The Stir-Fry Solution Trivia Quiz

Answer: China

Stir-frying was brought to American by Chinese immigrants but it gained western acceptance after WWII. According to Buwei Yang Chao 1945 book "how to Cook and Eat in Chinese", Stir-frying is "a big-fire-shallow-fat-continual-stirring-quick-frying of cut-up material with wet seasoning. We shall call it 'stir-fry' or 'stir' for short. The nearest to this in western cooking is sauté".

There are two basic techniques: chao and bao. Both techniques use high heat, but chao adds a liquid to make a sauce and the ingredients become somewhat softer In Bao where stir fries are more crispy because of the absence of a sauce or liquid. In both methods food is usually cut into small pieces before quickly cooking. Usually a wok is heated first then a small amount of oil is added, then spices which are tossed until fragrant, then chopped meat and vegetables are added and flash fried. If the Chao method is used, then combinations of soy sauce, vinegar, wine, salt, or sugar are added to make a sauce, along with any thickeners such as cornflour, water, or arrowroot.

Sweet and Sour Pork, a western favourite, is a typical stir-fried dish.
This method moved out of western restaurants into household in the 70s, not so much because the method facilitated healthy eating, but "everyone was buying a wok, and stir frying remained popular because it was quick." Families were struggling fitting a family dinner into crowded lifestyles but found that stir fry could produce dinner in less than quarter of an hour. Hence the stir-fry solution.

This question was stirred up by Phoenix Rising Team Member 1nn1.

Answer: The nutritional value of food is retained

Steaming is a simple and gentle method of cooking that uses moist heat. No special equipment is needed for steaming; a pot to boil water, a rack on which to place the dish of food so that it does not touch the boiling water, and a pot lid are all that are needed.

Steaming is widely regarded as a healthy method of cooking because it does not require additional fat to cook the food. Furthermore, as the food is not in contact with the boiling water, nutrients do not leach out of the food.

Steamed food is very common in Chinese cuisine. Classic examples of Chinese steamed food include steamed fish, steamed egg, and steamed pork buns (char siew pau; pinyin: chashaobao).

This question was gently cooked by Phoenix Rising team member purelyqing.

Answer: Pineapple juice

Of those listed only pineapples contain an enzyme (bromelain) that breaks down both protein and connective tissue meat, allowing a shorter cooking time. It also adds a delicious flavour when it's cooked. Other suitable ingredients for marinades include tomato-based sauces, vinegar and ginger.

Contrary to popular belief, it's not all about shrimps on the barbie in Australia. While seafood is often included on the menu in Queensland or New South Wales, in most other states you're more likely to be offered a snag (sausage), kebabs (chicken or lamb) or patties (rissoles). Then there's the ubiquitous sliced potato that gets tossed in oil and thrown on the barbie. For some reason, it gets brown, and goes crispy at the edges, but is never quite cooked properly. Ah well, drown it in dead-horse and down the hatch!

This question was giving a good grilling by Phoenix Rising member VegemiteKid.

Answer: Cuban sandwich

The late 1800s saw a huge inflow of Cuban individuals to the state of Florida for work and the thrills of the Sunshine state. The cities of Key West and Tampa experienced the largest influx of Cubans during this time with many individuals working in cigar factories. It was in cafes catering to these individuals in Key West and Tampa that the Cuban sandwich was developed around 1900. Many more Cubans fled to South Florida in the latter half of the 20th century prompting the opening of Cuban restaurants (serving tasty Cuban sandwiches of course) in cities like Miami.

This question was pressed into action by Phoenix Rising team member Triviaballer.

Answer: False

Whilst "blanch" is derived from the French for "to whiten", this is not necessarily the case. A food product is scalded in boiling water for a brief period of time and immediately plunged into iced water. The scalding process is used to either partly cook the product, soften it or to remove some bitterness from it. A good example of the latter are onions and cabbage. The plunge into cold water serves two purposes. One to stop the cooking process and second to refresh the item. Chefs will blanch pistachio nuts and almonds to make the removal of their skins significantly easier.

The history of blanching is probably lost to pre-history and can probably trace its origins back to boiling food to tenderise it. Blanching is featured in nearly every major cuisine type.

This question was brought to the boil by Phoenix Rising team member pollucci19.

