Recipes

[tessam]

so many of the entrees we get at even "the best" chinese restaurants are not authentic meals even if they are yummy.  this is a recipe for sweet and sour chicken that tastes very much like classic chinese take out

Ingredients

• Salt and pepper 
• 1 cup white rice you can use brown as well
• 1 can (20 oz.) pineapple chunks, drained, 1/2 cup juice reserved 
• 2 tablespoons white vinegar 
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce 
• 4 teaspoons cornstarch 
• 1 tablespoon ketchup 
• 2 teaspoons finely grated fresh ginger 
• 1 ¼ pounds skinless, boneless chicken breast, cut into 2-inch pieces 
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil 
• 1 red bell pepper, cut into 1-inch pieces 

Directions

• Step 1

  In a medium saucepan, bring 1 3/4 cups water and 1/2 tsp. salt to a boil; stir in the rice. Cover, lower the heat and simmer until the liquid is absorbed, about 20 minutes. Let stand, covered, for 5 minutes, then fluff with a fork.

• Step 2

  Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine the pineapple juice, vinegar, soy sauce, 2 tsp. cornstarch, the ketchup and ginger. In a bowl, toss the chicken with the remaining 2 tsp. cornstarch, 1/2 tsp. salt and 1/4 tsp. pepper.

• Step 3

  In a large nonstick skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and cook, turning occasionally, until browned, about 5 minutes; transfer to a plate. Add the bell pepper and cook, stirring, until crisp-tender, about 2 minutes. Stir in the pineapple chunks and reserved chicken.

• Step 4

  Whisk the pineapple juice mixture into the chicken mixture and cook, stirring occasionally, until the sauce has thickened and the chicken is cooked through, about 2 minutes. Serve over the rice.

[tessam]

one of my absolute favorites and i hate tofu

pan fried tofu in spicy ginger broth (you will NEVER know this is tofu lol)

serves 4

Ingredients
1 quart vegetable broth
2 -inch piece fresh ginger, cut in half
Pinch sugar
1/3 cup rice vinegar
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
1/2 teaspoon Sambal
1 pound firm tofu
1 cup bread crumbs, Panko preferred
Pinch cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon hot paprika
Salt and pepper, to taste
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons peanut oil
2 tablespoons sesame oil
1/2 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 dried Hawaiian chile, chopped
1 pound Chinese broccoli, roughly chopped
Salt and pepper, to taste
1/2 pound udon noodles, cooked
1 bunch green onions, julienned
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1/2 cup peanuts, roasted and salted

Directions
To prepare the soup, in a saucepan over medium-low heat, combine the vegetable broth, ginger, sugar, rice vinegar, soy sauce, oyster sauce and sambal. Allow to simmer 15 minutes to mingle the flavors.

To prepare the tofu steaks, cut the tofu block lengthwise, then cut in half to make 4 slabs. Lay several layers of paper towels on a cutting board then place the tofu, side by side, on top. Cover the steaks with more paper towels and press down to drain out some of the water in the curd (making it denser and hold together better when cooked.) Combine the bread crumbs, cayenne, paprika, salt and pepper. Dip each piece of tofu into the beaten eggs then dredge in the seasoned bread crumbs to coat. Heat peanut oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Fry the tofu steaks 4 minutes each side. Remove to a platter lined with fresh paper towels. Add sesame oil to the skillet, stir-fry the ginger and garlic with the chili for 2 minutes to build a base flavor. Add the broccoli and saute 3 minutes until it begins to soften, season with salt and pepper. Divide the udon noodles and spicy broth among 4 bowls. Add the broccoli then lay a piece of tofu on top. Garnish with a sprinkle of green onions, cilantro, and peanuts before serving

[gizmogal]

There are countless recipes and how-to videos of traditional Chinese dishes on YouTube. Pick out something you love in the restaurant or takeout places nearby and use the search mechanism on YouTube to find how to do it yourself. You will get good explanations of what to buy for the flavor profiles and insights to preparation beyond having a wok handy. 

I love Chinese food and have plenty of access to it near my home, but I can prepare yummy tender pepper steak and onions, moist and flavorful egg foo young, Chinese ribs, lo mein in any version, and fried rice by myself at home. All I needed was guidance and visual help from YouTube renditions. Some took more practice than others, but I can be satisfied with my home cooked Chinese specials when buying prepared food or eating out is not convenient or tough on the budget. 

