Hamburger Fried Rice is a quick and easy weekday dish you can whip up in no time. Mixing together some simple ground beef, onions, frozen peas, and leftover rice can create a delicious meal. Top each serving off with a runny fried egg drizzled with sweet soy sauce, and bam! You have just kicked up […]
Philly Italian Pork Sandwich (DiNic’s Copycat Recipe)
If you’ve spent time in Philly, you know that cheesesteaks are great and all, but the real treasure is the beautiful Italian pork sandwich, heaped with pulled pork, smothered in drippy broccoli rabe (or spinach, depending on who you’re talkin’ to), topped with peppers, laden with a base of gooey provolone cheese, and served on […]
Cantonese Instant Pot Braised Beef with Radish
Cantonese Beef Stew is a dish that always popped in and out of my childhood. Sometimes it would be bubbling away in a clay pot at a Chinatown restaurant, and sometimes it was scooped out of a big pot at home. The tender, gelatinous pieces of beef and melt-in-your-mouth chunks of radish in a thin […]
Savory Tang Yuan
Tang Yuan (汤圆) are a traditional sign of Chinese New Year, made with sweet and savory fillings. You’re probably most familiar with the sweet version of these round glutinous rice dumplings (the direct translation is “soup ball”), usually filled with sweet sesame paste, red bean paste, or sweet peanut paste, served in hot water or […]
Kung Pao Tofu (Vegan/Vegetarian!)
You may be thinking that kung pao dishes like this kung pao tofu fall within the realm of American classics like General Tso’s Chicken––an invention of Chinese immigrants to please American palates that has no real basis in authentic regional Chinese cooking. It’s true that Kung Pao is a staple in Westernized Chinese cuisine, but […]
Buffalo Chicken Dip
Until a year or so ago, I was completely oblivious to the no-holds-barred, unapologetically American––nay, Western-New-Yorkian––concoction that is Buffalo Chicken Dip, or as it was introduced to us, Chicken Wing Dip. Buffalo Chicken Dip is pretty much exactly what it sounds like. All the great flavor you expect from a plate of buffalo wings is […]
Cantonese Cha Guo Savory Rice Cakes
Cantonese Cha Guo (茶粿), or “tea cakes” are a delicious savory treat made with glutinous rice flour and stuffed with a savory pork filling of dried shiitake mushrooms, dried shrimp and daikon radish. These savory cha guo rice cakes are more well known among Hakka Chinese people or kè jiā (客家) which literally means “guest […]
Chinese New Year Menus for All Skill Levels
We originally published this post last year, but it had such a great response that we’ve updated it and bubbled up for new Woks of Life readers who may not have seen it yet! Happy Chinese New Year and Happy Wokking! It’s almost Chinese New Year! As the big day draws closer, it’s time to […]
Pork Rib Stew with Foo Jook and Chee Hou Sauce
Pork Rib Stew with Foo Jook and Chee Hou Sauce is simple homestyle Chinese cooking at its best. Foo Jook, or dried tofu skin, stewed with pork ribs and sweet Chee Hou sauce is a delicious comfort food combination, and a great Chinese New Year dish to boot! I make this Foo Jook Pork Rib […]
Chinese Shrimp Cakes
Shrimp cakes. This is very much a home-cooking dish and popular in coastal cities in China where shrimp are plentiful. The key to a good Chinese shrimp cake is maintaining the shrimp’s natural sweetness and crunchiness. This is why I actually like to recommend using frozen shrimp––they are immediately frozen at their freshest state, and […]
Chinese Carrot Rice Cake (Hu Luo Bo Gao – 胡萝卜糕)
Chinese Carrot Rice Cake (Hu Luo Bo Gao – 胡萝卜糕) is a great variation on the more common and traditional Chinese Luo Bo Gao, or turnip cake made with daikon radish. This version uses carrots, which is a more familiar and easy-to-find vegetable, but yields a similar texture and a great color! (Now, in case […]
Shanghai Home-style Noodle Soup
This Shanghai Home-Style Noodle Soup (上海烂糊面 – shanghai lan hu mian) is a creation of clever mothers during desperate times. This comforting noodle soup is made from simple ingredients, with slightly over-cooked noodles that expand and therefore become more filling. Hear me out! Back in the (old) days, my grandmother would make this noodle soup […]
Winter Lamb Stew with Spicy Sausage
With most of the holiday decorations back in storage for the year and what seems like daily “gale warnings” popping up in my weather notifications this past week, it looks like that time of year is fully upon us here in the Northeast: full-on winter, without the holiday cheer to distract us all from the […]
Instant Pot Pho
Nothing satisfies my deepest cold weather food cravings like a big bowl of piping hot pho. Unless you have a favorite Vietnamese spot nearby, however, it can be difficult to get your hands on a bowl. Which is why I developed and posted a full pho recipe on The Woks of Life back in 2015. […]
Boiled Daikon Radish: A Healthy, Tasty Side Dish
Today, I want to introduce you to one of my favorite winter vegetables––the brilliant daikon radish, and an extremely easy and delicious recipe that Bill loves every time I make it, boiled daikon radish. (I’ve convinced the girls as well of how delicious it is!) This boiled daikon requires no oil, no wok, and no […]
Old-Style Shanghai Bread
