...needs as her basic minimum ... so she can please her family? I always like to cook, but I think I am overly ambitious.... I would like to understand what would be a good selection of skills .... please you tell me ... I want to know from people, not from websites ...I have tons of recipes from sites, but none tells you which would be nice to master first ....sort of like a teenager learning her skills! Thank you very much DL Snow ***********

a wok and a cookbook on how to use it

Egg rolls are always a good skill to learn. All the chopping that goes into the veggies. Stirfry with a good basic sauce The Chinese food that we get here is nothing like they eat. Even the Chinese people that run the restaraunts don't eat the American food they make. They usually stir fry the veggies and eat them with sticky rice or plain white rice.

I learned to cook Chinese cuisine from Joyce Chen's cookbook and Gloria Bley Miller's The Thousand Recipe Chinese cookbook. http://www.amazon.com/Joyce-Chen-Cook-Book/dp/0397002858 Either of these is enough to get started. They both teach basic skills. Also, some of the best Chinese dishes I've cooked are from Kenneth Lo's "Chinese Regional Cuisine".

Ummmm... I cook chicken balls. You deep fry some balls of chicken in batter with a sweet and sour sauce dont know how to make!!!

Try your hand at making Spring rolls, or spicing your spare ribs, or the art of lemon chicken sauces etc. chow mein making. These are the sort of things I exspect Teenagers to try, or like them. gl

Chinese Spicy Chicken Wing INGREDIENTS: 1 kg chicken wings (mid-joint) 5 TB salt Freshly Ground Black Pepper PREPARATION: Clean wings and marinate with 3 TB salt, the longer the better (the wings can be prepared in advance and frozen). Line the wings on a baking tray, and sprinkle with remaining 2 TB salt and freshly ground black pepper. Bake at 230 Celsius (roughly 450 Fahrenheit) for 20 minutes or until golden, turning once. Serve with dipping sauce. Dipping Sauce: Mix ketchup with a bit of honey and tabasco sauce.

A wok to start of with and then a nice simple stir-fry , you cant go wrong with that.

You gotta have a rice cooker. I can cook without a rice cooker but if you are new to cooking rice, a rice cooker is a saviour. My husband is not fond of chinese cooking, but there's one dish that I make that he would eat - Pepper Steak. I use ribeye. Slice the meat when it's still frozen so that you can slice it thin. Then marinate it in teriyaki sauce. Slice a whole onion, chop green peppers. Saute your onions for about a minute then add your meat and about 5 tablespoon of soysauce and 1 cup of water for 5 minutes. Add the green peppers let it cook for about 5 minutes. Mix 1/4 cup of water with 2 tablespoon of rice flour. Add your flour mixture to the meat and green pepper and mix so that there are no flour lumps. Add salt and pepper then voila your Pepper Steak is ready. Bon appetit.

Recipes is good for ideals, than from that you creating food for your taste. Making real good rice is tricky, I only use Uncle Ben's original, so far that the best. Otherwise if you meet old chine's people they could give you advise how to cook real Chinese food.

i'll said you make Stir-Fried Beef and Broccoli Recipe 2 tablespoons minced garlic 4 teaspoons grated ginger 4 teaspoons Chinese black vinegar 2 tablespoons soy sauce 3 teaspoons hoisin sauce 3 teaspoons orange blossom honey 4 tablespoons peanut oil, divided 2 pounds beef flap steak, thinly sliced across the grain* 4 tablespoons cornstarch 2 large heads broccoli, cut into florets and blanched 1 1/2 teaspoons red pepper flakes Steamed white rice, for serving Combine the garlic, ginger, vinegar, soy sauce, hoisin sauce and honey. Mix well and set aside until ready to use. Preheat a wok or a large skillet. Once it has reached a medium heat, add 1/2 of the peanut oil. Dredge the beef in the cornstarch, lightly shake off any excess cornstarch and add 1/2 of the beef to the pan. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Add 1/2 of the broccoli to the pan and shake frequently. Add 1/2 of the sauce and stir to evenly coat the beef and broccoli. Cook until the sauce thickens about 5 minutes. Repeat the process with the other half of the ingredients. Serve immediately with steamed white rice. *It will be easier to slice the beef in thin strips if it has been partially frozen. : this may be able to be done in 1 batch if using a very large wok or skillet.

well they use woks- to make a lot of stir frys with mixed veggies Cream cheese puffs- which you grab won ton wrappers and a package of cream chesse (water to seal the edges) and oil to cook the wrappers) and I have a secret ingredient to mine (add sugar)

If you want authentic food, get a steamer and start with steamed fish. Use soy sauce an a topper.