Beef and Mushroom Stir Fry is a quick and easy dish that will have you thinking of your mom’s cooking, or your favorite Chinese restaurant’s effortless rice plate lunch. I remember we used to make this dish regularly when I was working as a teenager in upstate New York at my parents’ Chinese restaurant. Despite […]
Rice, Noodles & Pasta
The Woks of Life Rice, Noodles & Pasta Recipe Collection
Saucy Beef Chow Ho Fun Noodles
Saucy Beef Chow Ho Fun Noodles or “sup chow ngau ho” is for the sauce lovers out there and a nice change from the classic “dry fried” beef chow ho fun, or “gon chow ngau ho.” A proper Gon Chow Ngau Ho is all about extra high heat searing beef, noodles, and scallions to “wok […]
Easy Pork Belly & Mushroom Rice Bowl
Let me start by saying that I’m pretty certain this Easy Pork Belly Mushroom Rice Bowl will quickly be becoming a go-to crowd pleaser. If you grew up in an Asian household, you’ve probably eaten something at least vaguely similar to this, especially as a child. A bowl of tender pork belly and glistening saucy […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Vegetable Chow Mein Noodles: Hong Kong Cantonese Style
This Hong Kong-style Cantonese Vegetable Chow Mein is a truly delicious meatless option for all you vegetarians out there. Slightly crispy and chewy pan-fried noodles, with a mix of bok choy, mushrooms, and bean sprouts, makes this vegetable chow mein both light and really satisfying. So for anyone who gets confused between “chow mein” and […]
Lao Gan Ma Noodles & The Godmother of The Godmother Sauces
If you have never heard of The Godmother’s Chili Crisp Sauce or The Godmother’s Black Bean Sauce, get out from under your rock because you are MISSING OUT. Simply put, everyone who has tried her sauces is hooked. We’ve mentioned these Lao Gan Ma (“The Godmother”) sauces here and there in recipe posts over the […]
Shanghai Style Pork Zongzi (Sticky Rice Dumplings)
Zongzi, or sticky rice dumplings, are almost like a Chinese version of the tamale––sticky rice is wrapped in bamboo leaves with other fillings, and steamed. I’ll be using both the Chinese word “zongzi” and the term “sticky rice dumpling” interchangeably in this article! The major difference between Shanghai Style Pork Zongzi (上海肉粽子) and Cantonese Style […]
Weeknight “Slop” (Rice with Eggs, Avocado & Chili)
Weeknight slop. That caught your attention didn’t it? Yes, you read that right. It’s my go-to weeknight recipe. Faithful, tried, and true. This is not a recipe that is search engine optimized. It is not a recipe that is particularly pretty. It is not going to win you effusive compliments with the dinner party set. […]
One Pot Rice Cooker Rice with Dace Fish
These days, we’re always looking for easier ways to get a satisfying dinner on the table, and Bill recently challenged me to do another quick and easy rice cooker recipe, akin to our Rice Cooker Ribs and Rice (kind of a one-time success that we never tried to repeat). Thinking about ways to use our […]
Red Curry Noodles with Chicken
The star of these red curry noodles? Thai red curry paste. These little cans of magic can single-handedly pack a flavor punch in any meat, vegetable, or noodle dish you can dream up. Which is great, because you can get that delightfully exotic red curry flavor without the trouble of finding all of the obscure […]
Our Top Picks for Quick and Easy Noodle Soups
Today we have a roundup of some of our favorite quick and easy noodle soup recipes from the blog. Growing up, my mom’s noodle soup repertoire covered just a couple of basic variations of noodle soup that would show up on the dinner table on busy days and for light lunches. If we craved anything […]
Taiwanese Beef Noodle Soup: In an Instant Pot or On the Stove
Today we have two really really exciting things to talk about. Thing #1: Taiwanese Beef Noodle Soup, a recipe that has long weighed on our minds. Thing #2: Instant Pot and the start of our journey with this beloved and much-hyped kitchen sensation. First, Taiwanese Beef Noodle Soup. It’s delicious–tender beef, a rich and slightly […]
Spam Fried Rice
Yes, today we are serving up Spam Fried Rice. It’s a rare turn of events on a blog where our most illicit pork products are lard, and maybe bacon. But, the day has come… Let’s! Talk! About! SPAM! Spam is a polarizing food for many out there. That pale pink cube of meat (is it […]
Hawaiian Mac Salad