I have to admit I have not had any success making dumplings or egg rolls. But I make excellent rice. 

[Sooner]

Learn the techniques of stir frying and you can make so many wonderful things!   Ours consist of some of the following:  Bok choy or Chinese cabbage, strips of peppers, onions, celery, broccoli, carrots, garlic or ginger sometimes as an accent, pea pods, mushrooms, and whatever else we find.

We stir fry with a drop or two of sesame oil near the end for flavor, and soy sauce, and sometimes we add a sauce of soy, sherry and ginger mixed with a little corn starch.   Some sauce recipes have a little sugar in them--so I use Harvey's Cream Sherry instead!  

Learn the techniques and how to stir and add ingredients, get a wok you like and have fun.  We either do vegetarian ones or add shrimp.  

[Chi-town girl]

@Wahoogaz - we have some delicious Chinese restaurants within a short drive, and typically we have a takeout dinner a couple times monthly 

Do you like mandarin/orange chicken? One of our favorite make at home from the freezer dinners is Trader Joe's Mandarin Chicken. It's on par with takeout. I always keep an extra bag in the freezer. I've noticed similar offered at other groceries stores, so look for it in the freezer section next time you're grocery shopping 

I've made some 'from scratch' stir fry's with shrimp and chicken. Will look for my recipes and will circle back soon. Usually you can just swap out the protein like chicken instead of shrimp. Just be ready to purchase some different spices and condiments like rice wine vinegar- that's key to successful delicious stir fry's 

[QVCkitty1]

I have a few Chinese recipes in my repertoire, but I confess I like the Chinese restaurant versions so much better.

[beach-mom]

@Wahoogaz - I make Japanese food all of the time, as I taught there. Let me know if there's a particular Japanese dish you're curious about. We might have ginger pork New Year's Day - if I can talk my family into it!  

[retiredatlast]

Check on Pinterest.  Put Chinese food recipes in the search bar and you will get tons of responses that you can check into for recipes.  There are stir-fry recipes, noodle recipes, soups and all sorts of appetizers with full recipes and some even have video instructions on how to prepare the item.  This has become my go to resource for recipes and I have pinned so many of them into folders that I have in my Pinterest account. Give it a try if you haven't already done so.

[ScarletDove]

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@Wahoogaz wrote:

I think we've been to all of the Chinese restaurants in our town and the best of them is mediocre, at best. I'm in southern New Mexico ... so maybe I shouldn't be surprised. I've decided I'm going to have to try and make some things on my own.

Does anyone have a favorite recipe/website/cookbook for making Chinese food at home?

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@Wahoogaz Go here and see what you can find, I have a bunch of her recipes.  Omnivore's Cookbook | Make Chinese Cooking Easy (omnivorescookbook.com)

[amyb]

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@Kachina624 wrote:

My mom used to recycle left-over roast beef by cutting it in small bite size pieces, adding the meat and left-over gravey to a can of Chinese vegetables and heat and serve over rice or those crisp canned Chinese noodles. Serve with soy sauce.  I don't know what you call this concoction but it was one of our favorite meals.

Yep, New Mexico is not the place to get good Chinese, not surprisingly. 

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My mom did similarly...and was one of my favorite meals too. I still make it today, in fact made it last week. She'd either make it with "stew beef" or chicken (I just cut up chicken tenders, brown them first in a pan, (in sesame oil to give it the asian taste, but can use any oil.) Then set aside meat & add the canned chinese vegetables, plus thick onion slices and celery, brown a minute or two, then add chicken, veggie or beef boullion in water, (eyeball how much just to cover veggies and make a broth) or low sodium boxed broth. When veggies start to cook down, add chicken or beef back in and simmer for a while. Sometimes I add a splash of low sodium soy sauce, or Bragg's aminos, (similar tasted to soy sauce, more health properties in it.)

And yes, these days, trying to not add calories I haven't added those crunchy noodles...but boy, I miss those! I almost bought them this past time...I may have to next time. Serve over brown rice. Easy and delicious.

I'm too am interested to learn other things from this thread, as I do love some Chinese food at times, and we also don't have any great take out nearby either. We do have great Thai food restaurants around.

I have a Simply Ming book that was given to me...admittedly...I've perused it, recipes look good and easily doable...have never made anything from it yet.