Classic Chinese Recipes
By Rhonda Parkinson, About.com Guide
- Traditional Chinese Holiday Food and Festival Overview
- Food in Chinese Culture
- Regional Chinese Cuisines
Dim Sum
The trolleys may be gone for the most part, but dim sum is still a great way to sample a varied assortment of sweet and savory snacks. Without a doubt, the best dim sum in the world is found in Hong Kong, with thousands of dim sum restaurants, some that still deliver dim sum using the traditional cart system.
- Char Siu Bao (Steamed Buns With Barbecued Pork)
- Spring Rolls
- Pearl Balls
- Potstickers - a basic recipe, with instructions on making the dough
- Potstickers With Prawn and Cilantro
- Vegetarian Potstickers
- Potsticker Dipping Sauce
- How to Make Hot Chili Oil (Photo Tutorial)
- How to Fill and Fold Wonton Wrappers (Photo Tutorial)
- How to Make Shrimp Wontons (Video Recipe)
- Shu Mai Dumplings With Pork and Shrimp
- Eggplant Shu Mai
- Shrimp Toast
- Cocktail Buns (Coconut Buns)
- Egg Custard Tarts
- Mango Pudding
- How to Use Chopsticks (Video)
- Vegetarian Dim Sum and Party Recipes
Popular Chinese Restaurant Dishes
While some of these dishes wouldn't be found at a Chinese restaurant in, say, Shanghai, all are classics in that they have become staples at Chinese restaurants and take-outs throughout North America.
- Spring Rolls
- Egg Rolls
- Egg Drop Soup
- Won Ton Soup
- Beef With Broccoli
- Chicken Chop Suey
- Ginger Beef
- Kung Pao Chicken
- Lobster Cantonese
- Mongolian Beef
- Moo Goo Gai Pan
- Pork Chop Suey
- Sesame Chicken
- Shrimp With Lobster Sauce (Take-out Style, with white sauce)
- Sweet and Sour Pork
- Chinese Green Beans (Szechuan Green Beans)
- Chicken Fried Rice
- Yangchow Fried Rice (Special Fried Rice)
- Zodiac Noodles (P.F. Chang's)
- Fortune Cookies: Make Your Own
Classic Vegetarian Recipes
In China, the practice of not eating meat dates back to to ancient times. And just as Chinese cuisine as a whole is famous for its range and diversity, the Chinese vegetarian diet consists of much more than tofu.
- Vegetarian Cabbage Rolls
- Vegetarian Sweet and Sour "Spareribs" (With Walnuts)
- Vegetarian Bean Curd Rolls
- Vegetarian Eight Treasures
More Advanced Chinese Recipes
These dishes take a little longer, but are worth the extra preparation time.
- Basic Chicken Velvet
- Chicken Velvet
- Homemade Chicken Stock
- Hot and Sour Soup
- Salty Soybean Milk Soup
- Chinese Cucumber Salad (Szechuan)
- Mu Shu Pork
- Cantonese Roast Duck
- Tea Smoked Duck
- Soy Sauce Chicken
- Red Cooked Pork With Beer
- Hand Pulled Noodles
- Shrimp Toast
- Thousand Corner Shrimp Balls
- Yuanxiao Dumplings
- Sesame Seed Balls
- Sesame Seed Fried Custard
- Sweet Black Sesame Soup (Sesame Tong Shui)
- Dofu Fa
- Deep-fried Salt and Pepper Shrimp
Traditional Chinese Holiday Food and Festival Overview
Food takes centre stage at Chinese celebrations - many traditional holidays have their own special "lucky" foods and dishes with symbolic significance.
- Food and Chinese Culture
- From Fish to Fowl - Top Symbolic Chinese Foods
- Symbolic Chinese New Year Recipes
- Jiaozi Dumplings
- Eight Precious Pudding
- Mongolian Hotpot
- Mooncakes
- New Year Turnip Cake
- New Year Sticky Cake (Nian Gao)
- Easy Baked Nian Gao (Photo Instructions)
- Chinese New Year Menu Ideas
- Chinese Valentine's Day
- Dragon Boat Festival
- Mid-Autumn Mooncake Festival
- Traditional Chinese Holiday Calendar 2007
- Traditional Chinese Holiday Calendar 2008
Food in Chinese Culture
It's hard to exaggerate the role food plays in Chinese society - people frequently greet each other by asking have you eaten yet? Not surprisingly, the Chinese diet is influenced by philosophical principles such as yin and yang and the Five Elements Theory.
- The Five Elements Theory
- Five Spice Powder and the Five Elements Theory
- A Matter of Taste - Are There Four Tastes or Five?
- Yin and Yang in Chinese Cooking
- Food and Feng Shui
Regional Chinese Cuisines
While people outside of China often think of Chinese cooking as being one cuisine, there are numerous regional variations.