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.
This Vegetarian Duck, or sù yā (素鸭) recipe is a delicious vegan/vegetarian dish that feels super special, but is surprisingly simple to make. A savory, umami filling of shiitake mushrooms, bamboo shoots, and carrots is wrapped inside layers of bean curd skin, steamed, pan-fried, and braised. When sliced, you could almost swear it looks like
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Spring rolls are a favorite dim sum item, party appetizer, and symbolic Chinese New Year food. However, some people steer clear because they don’t know how to wrap spring rolls properly, causing them to fry unevenly or worse—come apart during frying. Well, that just won’t do. On our blog, we’ve covered several delicious spring roll
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Braised Pork Belly with Meigan Cai (梅干菜焖肉) is a much simpler version of Mei Cai Kou Rou (梅菜扣肉). Both are well-known dishes from Shaoxing, China, and they are equally scrumptious. I grew up only aware of this braised version, as it was a common home-cooked dish, and we never ate out in restaurants. Mei Cai
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In today’s post, I’m going to teach you how to make frozen tofu. Tofu (or bean curd) comes in many different forms, and it’s really all about texture. You’d be surprised at how much tofu’s texture can change just by freezing it solid! What Is Frozen Tofu? Frozen tofu is pretty much exactly what it
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This Chicken and Chinese Broccoli stir-fry is a delicious, light meal that truly brings out the best in tender chicken breast and sweet, crunchy Chinese broccoli, or gai lan. This was one of the very first recipes we posted back in August 2013, when the blog was just a couple months old. Since it hasn’t
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Chinese Crispy Noodles are irresistible. They always disappear in the blink of an eye! Indeed, many readers have asked us to detail how to make them. They’re basically deep-fried egg noodles (or fried wonton wrappers or egg roll wrappers). Golden brown and crunchy, they’re often served in little wooden bowls as a restaurant appetizer with
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Though you may not always notice it, sugar plays just as important a role in savory cooking as it does in sweets. From braised meat dishes to stir-fries, you’ll find sugar in many of the recipes on our blog. Rock sugar in particular is often used in Chinese cooking. In this article, we’ll explore two
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Vegetable fried rice is admittedly not the most popular item at a Chinese restaurant. However, it’s a versatile recipe you can quickly throw together with whatever you have in the refrigerator. It makes a great meatless lunch, side dish, or light meal. I personally love a good Chinese vegetable fried rice, especially when there’s a
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These classic Steamed Red Bean Buns are known as dòu bāo (豆包) to Northerners, and dòushā bāo (豆沙包) to Southerners. It took me a while to realize that both refer to this same delicious fluffy bun with sweet red bean filling. A Childhood Favorite As a child so many moons ago, steamed red bean buns
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Korean chili powder, or gochugaru, is an essential ingredient in many of our favorite Korean dishes because of its smoky-sweet fire. Find out more about this ingredient below. What Is Korean Chili Powder? How Does It Taste? Korean chili powder is a vibrant red seasoning traditionally made with sun-dried chili peppers ground into different consistencies
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Eggs over easy with soy sauce is one of those rare meals that takes five minutes to put on the table that’s not instant ramen. Translation: it’s the perfect meal to whip together when you’re hungry but don’t feel like cooking. After the holiday cooking marathons we’ve all been running, I think it might be
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Chances are good that you’re familiar with the negative reputation of monosodium glutamate (MSG). The stigma began in the 1960s, when a biomedical researcher published a letter in the New England Journal of Medicine. It asserted that consuming MSG could lead to physical discomfort such as headaches, sweating, heart palpitations, and insomnia. These purported effects
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As 2020 comes to a close, we’re all reflecting on what a year it has been. They’re calling it, “a year like no other.” A year that challenged us, transformed our everyday routines, and had us all grappling with anxiety, loss, grief, and frustration. But it was also a year that connected us, made us
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If you have read my write-up on Shanghainese-style breakfasts, you know the breakfast choices in Shanghai range far and wide. This Shanghai Scallion Flatbread (Shànghǎi qiāng bǐng, 上海羌饼) is one of my favorites. What Is Shanghai Scallion Flatbread? While I’m calling this a Shanghai Scallion Flatbread because it’s what I grew up with in the
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You are missing out if king oyster mushrooms haven’t yet made it into your regular meal rotation. These soy butter glazed king oyster mushrooms perfectly showcase this tasty ingredient with a very simple recipe. We at the Woks of Life are not new to the soy butter combination. We’ve used it for steak as well
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Cantonese steamed fish is a traditional, simple dish often served as one of the final courses in a Chinese wedding banquet (right before the last rice and noodle course). That said, it’s also a dish that can be found on home dinner tables on any old weeknight. That’s how you know it’s not just easy…it’s
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Stir-fried/braised chicken with pickled mustard greens, better known in our family as haam choy chow gai, is a Cantonese classic recipe and one of my Grandma’s favorite dishes. How do I really know this? Well, when your grandma comes to your house for Thanksgiving dinner, and she brings her own food (this dish) it’s pretty
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Making haam choy (AKA ham choy, depending on how you spell it), or Chinese sour pickled mustard greens, has been a family tradition for decades. I still have fond memories of my dear mother preparing gai choy (mustard greens) and squeezing it into the large gallon mayonnaise jars my father brought home from the restaurants
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