Answer: Pressure cooking

In ordinary stove-top cooking with a lid on a pot, water boils at 100 deg C - 212 deg F. A pressure cooker is designed to trap steam inside the cooking pot, allowing water (or the cooking liquid) to become superheated (temperatures up to around 120 deg C, or nearly 250 deg F). The effect of the intense pressure in the pot is similar to braising for an extended time, but in a far shorter period. Under pressure, the water begins to act as a kind of solvent, breaking the bonds in the meat causing it to become more tender.

More than a few Australian kids were bought up on cheaper cuts of meat that became more tender when cooked up in the pressure cooker.

French scientist Denis Papin, invented the "steam digester" as a method to decrease the cooking time of food. This airtight cooker, remarkably similar to today's pressure cooker used steam pressure to raise the water's boiling point but there was no safety valve.

This question was cooked up by Phoenix Rising member VegemiteKid.

Answer: Heat

Cooking food affects food four ways: It denatures proteins, break starches down into sugars and some fibres into digestible sugars. The heat also kills off most of the bacteria already present in the food.

Ceviche is fish that is marinated in citrus juice which is highly acidic which denatures the proteins. In essence it 'cooks' the food without heat (note it does not cook the food in the other three aspects as described).

The origin of ceviche is disputed. While there are records that indicate the dish or a variant was evident in the area 2000 years ago, another theory is that is was brought to Peru by Moorish women from Granada who accompanied the Spaniards. what is known is that the variants that appeared in Central and South America and in the Southern Pacific islands came from Peru. The Peruvian version Peruvian ceviche is raw Corvina or cebo (sea bass) chunks, marinated in freshly squeezed key lime or bitter orange juice, for three hours with with sliced onions, chili peppers (aji), salt and pepper added. It is served with corn-on-the-cob, and slices of cooked sweet potato. In Ecuador, shrimp is used and the dish is sometimes made with tomato sauce after marinating to give a somewhat tangy taste.

This question was compiled by Phoenix Rising team member 1nn1 who managed to stay cool writing this question.

Answer: Shish kebab

The name is the English rendering of the Turkish words "sis" meaning sword and "kebap" meaning roasted meat dish. The meal literally, is made up of cubes of meat that have been skewered and then thrown onto a grill. Traditionally the meat used is lamb, but one should not be limited by tradition. Chicken, beef, pork and fish are not uncommon. It is also appropriate to have skewers of vegetables or fruits. The meat is usually marinated and/or spiced and, for variety the cubes may be separated by vegetables. In Turkey, the vegetables tend to be grilled separately.

One of our family favourites during the Australian summer is to skewer king prawns that have been marinated for a couple of hours in a combination of honey, chili sauce, lemon juice, parsley, five spice powder and a little oil. These are then cooked quickly on a hot barbeque until tender.

These words have been impaled into this tasty question by Phoenix Rising team member pollucci19.

Answer: Microwave Oven

Advances in radar technology during World War II helped Percy Spencer develop the first microwave oven in 1946 and it was actually called 'Radarange'. Early microwave ovens were large and expensive until 1967 when the first countertop microwave oven was commercially produced. Over the last half of the 20th century microwave ovens became common in U.S. households and by 1997 more than 90% of households owned one.

Americans already consumed trice as much popcorn per capita than any other nation. However since the introduction of Microwave popcorn in 1982, US consumption of popcorn had almost doubled within a decade of its introduction.

This question was heated on high for two minutes by Phoenix Rising team member Triviaballer.

Answer: False

The cheese crisp is a uniquely Arizona dish that uses similar ingredients but is prepared very differently from a quesadilla. A quesadilla is a tortilla filled with cheese and other various ingredients depending on taste like chicken, guacamole, or tomatoes. It is folded in half and cooked on both sides. The cheese inside melts and mixes withe the other ingredients.

A cheese crisp, on the other hand, is never folded over and is cooked quickly open-faced on broil. It can either be cooked until the cheese is crisp or the tortilla can be heated first until it is almost done then cheese added and broiled a little longer so that the tortilla turns crisp but the cheese is just melted. Other ingredients may be added on top or it may be eaten plain. The cheese crisp is made very easily and very quickly using a cookie sheet and an oven set on broil.

This question was broiled by Phoenix Rising member tazman6619.