Red cooking


Red cooking, also called Chinese stewing, red stewing, red braising and flavour potting, is a slow braising Chinese cooking technique that imparts a reddish brown colour to the prepared food.
There are two types of red cooking:
Red cooking is popular throughout most of northern, eastern, and southeastern China. The name is derived from the dark red-brown colour of the cooked items and its sauce.

Types

, fermented bean paste, red fermented tofu or rock sugar is commonly used to give an appetising flavor and reddish brown hue to the items being cooked. Food coloring is sometimes added for a more intense red. Both lu and hongshao are forms of stewing or braising and are characterised by the use of soy sauce, Chinese rice wine and rock sugar. Whole spices or five-spice powder are crucial elements in these dishes but are used in moderation so that their flavors do not overwhelm the main ingredients.
Red-cooked stews may be heavy in meat content or contain a variety of meats, vegetables, and hard-boiled eggs. Such dishes may be served hot or cold, and the sauce or stock is often reused as master stock.