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Famous Chinese Dishes

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

Fried Rice - A popular item 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, scallions, diced meat of either chicken, pork or beef, ham, prawns and vegetables such as bean sprouts, peas, celery, corn and carrots. There are many varieties of fried rice but the more famous ones are the Yongchow and Fujian fried rice.

Kung Pao Chicken - Kung Pao chicken or Kung Po chicken is a Chinese dish from Szechuan cooking and is considered to be a delicacy. The recipe for this irresistible dish commonly calls for diced chicken that is pre-marinated and quickly stir-fried with red sweet peppers, hoisin sauce, sesame oil, oyster sauce, rice wine or sherry, chilli peppers and unsalted roasted peanuts. Alternatively, you can use pork, beef, prawn 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 Moo Shi pork recipe often include green cabbage, bean sprouts, scallions, wood ear mushrooms, day lily buds, carrots and scrambled eggs. Shiitake mushrooms, bok choy, snow pea pods, bell peppers, onions, and celery 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 Moo Shi 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.

General Tso’s Chicken - General Tso's chicken is a Hunan cuisine that tastes spicy and sweet and highly popular in Chinese restaurants in Canada and America where it’s often marked as a “chef’s specialty”. General Tso's Chicken recipe commonly calls for battered chicken deep-fried and marinated with ginger, garlic, rice vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, Shaoxing wine or sherry, sugar, scallions, and hot chili peppers.

Spring Rolls - Spring rolls make fabulous snacks and appetizers. They are similar to egg rolls, but are slightly different to its cousin. Springs rolls are have thinner skin, less filling and therefore smaller than egg rolls. To make a spring roll, chopped meat and thinly cut strips of vegetables are wrapped and sealed in a circular or square rice paper. It is then deep fried till crispy and golden brown. Serve this crowd pleaser piping hot.

Chinese Dumplings - Chinese dumplings make a fabulous addition to your home cooked foods, and can be made simply and quickly using just a couple of ingredients. The key to making an excellent dumpling is to ensure that all of your ingredients are finely chopped, so that each of the dumplings cooks in the same amount of time.

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

Sweet and Sour Pork - This savory-sweet famous 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 ketchup, sugar, soy sauce and white vinegar. Its ingredients include pork, onion, bell pepper and pineapple chopped into bite size pieces.

Mapo Dofu - Mapo doufu or Mapo tofu is a well-known Chinese dish from the Szechuan 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.

Egg Fu Yong - Egg foo young, also spelled egg foo yong, egg fooyung, egg fu yung, or egg furong is an hearty American Chinese dish. It’s basically an omelette prepared with eggs beaten with minced meat or vegetables. Lobster, beef, chicken, shrimp, Chinese sausage, ham or roast pork may be used as meat while celery, water chestnuts and bean sprouts for vegetables.