The lightly sweet taste and fluffy texture of this Old-Style Shanghai Bread is so similar to our famous Milk Bread that even I have trouble telling them apart. The biggest reason I would give to choose this Old-Style Shanghai Bread is that, unlike Milk Bread, it can be made without dairy (for all of our […]
Roasted Chickpeas: A Versatile Recipe for Soups, Salads, & Pastas
I think I’m late to the party that is roasted chickpeas, but I recently discovered the many wonders that the simple combination of roasted chickpeas and capers can achieve for quick, but hearty weeknight dinners. …And especially quick and hearty vegan / vegetarian weeknight dinners! Like many people, I haven’t totally foregone my love for […]
The Top 25 Favorite Recipes of 2018
After 5 years of cooking, testing soy sauce ratios, re-seasoning, adjusting beef cooking times and cuts, arguing over chopstick placement, and figuring out that under no circumstances can we ever post a sesame ball recipe (let’s just say that everyone should leave that one to the professionals), we’re taking a formal look back at 2018 […]
Suan Ni Bai Rou (Sliced Pork with Garlic Sauce)
Don’t be fooled by the fancy look of this Suan Ni Bai Rou, or Sliced Pork with Garlic Sauce (蒜泥白肉) and think that it’s complicated. Although this is a restaurant quality dish, Suan Ni Bai Rou is actually very easy to put together: poach the pork belly, make the sauce, combine the two, and it’s […]
30 Holiday Recipes
Christmas is fast approaching, and we’ve got 30 holiday recipes, new and old, savory and sweet, that we’re thinking about for our table this year! If you’re like me, you may have been planning your menu for months now. I think it was a rainy day over the summer when I first wondered what we […]
Old-Fashioned Chinese Almond Cookies
Tis’ the season when bakers are secretly––and fiercely if I might add––competing with each other for the title of best holiday cookie. You know who you are! I know a few of these competitors in my small circle of friends and family…but I won’t name names. Regardless of whether you’re serious about your cookies or […]
Ma’s Spanish Chicken Stew
Spanish Chicken Stew is a hearty and comforting dish that we grew up eating all the time. Served on a bed of white rice, the sauce soaks right in, and a few dashes of hot sauce complement the richness of tender chicken thighs and the tanginess of the occasional green olive. In short, it’s perfection […]
Judy’s Homemade Brioche Recipe
Making brioche is one of those things that you probably just want to leave to the professionals. But after having successfully made Milk Bread, Whole Wheat Bread, Multigrain Bread, and English Muffins (three kinds––also see Multigrain English Muffins & Pumpkin English Muffins!), I wanted to up my bread-making game. I have to admit, this homemade […]
Shepherd’s Purse Tofu Soup
Shepherd’s Purse Tofu Soup is a very well-known and popular soup in Shanghai. This special vegetable is wonderfully fragrant, with a unique flavor that you may know well from our Pork and Shepherd’s Purse (Ji Cai) Dumplings. You might also have seen jì cài (荠菜) in the freezer section of a well-stocked Chinese grocery store. If […]
Chinese Sausage Fried Rice (Lop Cheung Chow Fan): A 20-Minute Recipe
Chinese Sausage Fried Rice or lop cheung chow fan is a quick and easy fried rice recipe that’s perfect for a weeknight meal. I remember this Chinese sausage fried rice was one go-to recipe that my sisters and I used to cook for our mom when we knew she was coming home from a long […]
Sukiyaki – A Japanese One Pot Meal
The first time I had Sukiyaki, I was living and working in Beijing. One of the things I miss the most about living there was the work lunches near my office in Sanlitun, an area filled with great restaurants and shopping. In China generally, lunchtime is serious business. There’s little concept of, “I was so […]
Easy Stir Fried Cabbage with Glass Noodles
“More vegetarian/vegan recipes, please!” is a request that we get often on our social media feeds. Today, we’re adding this Easy Stir Fried Cabbage with Glass Noodles to our extensive vegetarian/vegan recipe collection. This is one of those dishes that makes me think that if all vegetarian dishes tasted like it, I wouldn’t mind converting! […]
22 Recipes to Pull Off an Asian American Thanksgiving
As foodies, Thanksgiving is obviously one of our all-time favorite holidays. Thankfully, America has no shortage of holidays dedicated almost purely to eating (Lookin’ at you, July 4), but this perfect day dedicated to our wonderful, would-be national bird definitely takes the top spot in our hearts. This year (if you’re following along on Instagram, […]
Honey Glazed Cantonese Turkey
Cantonese people have been expertly roasting poultry of all kinds for thousands of years: duck, chicken, pigeon, the list goes on. So why not add a Thanksgiving Honey Glazed Cantonese Turkey to the list? Our Honey Glazed Cantonese Turkey is a non-traditional recipe for preparing your Thanksgiving turkey this year. Whether you’re entertaining Chinese guests […]
Classic, Easy Stuffed Mushrooms
When it comes to stuffed mushrooms, the classic version is easiest to make, and in my opinion, it’s the most delicious! Some early holiday party planning brought to mind these stuffed mushrooms, which for some reason I have not made in years! In my younger days working at the Holiday Inn in the Catskills, I […]