Hawaiian Mac Salad is the cornerstone of a good “plate lunch,” i.e. a bed of rice, a scoop of mac salad, and a heaping serving of a meat dish like lau lau, kalua pork, or huli huli chicken. In other words, it’s a peak highlight of Hawaii’s food scene (with the exception, perhaps of the […]
Spicy Stir-fried Rice Cakes
As food bloggers, we’re constantly looking for new ideas for recipes. One of our best methods of gaining inspiration? Going out and trying new things to eat! That’s how I got the idea for today’s recipe––Spicy Stir-fried Rice Cakes. Rice cakes are one of my favorite ingredients. If you’ve never had them, they’re basically little […]
Hong Kong Style Shrimp Chow Mein Noodles
Hong Kong-style Shrimp Chow Mein Noodles are a classic Chinatown favorite. Slightly crispy and chewy pan-fried noodles combine with umami flavors of shrimp, Shiitake mushrooms, fresh mung bean sprouts, and scallions––everything gets tossed into a hot wok, to get the true MVP ingredient: that wok hay flavor. Here on the blog, we make a concerted […]
Chinese Pearl Meatballs with Sticky Rice (珍珠丸子)
It’s almost Chinese New Year, which means that it’s time to celebrate with the most delicious and impressive Chinese dishes. This year, we’re making Pearl Meatballs with Sticky Rice or zhēn zhū wán zi (珍珠丸子). These Pearl Meatballs originated in China’s Hunan/Hubei region, where they’re considered a holiday or special occasion dish. They appear often at […]
Sweet Fermented Rice (酒酿, Jiu Niang)
Sweet Fermented Rice, or jiu niang (酒酿), also called Sweet Rice Wine, 甜米酒 (tian mi jiu) has numerous other Chinese names depending on what part of China you are from: 醪糟 (lao zao) ,米酒 (mi jiu), 甜酒 (tian jiu), 糯米酒 (nuo mi jiu), 江米酒 (jiang mi jiu), and 酒糟 (jiu zao). It’s made with sweet […]
Steamed Ribs with Glutinous Rice (糯米蒸排骨)
Chinese New Year is right around the corner (February 16th this year), and we’re kicking things off with Steamed Ribs with Glutinous Rice or Nuòmi Zhēng Pái Gu (糯米蒸排骨). The literal translation is actually glutinous rice steamed ribs For the first recipe in this year’s lineup, we were aiming to make an “easy” recipe for […]
Chinese Pickled Long Bean Noodle Soup
The other day, I extolled the virtues of one of my all-time favorite dishes, Pickled Long Beans with Pork. There are two ways to enjoy this stir-fry: either with white rice or with a big bowl of noodles and chicken broth. If you’re looking for a rice companion, head back that-a-way to the pickled long […]
Whole Wheat Dumpling Wrappers
This recipe for whole wheat dumpling wrappers includes instructions for the wrappers only, but check out the post for links to our other dumpling recipes to make the whatever filling you like! Before starting The Woks of Life, we were a store-bought dumpling wrapper family. Any time we’d plan on making a big batch of […]
Leftover Thanksgiving Turkey Lo Mein
We’re over the hump of Thanksgiving! Congratulations–you’ve made it past the turkey anxiety, the stuffing recipe selection that may or may not have escalated to existential crisis, the crossroads that is homemade or canned cranberry sauce, and of course, all those priceless family squabbles at the dinner table. Now it’s the next day, and you’ve got […]
Sticky Rice Stuffing (Can Also Be Made Gluten-Free!)
Sticky Rice Stuffing. It’s gonna be all the rage this Thanksgiving. For any adventurous Thanksgiving cooks who want to try something other than a traditional bread stuffing or dressing this year, this is the recipe for you. We’ve actually been making this sticky rice stuffing for years. It’s featured in one of my all-time favorites––Roast […]
Seafood Congee (海鲜粥)
Lately, I’ve been rethinking a common Chinese staple: porridge, aka “congee,” “粥 (zhou),” or “稀饭 (xi-fan).” In China, Northerners like it plain (白粥), but Southerners like plenty of additional flavor. Some of our family’s favorites (mostly from Bill’s Cantonese side of the family) are Pork with Thousand Year Old Egg Congee (皮蛋廋肉粥), Fish Fillet Congee […]
Sweet Potato Gnocchi Bake with Bacon and Sage
With fall comes hibernation season–the huge sweaters, fuzzy blankets, hot cups of tea, and deliciously cheesy, savory deliciousness that one craves when the air outside is chilly. A surprisingly easy fall dish to make is sweet potato gnocchi–the gnocchi only requires a handful of ingredients, and it’s no more difficult than making dumplings a la chicken […]
