During our last trip to Shanghai, Bill and I went to enjoy some of the famous street food on South Yunnan Road (云南南路), specifically in search of these Fried Shanghai Pork Chops. This is something I remember when I was growing up in Shanghai, but it was a rare treat. Though I’m sad to report […]
Cantonese-Style Periwinkle Snails in Black Bean Sauce
Periwinkle snails and I go a long way back. I don’t remember exactly when I first had Cantonese-style periwinkle snails in black bean sauce, but it was when I was a kid growing up in the Catskills in upstate New York. In fact, back then I didn’t even know what they were called in English. […]
Instant Pot Braised Curry Beef
This Instant Pot Braised Curry Beef Is. Life. I haven’t been more excited about a recipe in a long time. Growing up, we would make regular trips into New York City for family gatherings––weddings, birthday parties, holidays, and dim sum brunches. It was always a food-centric affair, with meals at Chinese restaurants in either Chinatown […]
Vegetarian Singapore Noodles
Singapore Noodles are one of our go-to’s when we get a craving for Chinese takeout. With plenty of curry powder and thin rice noodles, it’s a family favorite. In fact, Singapore Noodles is one of the dishes we use to gauge how good a Chinese takeout joint is! But one of the best things about […]
18 Must-Try Chinese Pork Belly Recipes
In case you’ve been living under a rock, we’re here to tell you that pork belly is a wonderful cut of meat, and we have 18 must-try Chinese pork belly recipes to prove it! Pork belly is amazingly versatile, uber-flavorful, braises like nobody’s business, and is a key ingredient in many of our family’s perennial […]
Steamed Mussels from Prince Edward Island
We enjoyed steamed mussels often while traveling through Prince Edward Island, a top Canadian producer of this tasty bivalve. From what we’ve seen (other than the relaxing sightseeing on our trip), PEI mussels are high quality, clean and fresh due to the beautiful waters surrounding Prince Edward Island. We probably ate far too many PEI […]
Steak Bites with Miso Ginger Dressing
These Steak Bites with Miso Ginger Dressing started as a “healthy” endeavor and ended up being a glorious exercise in flavor. Soy butter steak bites are seared to perfection, served with rice and a handful of veggies of your choice, and drizzled with wonderful creamy miso ginger dressing. In short, it’s the best thing ever. […]
Red Bean Mooncakes (苏式月饼)
Su-Style Mooncakes (苏式月饼 su shi yue bing) are unique to Zhejiang, Suzhou, and Shanghai. As you can see, their uniqueness is in the crust, which is closer to pastry with multi-layered, flaky, crumbly yumminess. Since I grew up in Shanghai, Su-Style Mooncakes are the only kind of mooncake I ate when I was little. The […]
Sweet Red Bean Paste Recipe (In an Instant Pot)
If you love Chinese baked goods, and enjoy making them at home as much as I do, then it’s a must to master a basic red bean paste recipe (红豆馅, hong dou xian). Sweet red beans, AKA adzuki beans, are *the* preferred pastry filling in Asian sweets. In fact, come to think of it, I’m not […]
Char Kway Teow Malaysian Rice Noodle Stir-fry
Char Kway Teow (also sometimes spelled Char Kuey Teow) is a classic rice noodle dish from Malaysia, but it’s also very popular in other Southeast Asian countries like Singapore and Indonesia. A bit similar to Cantonese Chow Ho Fun Rice Noodles, Char Kway Teow is a hearty dish that’s filled with meat, veggies, and chewy […]
Instant Pot Braised Pork Buns
Instant Pot Braised Pork Buns are a revelation. Tender, fall-apart pork shoulder comes together quickly in an Instant Pot, based on my mom’s signature Hong Shao Rou (Red Braised Pork) recipe, and the whole thing is served in a fluffy Steamed Lotus Leaf Bun for the optimal pork-to-mouth delivery system. The thing about this braised […]
Lotus Leaf Buns: Homemade Steamed Buns Made to Be Filled!
