Chinese Cuisine

EasyChinese

Onion Egg Pancakes

Little egg pancakes cooked inside their own onion rings — the onion works twice. The widest rings from two onions are kept whole as edible molds; the rest is soaked for 2 minutes in cold salted water (so it chops without tears), diced fine and mixed with six beaten eggs, ham, carrot, green onions and 2–3 tablespoons of flour. The rings fry alone for 2–3 minutes, get filled with the mixture, then cook covered on low heat for about 5 minutes before flipping, so the egg sets tender inside a golden crust. Serves 3.

27 min3 servings

EasyChinese

Golden Fried Rice with Pork Belly & Crispy Garlic Chips

Golden pork fried rice gets its color before it ever hits the wok: three egg yolks are whisked and stirred through cold cooked rice until every grain wears a thin gold coat — the technique old Chinese cooks called "gold wrap silver" — then fried on full heat until the coat turns dry and each grain falls separate. Underneath it: crispy garlic chips whose oil becomes the cooking fat, the whites scrambled into bouncy pieces (never into the rice — they turn it gummy), smoked pork belly, and soy poured around the hot rim of the wok for a caramel edge. About 15 minutes at the stove once the rice is cold. Serves 3.

30 min3 servings

EasyChinese

Egg Fried Rice

Restaurant-style egg fried rice is about removing water at every step: cook the rice with equal parts water (1 cup per 1 cup of rice), fluff it and let the steam out, drain the watery egg white through a sieve, fry the eggs first, then the rice in one thin layer on a blazing-hot pan, and run the soy sauce around the hot edge. When the rice starts to crackle, the last moisture is gone — it's frying, not steaming. About 35 minutes with the rice, serves 2.

35 min2 servings

EasyChinese

Beef and Onion Stir-Fry

Tender beef and onion stir-fry starts with a baking-soda treatment, not a soda-spiked marinade: dissolve 1 tsp baking soda in 3 tbsp water, work it into 500 g of thick-sliced beef, rest 30 minutes, then rinse it out completely — that rinse is what prevents the metallic aftertaste. The beef then takes a glossy soy–oyster–cornstarch marinade and a hard sear with golden onions, scallions and garlic. A splash of plain water in the hot pan turns the cornstarch into a light glossy sauce. About an hour start to finish, serves 4.

60 min4 servings

MediumChinese

Tender Chinese Beef Stir-Fry

Tender Chinese beef stir-fry uses the restaurant velveting trick: slice lean beef across the grain, mix it with just under 1 tsp baking soda, ice water, salt, sugar, egg white and 2 tbsp cornstarch, rest 15 minutes, then stir-fry over high heat with onion, bell pepper and a glossy sriracha-soy-garlic glaze. Piled over crisp puffed rice noodles, the beef comes out silky, juicy and glistening in about 35 minutes. Serves 4.

35 min4 servings