Shrimp Fried Rice was one of the most popular fried rice dishes in my parents’ Chinese takeout restaurant. People would order Shrimp Fried Rice by the quart, and it seemed like we were always peeling shrimp to keep up with demand. So popular was the dish that we pre-boiled 10 pounds at a time! As […]
Rice, Noodles & Pasta
The Woks of Life Rice, Noodles & Pasta Recipe Collection
Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo with Roasted Garlic
Growing up, the words chicken fettuccine alfredo held a special sway with Sarah and me. Chalk it up to our Chinese upbringing that tended to be devoid of most junk foods, and an overall desire to save money on the part of our mom. Case in point: Cheetos at the school lunch bargaining table were tantamount […]
10-Minute Tomato Egg Drop Noodle Soup, Plus a List of Last-Minute-Meal Recipes
What a wonderful time of the year it is! There are so many comings and goings––holiday parties, happy hours, family meals, Christmas shopping, and gift wrapping. I love this time of year. But how exactly does this Tomato Egg Drop Noodle Soup fit into a season of prime rib roasts and glasses of champagne? Hear […]
Shanghai Breakfast Rice Rolls (Ci Fan 粢饭)
Thanksgiving has come and gone, and by now all the leaves have fallen. As we gear up for the long winter ahead, our bodies are craving carbs. Its nature’s way of preparing ourselves for the cold and the dreary. So why not take this opportunity to eat something outrageous. Enter Chinese breakfast items, i.e., carbs […]
Easy Braised Turnip Rice Bowls
I know everyone’s busy running around raving about pumpkins, acorn squash, and butternuts (guilty as charged), but what about little old turnips?! Well. Chinese turnips are ALSO in season right now, and tis the season to eat lots of them. Did you know that the turnip is a cruciferous vegetable, and not just another root vegetable? […]
20-Minute Congee Recipe (皮蛋瘦肉粥)
BREAKING NEWS!!! Did you know that you can make delicious congee with slow-cooked flavor from scratch in 20 minutes? I’m not talking about getting it done in a pressure cooker either. This extremely exciting cooking technique I am about to reveal will cut the usual congee cooking time by at least two thirds, if not more. […]
Shanghai Hot Sauce Noodles (Lajiang Mian）
Shanghai Hot Sauce Noodles, or Shanghai Lajiang Mian (上海辣酱面) was one of the many noodle soup dishes we enjoyed during our last visit to Shanghai. It is mostly known as “la jiang mian” or sometimes “doubanjiang mian (豆瓣酱面) ,” and like any other dish, it has many variations. The dish is comprised of noodles, broth, […]
Xinjiang Lamb Rice, An Uyghur Food Favorite
This Lamb Rice or Xīnjiāng shou zhuā fàn in Mandarin (新疆手抓饭) is a signature dish in Xinjiang home-cooking. It’s very special and usually reserved for holidays only––for good reason. Sheep are a precious commodity for Xinjiang or Uyghur people. Their wool is a good source of income, and their milk is an essential part of […]
Pork Chop Sticky Rice Bake with Bacon
Hold on to your hats, kids, because today, we’re wrapping things in bacon. I have made the following assessment: When faced with all of the world’s bacon-wrapped delights, this one crushes them all. Wait for it…the PORK CHOP STICKY RICE BAKE. Don’t those words just make you want to run out and buy a pound of bacon […]
Caramelized Soy Sauce Noodles with Sweet Potato & Mushrooms
Ever since we started The Woks of Life, we’re always looking for new and creative ideas to experiment with on the blog. As such, I’ve started looking at every visit to a new restaurant as “research.” (As you can imagine––especially when the four of us are together––this can lead to major cases of over-ordering. Because apparently […]
Supreme Soy Sauce Fried Rice
You may have heard of soy sauce fried rice before, but what about “Supreme” Soy Sauce Fried Rice? No? Me either! You were probably expecting a big reveal, but I made this one up. This is another dish that took shape from our recent trip to Shanghai. I noticed that many restaurants had soy sauce […]
Chicken Lo Mein – Restaurant style
Growing up, having Chinese takeout for dinner was always an uncommon occurrence. Usually, my mom or dad would prepare dinner, and there was never a need to order in. On the rare occasion that both my parents were too tired or busy to cook, however, we would place an order from a place called No. […]
Roasted Cherry Tomato Pasta Puttanesca
My parents’ tomato garden is officially in business. After weeks of poking, prodding, and waiting for the tomatoes that we weren’t sure would end up making an appearance this summer, we’ve received a bounty of cherry tomatoes, with about a pint of them ripening and ready-to-be-picked each day. It’s all we can do to keep up, which […]
Ginger Garlic Shrimp Fried Rice
Ginger Garlic Shrimp Fried Rice is one of those deliciously simple concoctions that’s perfect for when you’re at the bottom of your refrigerator, or you haven’t had time to run to the grocery store lately. With a few well-chosen pantry items, you’ve got a delicious and easy dinner. If you have a food processor for […]
Campfire Curry Ramen – An Easy Camping Meal
Kaitlin totally outed me in her Pho Ramen post from a few weeks ago. We had planned to blog this campfire curry ramen recipe while camping in the woods of California’s Sequoia National Park, but I forgot the curry powder to make it. It was a devastating blow. Of course, we ended up with an off-the-cuff Pho […]
Penne alla Rosé
There’s something extremely invigorating about being a girl (Woman? Lady? Gal? I’ll spare you all my existential quarter-life crisis) and completely embracing PINK. The bar is one such place where so-called “cool” decision making is put under a microscope. Are you ordering the super local, single-batch, no name manly man IPA or the pink, coconut […]
Easy Curry Beef Rice Bowls
When Sarah and I were in school, weekends sometimes entailed trips to Chinatown (Manhattan, natch) to visit relatives. When we rolled through Chinatown’s main thoroughfares, we always made a trip to Great NY Noodletown for a couple of orders of Beef Curry over rice. The sauce was deliciously glossy with an intense aromatic curry flavor, […]
Pho Ramen (Over a Campfire…Or Your Stove!)
