Chinese Food Recipes

Instead of ordering takeout try making your favorite Chinese food at home with the best Chinese Food Recipes from China Dragon Tours. China is a country full of delicacies, with a wide range of food ingredients. Many ingredients are available at local supermarkets, while others may need to go to Chinese/Asian supermarkets to buy or use substitutes. Here are some easy recipe ideas for you. These authentic Chinese food recipes are provided with color photos and simple step-by-step instructions.

1. Gong Bao Chicken

this is one of the ultimate chicken dishes: quick and easy to make, and thrillingly delicious. With its kick of scorched chilli, tingle of Sichuan pepper and gentle sweet-sour sauce, it’s a typically Sichuanese combination of flavours. You’ll find versions of this dish, often known in English as Kung Po chicken, on virtually every Chinese restaurant menu.

Ingredients

1 tbsp vegetable oil
2 chicken breasts, cut into 2.5cm pieces
2 spring onions, sliced
5cm piece fresh ginger, finely sliced
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 dried red chilli, crumbled, plus extra to serve
handful roasted peanuts
steamed white rice, to serve
100ml chicken stock
2 tsp dark brown sugar
1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
2 tbsp dark soy sauce
1 tbsp cornflour

How to Cook

For the sauce, put the stock, sugar, rice wine vinegar, soy and cornflour in a bowl and whisk to combine. Set aside until needed. Heat the oil in a large wok set over a high heat. Add the chicken pieces and cook for 2-3 mins, until golden. Remove and set aside.
In the same wok, stir-fry most of the spring onions, the ginger, garlic and chilli for 2 mins, or until fragrant. Add the peanuts and continue cooking for 2 mins, or until golden.
Return the chicken to the wok and pour over the sauce. Cook, stirring, for 3-4 mins, until the sauce is glossy and thickened and the chicken is cooked through with no pink meat showing. Divide the chicken between plates and scatter over the remaining spring onions and a little extra chilli. Serve with rice.

2. Sweet and Sour Pork

A Chinese stir-fry dish made with juicy pieces of pork tenderloin, bell peppers, onion, and pineapple. Battered pork gets fried until crispy then tossed in a sweet and tangy sauce. So skip the takeout and make a classic Sweet and Sour Pork served with rice that the whole family will enjoy.

Ingredients

2/3 cup packed brown sugar
2/3 cup cider vinegar
2/3 cup ketchup
2 teaspoons reduced-sodium soy sauce
1 pound boneless pork loin, cut into 1-inch cubes
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 medium onion, cut into chunks
2 medium carrots, sliced
1 medium green pepper, cut into 1-inch pieces
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1 can (8 ounces) pineapple chunks, drained
Hot cooked rice, optional

How to Cook

In a small bowl, combine the brown sugar, vinegar, ketchup and soy sauce. Pour half into a large resealable plastic bag; add pork. Seal bag and turn to coat; refrigerate for 30 minutes. Set remaining marinade aside.
Drain and discard marinade from pork. In a large skillet, cook pork in oil for 3 minutes. Add the onion, carrots, green pepper, garlic and ginger; saute until pork is tender. Add reserved marinade. Bring to a boil; cook for 1 minute. Stir in the pineapple. Serve with rice if desired. Freeze option: Cool pork mixture. Freeze in freezer containers. To use, partially thaw in refrigerator overnight. Heat through slowly in a covered skillet, stirring occasionally and adding a little broth or water if necessary. Serve over rice.

3. Dumplings

There is a saying in China: no food is better than dumplings. And the variety of dumpling fillings includes the essence of Chinese culture. Dumpling is almost a nickname of China in foreigners’ minds. You can use gyoza wrappers instead of making dumpling dough.

