Editors of Adams Media - The 50 Best Chinese Recipes. Tasty, Fresh, and Easy to Make!

The 50 Best
Chinese Recipes

Tasty, fresh, and easy to make!

Adams Media, a division of F+W Media, Inc.

Avon, Massachusetts

Contents

Introduction

You love Chinese food from a restaurant or local takeout place, so why not try to make it at home? Besides the obvious advantage to your wallet, its often healthier than restaurant fare, since you control the fat and calorie count. You can let your own creativity come into play, adjusting a recipe to add favorite foods or seasonal local ingredients. Cooking Chinese food at home also allows you to modify a recipe to suit your familys tastes.

An added bonus is that there is something about cooking Chinese food that brings families together. Many pleasurable evenings can be spent filling dumplings or making pancakes. Appetizers such as egg rolls can often be baked as well as deep-fried, making it easier to involve young children. And cooking Chinese doesnt have to be difficult many ingredients in popular Chinese dishes can be found in your local grocer store. All you need for equipment is a good knife, a large skillet, and maybe a vegetable steaming basket.

Here are fifty mouthwatering dishes, from the traditional (Hot and Sour Soup, Moo Goo Gai Pan, and General Tsos Chicken) to the exotic (Gado Gado Salad with Peanut Sauce, Szechwan Bean Curd and Preserved Vegetable, and Holiday Sticky Rice Cake). Get out your chopsticks and get ready to enjoy the uniquely harmonious blending of flavors, textures, and colors of a home-cooked Chinese meal.

Classic Egg Rolls

These freeze well merely drain after cooking, wrap individual rolls tightly in plastic wrap, and store in a freezer bag. When you want to enjoy later, unwrap and heat in the toaster oven.

Makes 15 egg rolls

Ingredients

cup canned bamboo shoots, sliced

1 tablespoon oyster sauce

1 tablespoon chicken broth or stock

teaspoon sugar

2 tablespoons oil for stir-frying

6 large fresh mushrooms, thinly sliced

1 stalk celery, thinly sliced on the diagonal

cup water chestnuts, thinly sliced

1 cup fresh mung bean sprouts, drained

2 green onions, thinly sliced on the diagonal

pound barbecued pork

15 egg roll wrappers

3 tablespoons cornstarch mixed with 2 tablespoons water

46 cups oil for frying

1. Thinly slice the bamboo shoots. Combine the oyster sauce, chicken broth, and sugar. Set aside.

2. Add 2 tablespoons oil to a preheated wok or skillet. When oil is hot, add the mushrooms and stir-fry for about 1 minute. Add the celery, then the water chestnuts, then bamboo shoots, stir-frying each for about 1 minute in the middle of the wok before adding the next vegetable. (If the wok is too crowded, stir-fry each vegetable separately.) Add more oil as necessary, pushing the vegetables up to the side of the wok until the oil is hot. Add the bean sprouts and the green onions.

3. Add the sauce to the middle of the wok and bring to a boil. Add the barbequed pork. Heat everything through. Cool.

4. Heat 46 cups oil to 375F. While the oil is heating, prepare the wrappers. To wrap, spread a heaping tablespoon of filling in the middle of the wrapper, evenly spread out but not too close to the edges. Coat the top edge and the sides with the cornstarch/water mixture. Fold the bottom half over the filling. Fold the top half over, making sure the 2 sides overlap. Press down to seal all the edges. Continue with the remainder of the egg rolls. (Prepare more cornstarch and water if necessary.)

5. Deep-fry the egg rolls until they turn golden brown (23 minutes). Drain on paper towels.

Crunchy Crab Rangoon

The first time you work with the wonton wrappers may be tricky, but youll quickly get the hang of it! Plan for extra ingredients so you can use your first batch as a test batch.

Makes 44-48

Ingredients

48 wonton wrappers

1 cup fresh or canned crabmeat

1 cup cream cheese

teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

teaspoon soy sauce

teaspoon freshly ground white pepper, or to taste

2 teaspoons minced onion

1 green onions, thinly sliced

1 large clove garlic, minced

Water for wetting wontons

4 cups oil for deep-frying

1. Cover the wonton wrappers with a damp towel to prevent drying. Set aside.

2. If using canned crabmeat, drain thoroughly. Flake the crabmeat with a fork. Add the cream cheese, then mix in the Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, white pepper, onion, green onion, and garlic.

3. To prepare the Crab Rangoon: lay a wrapper in a diamond shape or circle, depending on the shape of wonton wrappers you are using. Add a heaping teaspoon of filling in the middle, spread out evenly but not too near the edges. Spread the water along all 4 sides. Fold the bottom over the top to form a triangle (round wrappers will form a half moon). Seal the edges, adding more water if needed. Cover filled wontons with a damp towel to prevent drying.

4. Heat 4 cups oil in a preheated wok to 375F. Slide in the wonton wrappers a few at a time, and deep-fry for 23 minutes, until they turn golden brown. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Cool and serve.

Make-Ahead Crab Rangoon

Want to get a head start on making cocktail appetizers? Crab Rangoon can be prepared ahead of time up to the deep-frying stage, and then frozen. Thaw the filled wontons before deep-frying.

Savory Lettuce Wraps

It may be tempting to use another kind of lettuce for these savory wraps, but dont. Icebergs firm texture holds up to folding and make the perfect vessel for this flavorful mixture.

Makes 12 wraps

Ingredients

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 head iceberg lettuce

1 red bell pepper

8-ounce can water chestnuts, rinsed and drained

8-ounce can bamboo shoots, rinsed and drained

1 tablespoon soy sauce

2 tablespoons oyster sauce

1 tablespoon Chinese rice wine

1 teaspoon sugar

4 tablespoons oil for stir-frying

1 teaspoon minced garlic clove

1 teaspoon minced ginger

1 stalk celery, thinly sliced on the diagonal

1 tablespoon cornstarch mixed with 2 tablespoons water

2 green onions, thinly sliced on the diagonal

1 teaspoon sesame oil

1. Wash the chicken and pat dry. Pound lightly to tenderize. Cut the chicken into thin slices approximately 2 inches long.

2. Wash the lettuce, and dry and separate the leaves. Remove the seeds from the red pepper and chop into bite-sized pieces. Slice the water chestnuts and bamboo shoots into 1-inch pieces.

3. Mix together the soy sauce, oyster sauce, Chinese rice wine, and sugar. Set aside.

4. Add 2 tablespoons oil in a preheated wok or heavy skillet. When oil is hot, add the garlic and ginger. Stir-fry briefly, then add the chicken. Stir-fry until it is browned and nearly cooked through. Remove from the wok and drain on paper towels.

5. Add 2 tablespoons oil. When oil is hot, add the water chestnuts and celery. Stir-fry for about 1 minute, then add the red pepper. Add the bamboo shoots. Stir-fry until the vegetables are brightly colored and tender. Add the sauce. Give the cornstarch/water mixture a quick stir and add in the middle, stirring quickly to thicken. Stir in the green onions. Drizzle with sesame oil.