a culinary genealogy
Below, view all our posts in chronological order, starting with the most recent. To browse recipes by category, course, or collection, visit our Recipe Index. Also be sure to check out our How-To section and Chinese Ingredients Glossary.
Hot and Sour Dumpling Soup is a dish from Shaanxi Province. Plump dumplings are served in a piping hot bowl of spicy, sour soup seasoned with Chinese black vinegar. This is a great recipe for anyone who loves sour foods like pickles or other fermented treats, like Justin, the newest member of our family who
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We’re getting closer to November 1, the day our cookbook will finally be in your hands! We couldn’t be more thrilled, and it’s a good time to share some extra tidbits about the book. What’s more, we’ve got other posts planned over the next month to share behind the scenes from the book development process,
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There are many savory Chinese sauces and pastes made from fermented soybeans. Instantly adding flavor to stir-fries, stews and other dishes, you can find them stacked side-by-side in any Chinese grocery store. Just look for the aisle with a dizzying array of soy sauces, vinegars, rice wines, hot sauces, and bean pastes. In this article,
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This is our complete guide on how to make wontons, where we’ve gathered all of our wonton recipe and supporting articles in one place! If you’re new to making wontons at home, we have tips on what makes a great bowl of wontons, different fillings to choose from, soup bases, and several folding techniques. Let’s
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Here’s the fourth installment of our How to Grow Chinese Vegetables series: how to grow chili peppers. We’ll be talking specifically about Asian varieties you can grow, though the principles for growing different chilies and peppers are largely the same. We’ve found that chilies are easy to grow from small plants or from seed, as
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This Korean cucumber salad is a small side dish or banchan, often served alongside a main course and cooked rice in a Korean meal. Known in Korean as oi muchim, it’s really delicious—refreshing and spicy at the same time. Serve with your favorite Korean recipes, or as an easy appetizer! Note: We partnered with Frontier
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It’s time to formally introduce you all to some of our fellow residents at The Woks of Life HQ—our small herd of two alpacas, two goats, and yes…one llama. We shared some photos of the herd when we announced that we moved, but now that we’ve been at the new house for almost a whole
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Smashed Chilies with Century Eggs, or léi làjiāo (擂辣椒) is a Hunan dish with strong, spicy flavors. I’ve enjoyed it at Hunan restaurants in China as an appetizer, and it left a lasting impression! With so many peppers coming out of our garden right now, I knew it was time to make this dish. Why
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Today we’re teaching you guys how to make wonton wrappers! These homemade wonton wrappers are perfectly thin, chewy, and slippery, made with just bread flour (AKA high gluten flour), water, and cornstarch. Just pair with your favorite filling and get ready for an amazing bowl of wonton soup! Why Homemade Wonton Wrappers? Several of our
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This bitter melon stir-fry is flavorful and balanced with salty fermented black beans, meaty mushrooms, and sweet zucchini. Unlike other well-known Chinese bitter melon dishes, like beef with bitter melon, bitter melon with eggs, and bitter melon pork bone soup, this recipe is my own creation and also happens to be vegan! What Is Bitter
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This is a classic Chinese mooncake recipe with a red bean paste filling. While mooncakes do take time and effort to make, the flavor of homemade mooncakes is so much better than store-bought (and much less expensive!). We make our own mooncakes every year for the Mid-Autumn Festival. Try this recipe once, and it may
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Hi everyone! We’re back in the swing of travel here at The Woks of Life, and we’re excited to share more travel posts in the coming weeks and months. For today, get ready for an armchair vacation through paradise, because we’re talking about things to do on the Big Island of Hawaii. So…We LOVE Hawaii
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When we grill steaks, we almost always go the traditional route. Just a sprinkle of salt right before it hits the grill. Maybe a little ground black pepper…but even that’s sometimes too much. However, a friend of ours turned us onto his marinated steak recipe (with an optional coffee rub), and we wanted to share
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This Smashed Asian cucumber salad recipe is light, refreshing and perfect for the summer. It’s also packed with flavor from a zingy dressing, garlic, and cilantro. Plus, it only takes 10 minutes to make! Note: This recipe was originally published in June 2015. We’ve since updated it with higher resolution images, clearer instructions, additional thoughts,
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These super easy grilled ribs are a departure from your typical rib recipe. Why? You cut your ribs into individual pieces before marinating and grilling. The result is an extra juicy, all-around crispy, charred rib that’s like getting that coveted end piece every time! I call them my Super Easy Grilled Ribs. Since developing this
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This zucchini stir-fry with chicken is SO tasty, you’ll want to keep zucchini in the fridge all the time to make it! In this recipe, we share a simple tip to maintain a crisp (not mushy) texture on zucchini after stir-frying. An Abundance of Zucchini As we talked about in our Summer Garden Tour, our
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Here’s our third installment of our How to Grow Chinese Vegetables series: how to grow Chinese eggplant. We actually prefer Chinese (or Japanese) eggplants over regular globe eggplants. Not only is the skin thinner and less tough, they also have fewer seeds, making them sweeter and less bitter! If you’re new to this series, it’s
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This spicy cold tofu recipe requires no cooking and less than 10 ingredients. It’s a super tasty dish to add to any Chinese spread (or have as a quick meal on its own). Due to its no-cook nature, this recipe really shines during the warmer months, but you can enjoy it any time of year.
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