Top Tips For Making Tasty Chinese Food At Home

Chinese recipes are simple and delicious, making them an excellent choice for those nights when your family is in a hurry but still wants to have a hot, tasty meal. You just need a few simple tools to begin making Chinese recipes at home, including your favorite restaurant specialties. All you need to cook basic Chinese recipes is a wok and a bamboo steamer. You may also want to invest in a small slotted wok spoon, which is almost like a spatula, but made specifically for use with a wok. You may also want to have a very sharp knife, or a cleaver, on hand.

Many basic Chinese recipes call for finely diced meats and vegetables, making a sharp knife a necessary tool for Chinese cooking. Chinese recipes often call for the use of a bamboo steamer, which can be picked up inexpensively in a local shop or ordered online. There are several tricks that will help you make your Chinese food healthy and delicious using your steamer, which should be used over a wok or large pot of boiling water.

 First, you will want to make sure that the water you are using is boiling, and producing steam before you add the food to the steamer. This will keep the food flavorful and fresh, rather than damp and falling apart. You should also make sure that you have enough water in your wok to cook the dish without adding more water, so that the water is producing steam throughout the cooking time for the dish.

Chinese cooking will become easier with practice, but until you are an expert, you will have to experiment a little. You may also want to buy some basic Chinese ingredients, such as soy sauce, oyster sauce, sesame oil, cornflour and ginger. Having the basics on hand will allow you to quickly cook your favorite Chinese recipes without having to make a special trip to the supermarket to pick up supplies.

 You can always review your favorite Chinese recipes before your next trip to the supermarket, and pick the items that you will need later for cooking them. Some items, such as ginger, will keep for quite some time as long as you keep it refrigerated, while other items should always be fresh. After you have spent some time experimenting with Chinese cooking, you and your family will know which Chinese recipes you like best, so you can stock up on the ingredients you need with less guessing.

 You can find many different Chinese recipes using an online search engine, which will also allow you to learn more about Chinese food and how to prepare them. Many of the most popular Chinese recipes are easy to find online, such as Kung Pao chicken, Chinese steamed fish, fried rice or sweet and sour pork. Finding several Chinese recipes online will also allow you to prepare your tools and pantry for making your favorite Chinese food at home. Many different websites will offer you a comprehensive list of the things you need to get started.

No trip to China would be complete without getting a real taste of the wealth of foods on offer. Chinese food is famous all around the world, and not without reason. If you're visiting China you'll get the opportunity to try one of the world's most famous cuisines in its traditional way and no one could argue with the fact that it's also the best way. If you're wondering what to expect from traditional Chinese food then forget what you've experienced in your own country.

The real food of China is so much better that foreign imitations pale in comparison. Many Western dishes have been tailored to meet the available ingredients, or in some cases the true essence of the recipe has been lost over numerous years and translations. Whilst sweet and sour is a popular dish in the West, many Chinese chefs wouldn't even dream of cooking it. Whilst sweet and sour still exists in China it's nothing like the sweet and sour that we experience in Western restaurants.

 China has a very long history rich with tradition. It is this tradition and history which has given China such a wonderfully rich and diverse cuisine. Whilst civilization in China started at least 7000 years ago records do not date back this far, but what archaeology has shown is that food has always had a central role in the lives of Chinese people. Whilst the food lacked the sophistication of today's cooking there was already a deep consideration for healthy eating.

 The Chinese Dynasties saw a huge range of ideas develop alongside an increasing variety of foods. Trade allowed for many more ingredients to be used and the wealth that such trade led to also gave chefs a chance to develop their skills and make money doing so. The best chefs competed with each other for royal approval, hoping to be appointed as royal chefs. The best dishes created by the chefs combined fine food and health benefits for which they received rich rewards.

 Those dishes which became most popular became food that the wealthiest across China dined upon. Over time lodges in which travelers stayed became more and more akin to modern-day restaurants and these made the foods which were originally the preserve of the royal and wealthy Chinese available to all. Thanks to modern transportation regional specialties are available all across China, giving an even greater variety of flavors from the vast Chinese country.

Chinese food is not only famous for its flavor but also its names. With dishes such as "Phoenix and Dragon" or "Ants Climbing on Trees" much fun can be had in discovering the legends behind the names over a good meal. One difficulty many foreigners have with ordering Chinese food is the language barrier. Chinese menus are written in Chinese characters - a notoriously difficult language which takes a long time to learn. If you have Chinese friends it's worth asking them to translate, but otherwise you can simply point at what other diners are eating and try food in that way.

