Stir-Frying · FFET10330
Bao (quick-fry)
A quick cooking method using hot oil or clear broth, illustrated by Jinan's shuang cui.
Cooking small pieces in a little oil over high heat, tossed quickly in the wok.
Bao is a quick, high-heat cooking method that includes oil-bao and soup-bao. Oil-bao shuang cui uses scored gizzard and pork stomach, passed through oil, stir-fried over high heat and sauced at once; Jinan's soup-bao version poaches them in clear broth and serves them with shrimp oil. These preparations appear in a feature dated August 18, 2025. The Qing cookbook Suiyuan shidan requires Tang chicken pieces to be bao-fried through, and Qing bai lei chao has 2 entries named bao fish and bao chicken; the available material does not establish a start date for the method itself.
What
Bao is a quick, high-heat cooking method. Jinan's shuang cui dishes, from Shandong, use gizzard and pork stomach: oil-bao shuang cui is slid through oil, stir-fried over high heat, sauced and served at once; soup-bao shuang cui is poached in clear broth and served with shrimp oil. The sauce for oil-bao shuang cui is mixed in a bowl beforehand.1,2,3
When
The available material does not establish a start date for bao. The Qing cookbook Suiyuan shidan (exact year unverified) requires chicken pieces to be bao-fried through in its Tang chicken entry and also uses pao for frying in hot oil. Qing bai lei chao, compiled by Xu Ke in the late Qing and early Republic, has 2 entries named bao fish and bao chicken; the fish recipe puts carp pieces soaked in soy sauce and wine into boiling oil. The Song book Meng liang lu lists soups named shuang cui, but their details are lost, so they are not counted as a record of bao.1,4,5
Where
Bao is closely linked with Shandong cooking, especially Jinan, and is among Shandong's cooking methods. Oil-bao shuang cui, stir-fried kidney and bao san yang are Jinan dishes; Jinan cooking is strong in bao, braising, deep-frying and stir-frying. Soup-bao shuang cui is also a Jinan preparation. The available material does not establish where the method began.1,6
How
Oil-bao shuang cui: score the pieces, pre-blanch in hot water, pat dry and put into oil at about 90% heat for no more than about 2 seconds; mix the sauce in a bowl beforehand. After passing through oil, the pieces are stir-fried over high heat, sauced and served at once, with cooking taking about 3 to 5 seconds. Soup-bao shuang cui: poach the pieces in clear broth and serve with shrimp oil.1,2
Why
Oil-bao shuang cui uses high oil temperatures and short cooking times; mix the sauce beforehand and pat the pieces dry to avoid splattering.1,2
Impact and influence
Oil-bao shuang cui is a Jinan dish and was the subject of a dedicated article in 2025.1,6
No tale about this food has been found.