Okay by now, maybe you’re tired of me talking about steamed buns. Buns, buns, buns. But before you avert your eyes, I will say that I’ve used the dough recipe for these Steamed Lotus Leaf Buns so many times that I just know it works. These steamed buns are super fluffy and slightly chewy—just the […]
Homemade Chicken Nuggets with Sichuan Spices
Is there a more nostalgic kid food than chicken nuggets? Growing up, chicken nuggets (and their closely related cousins, chicken fingers) were my sister’s go-to order from the kid’s menu of any restaurant our family walked into. There’s something about that crispy breading and tender, juicy chicken that takes us back to age 9, Nickelodeon […]
Bang Bang Chicken: The Authentic Sichuan Version
Sichuan’s famous bang bang chicken, or 棒棒鸡 (bangbang ji) is our latest addition to the Woks of Life repertoire. Bang Bang Chicken has been botched pretty badly over time by different chefs trying to replicate the original dish, but this recipe is our effort to revive the original! Bang Bang Chicken is a dish of […]
Frozen Peach Daiquiris
Peaches, peaches, peaches! We love the usual suspects––pies, cakes, cobblers, and crisps––but these frozen peach daiquiris are our latest favorite use for fresh peaches. Late July and August is peach season here in the Northeast, and there’s no better way to enjoy fresh fragrant peaches than a frozen peach daiquiri to cool you down in […]
Grilled Peach Crisps with Yogurt
Peach season is in full swing here in Jersey, and while Georgia may have the whole peach thing on lock, our Jersey peaches aren’t too shabby. A beautiful golden yellow on the inside, with that sweet, nectar-y peach flavor that tastes like August to me and my family. My mom has been buying huge boxes […]
Sha Cha Chicken: A 10-Minute Stir-fry
This Sha Cha Chicken recipe is another win for lazy cooks everywhere. Just 9 ingredients and 10 minutes are required to make this dish, but the results are no less impressive. In fact, you’ll be able to make a plate of sha cha chicken faster than your rice cooker can steam rice, so make sure […]
13 Summer Pasta Recipes
Okay, we all know that most people if asked would call this a Chinese food blog, so we know that you may not get as excited when you see summer pasta recipes turn up instead of an authentic Hunan stir-fry or a plate of northern-style dumplings. Which is why we don’t post tons of pasta […]
Chinese Garlic Chive “Boxes”
Are you, like me, looking for recipes to use up the abundant chives in your garden? We already have recipes like our Chinese Chive & Egg Stir-Fry and Pork Chive Dumplings in our regular rotation, but today’s recipe is a bit off the beaten path. These Chinese Garlic Chive “Boxes” are hard to find in […]
Braised Chinese Mushrooms with Bok Choy
Braised Chinese Mushrooms with Bok Choy, or xiang gu cai xin (香菇菜心) is a popular and very traditional Shanghai vegetable dish usually served during Chinese New Year in Shanghainese homes. Made with baby bok choy (sometimes called Shanghai bok choy) and fragrant braised dried Chinese mushrooms, it’s also a great dish to serve to your […]
Chinese Zucchini Pancakes
Pancakes are one of those foods that pretty much every culture seems to have figured out, whether savory or sweet. From American pancakes to Korean pancakes to these humble Chinese Zucchini Pancakes, the defining feature of the pancake is that it’s quick and requires very few kitchen skills, yet makes for a satisfying snack or light […]
Sour Plum Drink (Suan Mei Tang – 酸梅汤)
So we know that Sour Plum Drink doesn’t exactly sound very good, but it happens to be the commonly used translation of a popular Chinese drink known as suan mei tang (酸梅汤) in Chinese. (While an awkward Chinese translation never gets old, we prefer to call this drink Sour Plum Tea!) So what is Sour […]
Vietnamese Rice Noodle Salad with Chicken
Summer is in full swing, and here in New York City at least, that means swampy weather, sweaty commutes to and from work, and very little desire on the part of this food blogger to stand over the stove for an extended period of time. Enter: This Vietnamese Rice Noodle Salad with Chicken. It’s easy […]
Baked Stuffed Lobster with Shrimp
This Baked Stuffed Lobster makes a big statement. Stuffed with herbs and buttery breadcrumbs and topped off with a decadent row of shrimp, this meal is perfect for any special occasion. Whether it’s a birthday, a romantic meal, or a special celebration, if you pull this off, you will not disappoint! If you’re feeling intimidated, […]
Spaghetti with Breadcrumbs & Anchovies
There’s something about Spaghetti with Breadcrumbs that feels so wonderfully Italian in the most old-school-touch-of-glamour, dolce vita kind of way. Think grandma’s kitchen, but grandma insisted on having her hair done and putting on a nice dress before getting around to putting dinner on the table. Toasted breadcrumbs used to be a cheap substitute for […]
Ketchup Shrimp Stir-Fry: Bill’s Mom’s Recipe
Me and Ketchup Shrimp go a long way back. Pronounced “cure jup ha” in Cantonese dialect, it was a family dish that my mom used to make for special dinners and holidays. If you haven’t figured it out already, “cure jup” is simply a phonetic duplication of “ketchup” in the Cantonese dialect. Large fresh shrimp […]
16 Easy Korean Recipes
Korean recipes seem really really complicated, but the truth is once you have a few key ingredients in your pantry, they come together pretty easily and rely on a few core ingredients (lookin’ at you tofu, kimchi, and pork belly). My first foray into Korean food was largely because, like many people around the world […]
Hot Pot Sauce Noodles
Today’s recipe is an ode to one of my favorite things in the world: hot pot. Hence, hot pot sauce noodles! If you’ve never had a Chinese hot pot dinner before, here’s a quick explanation of what it is: a big pot of simmering broth––ranging from the mild to the face-numbingly spicy––is placed at the […]
Yang Chun Noodle Soup (Yang Chun Mian)
STOP SCROLLING! I need to say before you go any further, don’t be fooled by this Yang Chun Noodle Soup’s simple appearance. Read on, or you’ll miss A REAL TREAT! I’m not exaggerating. Yang Chun Noodle Soup (阳春面, yang chun mian), aka, “Plain Noodle Soup,” is a dish that I’ve wanted to share on our […]
Pork and Chicken Stock
This Pork and Chicken Stock has appeared once already on the blog––in my Shanghai Wonton Soup post. But I’m sharing it today as its own recipe, because I don’t just believe that this stock can stand on its own, I also believe it is invaluable! The simple reason of course is the flavor. Clear, delicious […]