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.
The Winter Solstice in Chinese is 冬至 (dōngzhì), which translates to “winter arrival.” As you may already know, it’s the shortest day of the year and the longest night. The Dongzhi Festival is an important Chinese holiday, but it’s sometimes forgotten—overshadowed by the Lunar New Year (AKA the Spring Festival). In the old days, it was
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This anchovy fried rice is a shortcut recipe for a Cantonese classic, Salted Fish Fried Rice. It’s a dish that we love, but it can be hard to find the right salted fish. Recently, we discovered that Italian anchovies packed in oil are a great substitute for Cantonese haam yee (fermented salted fish). This recipe
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Today we turn to 50 underrated recipes that have simply flown under the radar. Under-loved and sometimes almost completely unknown (unless you counted yourself as an original reader back in the early 2010s), these recipes deserve more! These recipes are our hidden gems, unsung heroes, long-lost loves. Heck, sometimes we’ve even forgotten about them. If
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In this cookbook behind the scenes post, we share a look behind the curtain, from the messy reality behind each beautiful food picture in the book, to our fun lifestyle shoot with Christine Han! Cookbook Excitement! Our cookbook, The Woks of Life: Recipes to Know & Love from a Chinese American Family, has been on
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Char Siu Chicken is an easy alternative to our popular roast pork char siu. If you can’t eat pork or just prefer chicken, this oven-roasted char siu chicken recipe is for you! This post contains a video that will autoplay or you can choose to watch the full video via Youtube right above the recipe
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The year has come full circle here at The Woks of Life HQ. It was around late September of last year that we packed up our old home and moved into an 18th Century farmhouse—nearly getting crushed under a wall of kitchenware-filled moving boxes in the process! One year in, and we’ve now seen the
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It’s Kaitlin—I’m back with another adventure! Oxford is a beautiful city full of history and charm. Here’s a look at what we did during a quick two days in Oxford—during my trip to London. As promised in my review of a recent trip to London, Oxford is Part 2, with Part 3—the Harry Potter Studio
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Finally, we’ve found our family’s perfect Macaroni and Cheese! This mac and cheese is everything I want—it has a creamy cheese sauce, with delicious fall flavors that meld together perfectly: rosemary, nutmeg, garlic, and bay leaf. I know what you’re thinking. It’s the DAY BEFORE THANKSGIVING AND NOW YOU POST THIS MAC & CHEESE?! NOW?!!
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Our How to Grow Chinese Vegetables Series continues! Today, we’re talking about how to grow Daikon Radish, a tasty, mild, and sweet winter radish that we use a lot in our cooking. If you’re new to this series, check out our past posts on how to grow bok choy, napa cabbage, Chinese eggplant, chilies, and
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I have these melt-in-your-mouth fluffy Chinese scrambled eggs with salted chilies (i.e. Hunan-style duò jiāo – 剁椒) at least 2 times a week if I’m on my own. I’ll eat it any time of day—breakfast, lunch, or dinner. In fact, everyone in my family knows I survive during the week largely off of a carton
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Today, we’re talking about a topic near and dear to our hearts: Chinatown. For generations of our family, the Chinatowns of New York City were a refuge—a place where cherished ingredients could be found, where family has gathered for weddings, birthdays, and babies’ first month celebrations, and where each visit is always intertwined with tradition.
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With Thanksgiving just a couple weeks away, we’re rounding up ALL of our family’s favorite Thanksgiving recipes on the blog. Every year we try to update this post with new musings and recipes, so even if you are a longtime reader, read on! Thanksgiving: the super bowl of the food world Thanksgiving has become the
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Wor Wonton Soup isn’t something that we grew up with, but it’s a popular Chinese takeout specialty in many parts of the United States. It’s a wonton soup with lots of vegetables, sliced chicken, roast pork, and shrimp added, to make a full meal in one bowl. Our wor wonton soup recipe is particularly easy
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Saozi Mian is a noodle soup from Shaanxi province made with a wide variety of colorful ingredients. The soup itself is spicy, fragrant, and slightly sour. The combination of many textures make it uniquely satisfying. It’s a meal all in one bowl, with pork, noodles, mushrooms, potato, carrots, and bright green chives and scallions. Note:
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The day has at long last arrived! The Woks of Life Cookbook: Recipes to Know and Love from a Chinese American Family is here, and it’s a New York Times Bestseller! Last week, we had a journalist over at the house for dinner. We made a big meal of recipes from the book—tomato egg stir
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Chicken egg rolls are something you hardly ever see in restaurants, as most egg rolls are made with pork. However, for those of you who don’t eat pork, or who just happen to have chicken on hand instead, this chicken egg roll recipe is for you! You can even be creative and mix and match
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I can’t believe we’re already at the fifth installment of our How to Grow Chinese Vegetables series! We’ll be talking about how to grow garlic chives, a Chinese perennial herb that’s perhaps one of the easiest things to grow in your garden. This series is a collaboration between us and Choy Division, a regenerative Asian produce
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Our cookbook, The Woks of Life: Recipes to Know & Love from a Chinese American Family, is almost here! In just ONE WEEK on November 1, it will hit bookshelves and start landing on your doorsteps if you pre-ordered! If you’re in the NYC area, we have some upcoming live cookbook events next week. Grab
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