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Q: how do you cook in China ?
I have a cute apartment with elevator and western toilet, frig and hot plate.
I cook every Thanksgiving and Xmas dinner for my family at home. I'll premake cabbage rolls and pies, but day of i can stuff and roast a turkey, ham, cook potatoes, 3 vegies, cranberry sauce,gravy in 4 hours.
I've been shopping for days, even with English speaking Chinese to help me I can not find things like tomatoe sauce. i actually find corner stores to be no more expensive than big stores. It takes me 6 hours during two days to boil down tomatoes, cook cabbage, make rice mixture with bacon and onions. Now I can make cabbage rolls on the third day. I can see that cooking will have to be what ever can be cooked in one pan or pot like stew or Kraft dinner. What and how do you cook? I'm microwave hunting later, would like a convection oven, but not a toaster oven. may even get another hot plate.
I cook using as many ingredients as I can get my hands on. To be honest, even in the middle of nowhere (Urumqi) I can get pretty much everything (a few herbs and spices, some cuts of meat and balsamic vinegar elude me). Using this when I cook at home, I make loads of soups, stews, stir fries and salads. Also my BF deep fries loads of stuff, just using the hotplate and a few litres of oil that's always kept sitting around.
Most department stores will sell a decent skillett as well as woks, and this makes life easier. To cook western stuff here, you need to be a bit flexible. I highly doubt you'll be reduced yo a Kraft dinner, but maybe the full blown roast is out of reach without a proper over.
If you're dead set against a toaster over, then I think another hotplate is an excellent idea.
read my who thinks Martin Yan is a culinary god post it has links to his books there cheap and they have one for dummys he will teach you everything you nead to know about cooking chinese or since he had one of lthe longest running shows in history watch an episode
Jíliú.hé:
i think the adminanswer cat took it down because i put an amazon link encase some one wanted one of the books he wrote
Jíliú.hé:
Another thumbs down
just tell me what you find annoying in the comments because I have no idea what is so offensive
Roast pork, chicken or beef with roast potatoes, onion and carrot (and steamed brocolli and cauliflower) .... I've got the oven 
I do a lot of stir frying because of the ingredients readily available. You can make sure the meat is fresh, the veggies are fresh, and you dont have to use as much oil as a restaurant so you can actually taste the natural flavors.
I also bought an oven, and its worth it to be able to have some roast and potatoes whenever you like.
Just like home. I have an oven and know where to get everything I need. As we speak I'm cooking marinara for the week. Got the basil and oregano at Dongjiao market. You can get a bushel of fresh oregano and basil there for 10 kuai that would cost you 60 at jenny lous.
Ted, I do also enjoy cooking, and from my parents learned a lot. And before my divorce I could not fry an egg, and afterwards was either learn to cook or starve. So, when I came to China I really missed a nice size oven to roast and bake. I tried looking at many stores that sold appliances, and they all had the one that doubles as a toaster, too small for what I wanted.
One day I asked a friend who had a restaurant,where he bought his oven, and he took me to a vendor that sells equipment to resaturant owners only. There, I found a nice size electrical oven, as big inside as the ones back home, it listed for 4,600 Rmb, I got it for 3500 a couple of years ago, and I am very happy with it. I also bought from him a deep fryer like the ones used in fast food for 200 Rmb, and a hot plate maybe 2ft x 3 ft for 450 Rmb. All electrical, and quite good.
If you ever visit Nanning, let me know and I can take you there, I am trying to convince the fellow to sell SS BBQ's gas ones.
TedDBayer:
I haven't found spices or tomatoe sauce, is this a hARd to find item, not interested in toaster oven because it is too small, I can make toast on hot plate btw
ok dinner was so so, try to cook and keep 3 dishes hot in a freezing apartment. I breaded and fried chicken in a wok, worst chicken I've ever cooked, skin was like rubber, meat wasn't much better, must be a 10 year old small chicken or maybe seagull
