Wok On With These English-Language Chinese Recipe Sites

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Every new year that I spend in China, I always set myself the resolution of learning how to cook more Chinese dishes, but it can be tricky to find reliable recipes. Many recipes in Chinese can be a bit vague — How much is a “suitable amount of soy sauce?” — and some recipes in English don’t necessarily give the kind of results that those of us who are used to dining out in China would be looking for. However, there are a few websites that do a great job of covering Chinese cooking in English, offering recipes for everything from basic stir-fries to complex noodles and dim sum. These are a few of our favorites.

The Woks of Life

The Woks of Life (https://thewoksoflife.com) is the online authority I turn to whenever I need a recipe for a Chinese dish. Created by a family of four who split their time between China and the US (parents Bill and Judy used to live in Beijing), the website has a huge index of recipes, whether you are looking for a quick dinner or want to embark on a weekend cooking project. The website also has ingredient guides and glossaries, and even travel guides for Beijing and Shanghai. To date, I’ve never had a recipe from The Woks of Life go wrong (unless it was my own fault, of course).

Recipes to try:

- Homemade chili oil (no need to buy Lao Gan Ma anymore!)

- Hot and sour soup

- Dumplings (I use this recipe and technique for Spring Festival every year)

- Spicy beef noodle soup

Serious Eats

US website Serious Eats (www.seriouseats.com) is a good source for recipes from anywhere in the world, and their Chinese food selection is no different. The recipes are clear and easy to follow, with extensive notes on how or why certain ingredients or techniques are used. Their selection includes “authentic” recipes like lo mai gai (sticky rice steamed in lotus leaf), Sichuan fish-fragrant eggplant, and even lamb chuan’r, as well as Chinese-American style recipes that can make for a fun change to your weekly menu.

Recipes to try:

- Real-deal kung pao chicken

- Cantonese-style lobster with ginger and scallions (fancy but worth it for a special dinner at home)

- Vegan mapo tofu

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Chinese Cooking Demystified (YouTube channel)

This YouTube channel is run by Steph and Chris, a food-obsessed couple living in Shenzhen. Steph and Chris’s video are a great way to get a visual introduction to Chinese cooking techniques (look for their playlist entitled “Want to learn Chinese cooking? Start here.”) and how to make popular dishes like mapo tofu, dandan noodles, and even jianbing. Some of the more advanced recipes are pretty complex and some require specific regional ingredients that can be easily found on Taobao, but they always give alternatives.

Recipes to try:

- Mapo tofu

- How to stir-fry any Chinese vegetable

- Wuhan hot-dry noodles

Madame Huang’s Kitchen

Food writer, academic, and illustrator Carolyn Phillips’s blog Madame Huang’s Kitchen (http://carolynjphillips.blogspot.com) dates back to at least 2010 and there are hundreds of recipes to explore, especially if you are looking for recipes that stray off the beaten path of kung pao chicken and stir-fried egg and tomato. Phillips is extremely knowledgable about regional Chinese cuisine, as her book, All Under Heaven: Recipes from the 35 Cuisines of China, illustrates.

Recipes to try:

- Beijing-style zhajiangmian

- Chinatown almond cookies

- Taiwanese pork chops

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Images: Unsplash, the websites

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