Everyone loves a picnic. Here are my favorite Chinese recipes that are perfect for a picnic. As always, feel free to adjust the menu, adding or subtracting items according to your own taste.
1. Egg Rolls
Rhonda Parkinson
These are the thicker rolls you'll often find in American Chinese restaurants, filled with pork, mung bean sprouts and other vegetables, seasoned with oyster sauce. The recipe includes instructions for preparing fresh pork, or you can use barbecued pork from the Asian market.
Recipe: Egg Rolls
2. Honey Garlic Pork/Spareribs
Rhonda Parkinson
The ribs are marinated in a sweet and spicy combination of honey, hoisin sauce, oyster sauce, soy sauce and crushed garlic, and then glazed with honey during baking.
Recipe: Honey Garlic Spareribs
3. Baked Hoisin Chicken Wings
These are delicious - chicken wings are coated in a spicy mixture with hoisin sauce and baked. And the recipe is very easy to follow - my teenaged son, who is an on and off cook, made the wings on his own the first time without any help.Recipe: Baked Hoisin Chicken Wings
4. Char Siu Bao (Chinese Steamed Pork Buns)
Rhonda Parkinson
Who can't resist these doughy steamed buns filled with mouthwatering barbecued pork?
Recipe: Char Siu Bao
5. Chinese Potato Salad
Chinese seasonings and bok choy make this fusion recipe a flavorful alternative to standard potato salad. A reader suggests using the rice vinegar dressing with lightly sauteed mixed greens.6. Hot Chicken Salad (Bang Bang Ji, Bang Bang Chicken)
This recipe comes from western Chinese province of Szechuan, where cooks have learned to beat the heat with highly spiced dishes. The recipe calls for leftover cooked chicken - in case you don't have any on hand, I've included instructions for poaching a chicken breast.Recipe: Hot Chicken Salad
7. Fried Rice
Rhonda Parkinson
This basic recipe is so easy to make and full of flavor! It makes a nice alternative to steamed rice as a side dish.
Recipe: Fried Rice
Photo Instructions showing how to make fried rice
8. Almond Float
This refreshing dessert can be made with canned or fresh fruit in season.Recipe: Almond Float
