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 […]
Rice, Noodles & Pasta
The Woks of Life Rice, Noodles & Pasta Recipe Collection
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 […]
Bacon & Scallion Egg Noodle Stir-fry
I will fabricate any excuse to put bacon in recipes, as many of you well know (see: my bacon-wrapped pork chop sticky rice bake, my leftover Thanksgiving turkey ramen with chopped bacon on top, the totally gratuitous addition of bacon to my recipe for Kimchi Fries––I could go on). This Bacon & Scallion Egg Noodle […]
Bo Kho: Spicy Vietnamese Beef Stew with Noodles
Bo Kho is a spicy and flavorful Vietnamese beef stew that makes for a pretty epic bowl of noodle soup when you’ve maybe had your fill of pho or are looking for something a little different. I’ve had Bo Kho at only a couple of places over the years, and they’ve been pretty wide-ranging in […]
Lobster Sticky Fried Rice
This Lobster Sticky Fried Rice is not your everyday fried rice. As you can see, it’s got plenty of huge pieces of decadent, tender lobster! The addition of lobster makes this dish truly special, and it’s definitely worthy of being on a holiday or Chinese New Year dinner table, even though it’s not traditionally served […]
Ginger Scallion Hokkien Noodles
Hokkien noodles originate from Fujian (Hokkien) province in China but are quite common in both Malaysia and Singapore. These particular Hokkien Noodles––Ginger Scallion Hokkien Noodles, that is––are a 10-ingredient wonder, and they take just 20 minutes to prepare from start (i.e. walking into your apartment after a long and trying day) to finish (i.e. parking your butt […]
Sticky Rice Stuffed Chicken Breast
This sticky rice stuffed chicken breast is a beautiful thing. I’m probably going against the grain quite a bit here, but chicken breast is one of my least favorite foods. While most Americans overwhelmingly prefer white meat, I’m a dark meat girl myself. I just find it to be more flavorful and less dry overall. […]
10-Minute Sesame Noodles Recipe (Ma Jiang Mian)
Sesame noodles, or ma jiang mian (麻酱面) are a Shanghainese classic. Remember my Culinary Tour of Shanghai post? I said in that post that if you ever visit Shanghai, you must go and have the sesame noodles (and a few other favorites) at Wei Xiang Zhai, 味香斋, located at #14 YanDang Lu, near HuaiHai Zhong […]
Braised Eggplant with Minced Pork – 肉沫茄子
Lately, we’ve turned to posting quite a few “home-style” dishes. Braised Eggplant with Minced Pork (肉沫茄子) is another one of those easy dishes that you might see on the table at your parents’ or grandparents’ house! Though, as I typed out the Chinese characters for this dish, I was surprised to see that 肉沫茄子 (rou […]
Chengdu-Style Sichuan Fried Rice
A good bowl of Sichuan fried rice ––ANY fried rice, really––can work wonders on your outlook on life. It’s an all-in-one meal with starch, veggies, meat, and, of course, it’s the perfect vehicle for your favorite hot sauce or chili oil. Over the years, we’ve posted many fried rice recipes: Shrimp Fried Rice Supreme Soy […]
Quick and Easy Coconut Rice
Rice. It’s my favorite carbohydrate (which is saying a lot, considering what a bread and pasta fiend I am), and it’s infinitely versatile. While we’ve done plenty of rice dishes in the past, from fried rice to sticky rice rolls, we haven’t talked much about how you can make different types of flavored rice. Flavoring […]
Basil Mint Pesto Pasta Salad with Tomatoes & Strawberries
Growing up, my sister and I considered pasta salad to be “special occasion” food––mostly because we would rarely see it on the table at our house. Or on the picnic table, for that matter. This isn’t to say that we didn’t have family barbecues––for Memorial Day, the 4th of July, or just a summer Saturday. But […]
Beef and Egg Stir Fry Rice Bowls
Beef and Egg Stir Fry is one of those dishes that provides both comfort and satisfaction at the end of a busy day––especially during the workweek or on a lazy rainy Sunday. “Easy-to-make” and “easy cleanup” are hallmarks of our simplest, most loved go-to dishes (which we keep in a handy list: Quick and Easy […]
Easy Korean Beef Bibimbap Recipe
Bibimbap was my first introduction to Korean food. Meaning, “mixed rice,” a bibimbap recipe is comprised of warm rice topped with different seasoned vegetables, sauce like gochujang (korean red pepper paste), and often meat and/or an egg. It’s all mixed up, and usually just eaten with a spoon (no chopsticks needed). It. Is. Awesome. It […]
Jianshui Zong (Alkaline Rice Dumplings – 碱水粽)
Happy Dragon Boat Festival! You’ll have to look elsewhere for your dragon boat races, but we do have a pretty special Alkaline zongzi recipe to share with you today as a holiday treat. Jianshui Zong (碱水粽), also known as Lye Water Rice Dumplings, or Alkaline Rice Dumplings, are a Cantonese-style rice dumpling popular this time […]
20-Minute Chicken Pho
I’ve made no secret of my love for pho. Exhibit A: the painstakingly researched recipe for a traditional beef-based pho that I posted over two years ago (side note: WHY DOES TIME GO BY SO FAST!?), and even the instant ramen campfire version that Kaitlin and I cobbled together in Sequoia National Park. But sometimes, […]
Korean Black Bean Noodles (Jajangmyeon)
I was first exposed to Korean Black Bean Noodles during my more youthful, bouncy days of K-pop fueled ardor, when I would routinely listen to Big Bang, 2PM, and Girls Generation, and binge-watch Korean dramas with subtitles between finishing homework assignments. Watching all the Korean BBQ-eating, bibimbap-mixing, and jajangmyeon slurping made it pretty inevitable that I […]
Crispy Salmon Skin Rice Bowls
We don’t like wasting food. As food lovers and food bloggers, it’s pretty much tantamount to a crime. Sarah and I once had friends over for dinner, and we juiced half a lemon. At the end of the night during cleanup, one of said friends picked up the lonely second lemon half, and–in all seriousness–asked […]