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for sprinkling
1 cup water
1 pound ground pork
3/4 cup chopped kimchi
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
1 large garlic clove, minced
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 cup vegetable oil

How to Cook

Put the flour in a medium bowl. Add the water in a steady stream, stirring until a raggy dough forms. Turn the dough out onto a work surface and knead until smooth, 5 minutes. Sprinkle the dough with flour, cover loosely with plastic wrap and let stand for 15 minutes.
In a large bowl, knead the pork with the kimchi, ginger, garlic, egg and salt.
Line a baking sheet with wax paper and sprinkle with flour. Quarter the dough. On a floured work surface, roll each piece into a 12-inch rope. Cut each rope into 12 pieces and roll into balls; sprinkle with flour. Roll out 6 balls at a time to 3 1/2-inch rounds; brush off the excess flour. Spoon 1 tablespoon of the filling onto the center of each round. Bring up the sides of the wrapper; press and pleat the edges to seal in the filling. Lift each dumpling by the pleated edge, transfer to the baking sheet and press down lightly to flatten.
In a nonstick skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of the oil. Arrange half of the dumplings in the skillet, pleated edge up. Cook over high heat until the bottoms are lightly browned, 2 minutes. Add 1/2 cup of water, cover and cook until the filling is cooked through, 5 minutes. Uncover and cook until the bottoms are well browned, 1 minute; transfer to a plate. Cook the remaining dumplings and serve.

4. Ma Po Bean Curd

Authentic Szechuan style mapo tofu is one of the branding dishes of Szechuan cuisine. It is spicy, numbing, hot, aromatic and tender. Making the yummiest mapo tofu at home for several bowls of steamed rice. Besides, mapo has becomes a kind of flavor which has also been used in other dishes.

Ingredients

1/2 cup low sodium chicken broth
2 teaspoons potato starch (halve if using cornstarch)
2 teaspoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon sesame oil
2 medium cloves of garlic, minced
2 teaspoons minced ginger
4 green onions white part only, minced
1 tablespoon fermented black beans, roughly chopped (black bean paste will also work)
1/2 teaspoon Sichuan peppercorns, black seeds removed then ground (optional)
6 ounces ground pork
2 teaspoons doubanjiang (chili bean paste)
14 ounce block of silken tofu, drained and cut into 3/4” cubes
green part of green onions minced for garnish

How to Cook

Add the chicken stock, cornstarch, soy sauce and sugar to a small bowl and stir to combine.
Heat a wok or large frying pan until hot. Add the sesame oil, garlic, ginger and green onions and stir-fry with a spatula until fragrant. Add the black beans and Sichuan pepper and continue stir-frying.
Add the ground pork and use the spatula to break it up into small grains (you don’t want clumps of meat). When the pork is cooked, add the doubanjiang and stir to distribute. Add the tofu, and toss to mix (if you stir it, the tofu will lose its shape).
Give the stock mixture a good stir to incorporate anything that may have settled, and then pour it over the pork and tofu. Toss to coat, then boil until the sauce thickens.
Garnished with the green parts of the green onions, then serve with hot rice.

5. Chow Mein

Because of the Guangdong people, Chow Mein is also deeply loved by foreigners. This Chow Mein Recipe is just like what you get at your favorite Chinese restaurant but it’s made at home in under 30 minutes!

Ingredients

8 ounces thin lo mein noodles
1 tablespoon peanut oil
1 carrot, julienned
1/2 head napa cabbage, sliced thin
1/2 onion, sliced
1/4 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil
Sliced green onions, for topping

How to Cook

Bring a pot of water to a boil and cook the noodles according to the package directions. Drain and set aside.
Heat a skillet over medium-high heat and add the peanut oil. Add the carrots, cabbage and onions and cook for 1 minute. Add the chicken broth, soy sauce and sesame oil, then toss in the noodles. Top with sliced green onions.

Food Culture Travel

Food is an integral part of Chinese culture and it should be an integral part of your trip too if you are a foodie who loves Chinese food. Don’t miss the famous local cuisine at the destination you stay. Most often, delicious food is with beautiful scenery. Beijing, Xian, Chengdu and Shanghai are famous food centers of China. Peking Roast Duck, Sichuan Hot Pot, Mapo Tofu, Kung Pao Chicken… Different cities have different local flavors and different food culture. Choose places to visit according to your preference. We have designed a series of China food tours for you. If you have enough time, you can visit several places to taste the great regional cuisine. Also, if you are interested enough, you can also have chances to make Chinese food.