Chinese Stir-fries
Stir-fries are one of the most popular and recognizable Asian dishes around. The hallmarks of this healthy dish are crisp-tender vegetables and a light coating of savory sauce. Many claim that this quick, hot cooking seals in the flavors of the foods, as well as preserving their color and texture.
Fried Rice
Fried rice is a popular component of Chinese cuisine and other forms of Asian cuisine. It is made from cold leftover rice fried with other leftover ingredients. There are dozens of varieties of fried rice, each with their own specific list of ingredients.
In Asia, the more famous varieties include Yangzhou and Fujian fried rice. In the West, the most common form is a basic fried rice, often with some mixture of eggs, scallions, mushrooms and vegetables, with chopped meat (usually pork or chicken, sometimes beef or shrimp) added at the customer's discretion.
Beef with Broccoli
Marinated beef is stir-fried and then mixed with stir-fried vegetables - the whole is covered with a thick brown sauce or gravy that includes oyster sauce. The secret to this recipe is cooking the beef in 1 cup of oil to seal in the juices, and cooking the broccoli in water to make it crisp and tender.
For a more authentic touch, try using Chinese broccoli, which has an appearance and taste similar to asparagus.
Crispy Orange Beef
Similar to Beef with Broccoli, Crispy Orange Beef is deep-fried first to seal in the juices.
Moo Goo Gai Pan
Moo Goo Gai Pan is usually a simple stir-fried dish consisting of sliced or cubed chicken with white button mushrooms and other vegetables. Popular vegetable additions include snow peas, bamboo shoots, water chestnuts and Chinese cabbage.
Moo goo is different from other Chinese take-out chicken dishes in that it eschews the traditional “brown sauce” in favor of a light chicken broth-based sauce flavored with oyster sauce.
Cashew Chicken
Cashew chicken is a simple Chinese-American dish that combines chicken with Chinese pea pods, mushrooms, bamboo shoots, water chestnuts and cashews. The traditional version of cashew chicken is stir-fried in a wok. Tender chunks of chicken are combined with crispy roasted cashews and vegetables, then tossed in a light sauce made from garlic, soy sauce and hoisin sauce.
Kung Pao Chicken
Kung Pao chicken is a classic dish in Sichuan cuisine, originating in the Sichuan Province of central-western China. The dish is named after Ding Baozhen (1820-1886), a late Qing Dynasty official. Born in Guizhou, Ding served as head of the Shandong province and later as governor of the Sichuan province. His title was Gong Bao, or palatial guardian. The name "Kung Pao" chicken is derived from this title.
The dish exists in both traditional Sichuan and Westernized versions; the latter is more popular in the United States and Canada. The Westernized version commonly consists of diced marinated chicken stir-fried with skinless unsalted roasted peanuts, sherry or rice wine, hoisin sauce, soy sauce, sugar and chili peppers.
General Tso's Chicken
General Tso's Chicken commonly consists of dark-meat pieces of chicken that are battered and deep-fried, then coated with a sauce made of hoisin sauce (most recipes do not contain this), ginger, garlic, soy sauce, rice vinegar, Shaoxing wine or sherry, sugar, sesame oil, scallions, and hot chili peppers. Other than the scallion, General Tso's Chicken does not have vegetables added to the chicken.
Besides white rice, General Tso's Chicken is often served with steamed broccoli.
Sweet and Sour Pork
This dish consists of deep frying marinated pork in bite sized pieces, and subsequently stir-fried in a sweet and sour sauce made of pineapple juice, sugar, ketchup, white vinegar, and soy sauce, and additional ingredients including pineapple, bell pepper, and onion. This recipe could also be made with chicken.
Lo Mein
Traditionally lo mein is a dry variation of wonton noodle soup. The soup is simply separated from the noodles and other ingredients, and served on the side. In contrast, U.S. lo mein noodles are usually stir-fried with a sauce made from soy sauce, oyster sauce, and other seasonings. The noodles are stir-fried to just cover the noodles in the sauce, whereas for Chow Mein, the noodles are stir-fried until crispy. Vegetables such as bok choy and cabbage can be mixed in and meats like roast pork, beef or chicken are often added. Shrimp lo mein, lobster lo mein, vegetable lo mein, and "House" lo mein (more than one meat) are sometimes available.