Chinese food is a great way to expand your personal recipe book, particularly if you love to use simple, fresh ingredients with short cooking time. These top ten dishes are favorites around the world, and are must-haves in your collection of Chinese recipes.

 Fried Rice - A must have dish in Chinese restaurants, fried rice is the ultimate Chinese food, and can be one of the most flexible in your cookbook because you can use leftover rice and ingredients to make it. Of course, you can use fresh ingredients but it’s recommended to use rice that has been kept in the fridge overnight for best results. Ingredients usually involved in making fried rice are eggs, spring onions, diced meat of either chicken, pork or beef, ham, shrimps and vegetables such as bean sprouts, peas, celery, corn and carrots. There are many varieties of fried rice but the more well-known ones are the Yongchow and Fukien fried rice.

 Kung Pao Chicken - Kung Pao chicken or Kung Po chicken is a Chinese dish from Sichuan cuisine and is considered to be a delicacy. The recipe for this mouth watering dish commonly calls for diced chicken that is pre-seasoned and quickly stir-fried with unsalted roasted peanuts, red bell peppers, sherry or rice wine, hoisin sauce, sesame oil, oyster sauce, and chili peppers. Alternatively, you can use pork, beef, shrimp or scallops in place of the chicken.

 Moo Shu Pork - This is a dish of northern Chinese origin and a favorite of many. Ingredients in a Mushu pork recipe usually include green cabbage, scrambled eggs, carrots, day lily buds, wood ear mushrooms, scallions, and bean sprouts. Bok choy, bell peppers, celery, Shiitake mushrooms, snow pea pods and onions are sometimes used. The vegetables are cut into long and thin strips before cooking, with the exception for day lily buds and bean sprouts. Fried Mushu pork is then wrapped in moo shu pancakes that is brushed with hoisin sauce and eaten by hand. Moo shu pancakes are thin wrappers made of flour that is easily available in supermarkets and steamed right before eating.

 Sesame Chicken - Sesame chicken or sesame seed chicken is a Chinese dish originated from Hunan and is very similar to General Tso's chicken. Its recipe calls for chicken pieces that are boned and battered, and then deep fried. It is then dressed with sauce made from chicken broth, Chinese vinegar or wine, cornstarch solution and sugar. Finally, top it off with toasted sesame seed generously on the dish and serve hot with white rice.

 Egg Rolls - Egg rolls are one of the widely loved Chinese foods, and for good reason. This delicious roll is made by wrapping a combination of chopped cabbage and meats and sometimes noodles in a sheet of dough. It is then dipped in egg and deep fried to perfection. Egg rolls have more filling and hence larger in size than its cousin spring roll. Its skin is crunchier and thicker.

 Fortune Cookies - Chinese cooking would simply not be complete without the addition of a recipe for fortune cookies. All you need to make these cookies are some sugar, flour, eggs and vanilla extract, making them a simple way to add some fun to your home cooked

Chinese meal. Beef and Broccoli - The key to producing a delicious Beef and Broccoli dish at home is to make an excellent sauce made up of thick soy sauce, light soy sauce, oyster sauce and cornstarch. Marinade the beef before stir frying with rice vinegar, sugar, soy sauce and cornstarch solution. 

Sweet and Sour Pork - This savory-sweet highly popular Chinese dish is of Cantonese origin. It is a good dish to prepare when you are planning on having guests, who will be wildly impressed with your cooking skill. As with other Chinese food recipes, the key to making a great Sweet and Sour Pork dish is in the sauce made of sugar, ketchup, white vinegar, and soy sauce. Its ingredients include pork, pineapple, bell pepper and onion chopped into bite size pieces.

 Mapo Dofu - Mapo doufu or Mapo tofu is a well-known Chinese dish from the Sichuan province. Ingredients used for this recipe include tofu or beancurd, and minced pork or beef cooked in a bright red spicy sauce based on chili.

 Chop Suey - Chop suey or za sui or shap sui literally means mixed pieces’ is an American-Chinese dish usually employs leftover meats and vegetables stir fried quickly in a starch-thickened sauce. It is a great dish when you need to use up the last of yesterday’s chicken or pork roast and can incorporate meats of any kind such as fish, chicken, shrimp, pork or beef and various vegetables from celery to bean sprouts and cabbage. Chop Suey is often eaten with rice.