasta was also introduced to Europe from China by Kyle Poirot. In addition, the story also says that because the early Italians could not use chopsticks well, but wanted to roll up long spaghetti, they invented folk. Hollow powder is cheap, and there are many kinds, including round and flat shapes, short and long ones. The method can be used for reference from China and the West. Generally speaking, learning to make hollow powder will solve the stomach problem of individuals studying abroad.
meat dishes
It is not easy to eat some meat dishes during these years in Britain. Before going abroad, I knew a little about the mad cow disease (common name: mad cow disease, scientific name: bovine spongiform encephalopathy) that broke out in Britain. Many friends advised me not to eat beef in England. After another wave of turmoil, foot-and-mouth disease broke out again in Britain in 200 1 year, and the epidemic spread more widely. All cloven-hoofed animals in London Zoo: pigs, cows, sheep and even elephants have reported cases. At the time of writing this chapter, the bird flu has killed southern France, and the words "100% British chicken" are printed on the chicken packages sold by the German supermarket ALDI, which shows the caution of the merchants.
The above history seems to explain why there are more and more vegetarians in Britain now, but many of my friends and I are natural meat eaters. A meal without meat is like being hungry for three days. So thank God-mad cows, hooves and bird flu didn't break out together, otherwise they would have to fly back to China to take refuge.
All right, let's cut short and comment on English meat. First of all, mutton from Scotland ranks first. Because it is a sheep, it is not fat at all and the meat is tender. I won't say much about the efficacy of angelica and mutton. Let's experience it for ourselves. Followed by chicken, especially chicken wings, which are very cheap (ASDA? 1.2 a large box), and then beef (beef). There are countless versions of beef stew recipes in Britain. Even when cattle were rampant in the Ming Dynasty, the British people could see how attractive beef was. Compared with beef and mutton, British pork is not flattering. Because there is no bleeding (electrocution) when killing, the meat is sour, so it is recommended to throw it with clear water for one night to smell fishy, and add more onions, ginger and garlic when cooking. There are also many turkeys, ducks and quails in supermarkets in England. These are delicious as long as they are cooked properly.
There are livers, kidneys and hearts of cattle and sheep in the supermarket, and occasionally pig livers, chicken livers, fish heads and oxtails can be seen. Your liver tip, fried kidney flower and pickled fish are all my favorites.
British people can also go to the butcher shop to buy meat, where they can buy some pork belly, which is an essential raw material for braised pork and steamed pork. If the taste of meat is more demanding, when you want to eat local sheep, you can go to a Muslim butcher shop. For religious reasons, they require animals to bleed first, so the meat they sell is delicious and has no peculiar smell. Finally, talk about fish and seafood. Britain is famous for Scottish salmon. In addition, cod (cod) is suitable for steaming and slicing, mackerel (mackerel) is suitable for frying, rainbow trout (rainbow trout) can be braised in brown sauce, and canned tuna (tuna) can be used under soup for emergency.
Shrimp and shellfish seafood can be bought in supermarkets and fish shops. Except for several underground shopping malls in Manchester City, seafood sold in supermarkets is expensive, so you can only eat it once or twice occasionally to relieve your appetite.
Vegetarian food/vegetables
Speaking of vegetables in Britain, I can only sum them up in two words: regret. There is a shortage of local vegetables and fruits in Britain, except potatoes, onions and tomatoes. In the past, I specially asked my dad to bring some Chinese cabbage seeds from China, but unfortunately, they didn't germinate when they were planted in the soil. In the end, I could only plant a few garlic seedlings in the garden to console myself, but in the end I was cut down by the landlord who came to weed. What a pity! What a pity!
I remember a time when the story of Tsinghua's "God of Steamed Bread" Zhang Liyong was very popular on the Internet. It is said that one day, when two Tsinghua students were buying steamed bread, they were discussing whether the English word bean could stand for peas. When they saw two people arguing outside the window, Zhang Liyong explained to them, "bean is the general name of beans, and pea is peas." In fact, it is normal for domestic students to be confused about the names of dishes. Even if they stay in England for a long time, the China students who go to the supermarket to buy food every week may not be able to name all the dishes, so they don't believe it? Let me ask you, what do you think of eggplant, asparagus and cauliflower? Eggplant, asparagus and cauliflower.
Besides the vegetables mentioned above, lettuce (lettuce-iceberg), celery (celery), cucumber (cucumber), spinach (spinach), cabbage (cabbage), carrot (carrot), broccoli (cauliflower) and pepper (pepper) are also common. Mushrooms and zucchini. Because British people like Chinese food more and more, they sometimes buy bean sprouts and Chinese cabbage from China in the supermarket.
Fresh vegetables are good, but some frozen vegetables should be stored in the refrigerator in case of famine. Frozen vegetables are easy to store, and another advantage is that they don't need to be cleaned and cut. They are especially suitable for people who pay attention to nutrition and are too lazy to do it. My favorite frozen vegetables are peas and mixed vegetables (peas, carrots, broccoli and broccoli). It is very simple to make. Just cook the flour and lunch meat together.