When it comes to camping and cooking, we have a long and storied legacy–braised lamb shoulder, rice and beans, rotisserie chicken, fried fillets of large mouth bass, smoked turkey legs, apple cobbler–these are ALL things that we have cooked at one point or another, OVER A CAMPFIRE. Over the top? Perhaps. An epic good time? […]
Stir-fried Carrot Noodles with Chicken
After a long period of resistance and general skepticism, I have finally discovered the awesomeness of vegetable noodles, specifically carrot noodles. It happened kind of by accident. I was planning on doing a noodle dish with chicken, ginger, and spinach, and I––in pretty typical fashion––forgot to buy the noodles. Derp. What I did have, though, was […]
Udon Noodle Soup with Chicken & Mushrooms
I want to love Udon Noodle Soup. Usually though, if by some random turn of events (i.e. I’ve suddenly decided to forgo the sushi/sashimi option, which is rare), I order it at a Japanese restaurant, I’m always a little disappointed. Because udon noodle soups––in American Japanese restaurants anyway––can be a little bland. I love the thick, chewy noodles and the […]
Vietnamese Noodle Salad with Seared Pork Chops
I’m usually pretty good about packing a lunch to bring to work everyday. More often than not, it’s leftovers from whatever massive blogging session we had the previous weekend. But for those weeks when we didn’t blog recipes, and I didn’t end up cooking at all, I’m not above ordering out. One of my favorite places […]
15-Minute Lazy Noodles
It’s an exciting day here at The Woks of Life. Because today, I have an AWESOME noodle recipe for you guys and it’s a lazy noodles recipe! We all know how amazing Dan Dan Noodles are. They’re the perfect balance of spicy, savory flavors. But as any of you who’s seen––or actually managed to tackle––our […]
Chicken Yakisoba – A Japanese Favorite
Hey guys, it’s Sarah again. Told you I’d be posting a noodle recipe today. So much for low carb, eh? I’m particularly excited about this one, because it used to be one of my go-to’s at Japanese restaurants, before I discovered that I really like sushi. Every time I go to a Japanese restaurant now, I kind […]
Vegetable Chow Fun, A Vegetarian’s Delight
This Vegetable Chow Fun recipe is one for all the vegetarian Woks of Life readers out there! Sometimes the meat-eaters get it all: Beef Chow Fun, Pan Fried Noodles with Chicken, etc, etc. To date, one of our only other vegetarian/herbivore-friendly Cantonese noodle dishes is Cantonese Soy Sauce Pan Fried Noodles––and it’s always been one […]
Cantonese Beef Rice Bowls
Like my sister’s epic chocolate cake post, this recipe is more public service announcement than anything else. For those of you who are regular readers, you may have noticed that this recipe looks a bit similar to our Chinese Spaghetti Bolognese. Well, you’d be right. This Cantonese Beef Rice bowl recipe is almost the same […]
Braised Glass Noodles with Pork & Napa Cabbage
Braised Glass Noodles with Pork & Napa Cabbage, or 白菜猪肉炖粉条, is a traditional dish from Northern China, and I’m pretty certain that most northerners have their own creative ways of cooking it. Some like to use sour cabbage instead of fresh cabbage, and some like to add chili. Some prefer it saucy, and others prefer an almost soup-like […]
The Perfect Spaghetti Carbonara
Spaghetti carbonara is one of my biggest food weaknesses. It’s also a dish that I used to mess up all. the. time. If you’re not familiar, spaghetti carbonara is made with bacon (you can use pancetta, guanciale, or even regular breakfast bacon), cheese, and eggs. The eggs create a silky smooth sauce, and the cheese […]
Drunken Noodles (Pad Kee Mao)
If you love Thai food, then you’re probably already familiar with drunken noodles, or pad kee mao. There are a few theories about the origin of the name, but the most common explanation is a simple one: these noodles are perfect after a night of drinking with friends. One disclaimer I must make is about the […]
Shrimp Lo Mein Just Like Chinese Takeout
Shrimp Lo Mein is an easy dish to make at home and tastes just as good as any restaurant version. You can even prepare all of the ingredients ahead of time for an easy weeknight meal. I’ve always found that cooking is a great way to unwind from a stressful day of work, have a nice meal, pack […]
Gyudon (Japanese Beef & Rice Bowls)
Now that I’m living in the New York City area, I’m finding that one of the things I miss most about my two years in Beijing is: lunchtime. Every weekday at noon on the dot, there would be a mass exodus from office buildings across the city, as coworkers headed out to grab a meal. Lucky for me, […]