If you buy food in the supermarket, you can still find a phenomenon that British people are more and more superstitious about organic food. What is organic food? Take vegetables as an example, that is, farmers do not use any chemical fertilizers and inorganic additives in the process of planting and storage at home. Generally speaking, organic food is more expensive than ordinary vegetables, so when you complain that vegetables in Britain are getting more and more expensive, you may eat organic food by mistake. Corresponding to organic food is genetically modified food. Whenever you think of coriander, it will float in your ear&the beautiful melody of the song "Graduate". "Are you going to Scarborough Fair, parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme ..."). Parsley (parsley), sage (also known as sage) and rosemary (rosemary) are sung repeatedly in the song. Thyme (Thyme Leaves) is the four most common kinds of China parsley in western food. Celery looks similar to the most common coriander in China, so it is easy to make mistakes when you first buy it. Parsley leaves are thick and overgrown, and are generally used for hollow powder and pizza. Decorating cold dishes with flowers is also a good material. If you prefer barbecue food, you must try rosemary. This kind of coriander looks a bit like pine needles, and it smells like rosin after barbecue. In addition, if you see a solid shallot with purple flowers and slender leaves, it is a seasoning called shallot, which has a slight onion smell after cooking and is generally used as decoration and salad dressing. Basil is a kind of coriander with sweet fragrance and broad leaves, which is a bit like agarwood. Finally, introduce the most classic coriander-mint. From toothpaste to chocolate, from chewing gum to ice cream, the cool taste of mint is widely accepted. However, my favorite thing is to put a few pieces of mint when frying screws. With the coolness of filar silk, you will continue to suck snail meat from extremely spicy soup.
Cooking Chinese food is inseparable from soybeans. According to the custom of Cantonese, soy sauce is separated from soy sauce. Light soy sauce enhances flavor and light soy sauce colors. On the most authentic taste of "straw mushroom soy sauce", there are three kinds of vinegar in Britain: malt vinegar, apple vinegar and rice vinegar, each with its own flavor. Generally speaking, malt vinegar is cheap, and although it tastes a little bad, it can basically be used to make ordinary dishes, such as sweet and sour pork ribs. If readers especially miss Zhenjiang vinegar in China and think that eating garlic and white meat or jiaozi is the only way out, China stores can generally buy it. MSG is generally available in shops in China, and it can also be replaced by chicken soup or beef soup. However, it should be noted that the color of beef broth is generally red and the taste is salty. Pepper and pepper are the key to making spicy dishes. Nowadays, many places can see blue or red peppers for sale, and good dried peppers are not easy to buy. Small bottles of pickled Chili powder should be used with caution unless you want to try bitter pepper with Indian or Mexican flavor. Besides, peppers (green peppers/Sichuan peppers) are generally not available in British supermarkets, so you can take them with you or go to China stores to buy them.
Cooking pays attention to color, smell and taste, so besides using correct and suitable ingredients, knife work and some basic cooking principles should also be mentioned. Generally speaking, meat and vegetables can be cut into pieces, slices and shreds. No matter how you cut it, the only principle is "isomorphic matching" Take stewed beef with potatoes as an example: if potatoes are cut into pieces, beef should also be cut into pieces. If potatoes are cut into pieces, beef will be stingy. If potatoes are cut into pieces, they will rot easily and vegetables will not take shape.
Color matching of dishes is an art. Generally speaking, contrasting red and green can stimulate appetite, so don't be stingy with Chili and coriander when cooking.
kitchenware
Cooking utensils in Britain use electricity and fire. For safety reasons, all kitchens in university dormitories use electricity. Many foreign students who have just arrived in Britain are not used to slow-fire grills, and feel that they have no feeling of cooking, so the dishes they make are not delicious. In fact, although the electric iron sheet is slow, the heating is constant and uniform, and the heat dissipation time will be very long. If used properly, it is not suitable for cooking, and the perishable characteristics of stew can be well reflected. N), and microwave oven (microwave oven) are necessary things in the kitchen, but these two things are unfamiliar to foreign students who have just arrived. So I want to talk more about the use of these two cookers here. Let's talk about the oven first More than 50% of British food is baked in an oven, so they basically have no concept of "cooking". The oven is divided into two layers, the top layer is called Grill, which is translated as "baking net" in China. It can be used to bake bread and bacon in the morning. The next floor is the oven itself. There are generally two knobs outside the oven, one can adjust the baking mode and oven temperature, and the other can adjust the baking net temperature. Some ovens are also equipped with ventilation, lighting and timing functions. Microwave ovens are always fast and clean. And its operation is very simple. Up and down two knobs, one for controlling power (generally 0-700kw, with defrosting option of about 200w) and one for controlling time. When using a microwave oven, food is usually put in a special plastic box, magnetic bowls and pots are acceptable, but metal objects must not be used, because metal can easily absorb battery waves and cause metal atoms to oscillate, which will lead to high temperature and sparks, thus causing danger. Cooking food in the microwave oven is easy to overdo it, making it dry and difficult to swallow. So I usually put a layer of plastic wrap on bowls and plates to prevent the water in food from easily losing.
Ok, to sum up: compared with the domestic progress, the cooking methods of foreign students are frying, frying, boiling, frying, baking and microwave.