Recipes from China
Chinese cooking respects the wok and the clock — high heat for a fast stir-fry, slow simmer for a stew, oil bloomed with garlic and Sichuan pepper before anything else hits the pan.
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Kung Pao Chicken
Chinese chicken with peanuts and chilli — sweet-spicy, ready in 25 min.
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Sweet and Sour Chicken
Sweet and sour chicken as it exists outside China is largely a Cantonese export, shaped by the diaspora restaurants of the mid-twentieth century.
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Mapo Tofu
Mapo tofu is an emblematic dish of Sichuan cuisine — silken tofu cubes cooked in an intense red sauce of fermented bean paste (doubanjiang), chili oil, and…
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Yangzhou Fried Rice
Yangzhou fried rice — cold day-old rice tossed with egg, char siu, shrimp and peas over high heat. Ready in 25 min.
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Lo Mein
Lo mein — springy egg noodles tossed with chicken, crisp vegetables and a savoury soy-oyster sauce. Ready in 25 min.
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Wonton Soup
Wonton soup — delicate pork-and-shrimp dumplings in a clear, savoury broth with bok choy. Ready in 40 min.
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General Tso's Chicken
General Tso's chicken — twice-fried chicken in a glossy sweet-and-sour glaze with dried chillies. Ready in 45 min.
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Char Siu
Char siu — oven-roasted Chinese barbecue pork glazed with hoisin, honey and five-spice, with caramelised edges. Ready in 60 min (plus marinating).
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Hot and Sour Soup
Hot and sour soup — tofu, mushrooms and egg ribbons in a black-vinegar broth with plenty of white pepper. Ready in 35 min.
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Cantonese Roast Duck
Cantonese roast duck — crackling maltose-glazed skin over five-spice-scented meat. Home-oven method (plus overnight drying).
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Jiaozi
Chinese pork and cabbage dumplings, pleated at the edge, boiled or pan-fried guo tie, with a dipping sauce.
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Xiaolongbao
Shanghai soup-filled dumplings with at least 18 pleats, steamed and served scalding hot.
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Dan Dan Noodles
Noodles topped with dry-fried meat and a spicy sesame-chili sauce, mixed together at the table.
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Beef and Broccoli
Thinly sliced beef with crisp broccoli in a glossy soy-oyster sauce.
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Egg Tarts
Tarts with crisp puff pastry and smooth egg custard, baked until the center stays slightly wobbly.
Flavours of China
The cuisine of China is built on rice, soy, ginger, sesame and umami-rich broths. The 15 recipes gathered on this page lean on those everyday building blocks, so you can bring an authentic taste of China to your own kitchen without hunting down hard-to-find ingredients or specialist equipment. Each one keeps the techniques approachable while staying true to the way the dish is traditionally made.
What you can cook here
Browse dishes such as Kung Pao Chicken, Sweet and Sour Chicken, Mapo Tofu, Yangzhou Fried Rice. Each recipe opens with a complete, measured ingredient list, then walks you through the method one clear step at a time, with cooking times and per-serving nutrition so you always know exactly what is on the plate. Whether you want a quick midweek dinner or a dish to linger over at the weekend, there is something here worth cooking next.
Add China to your week
Every recipe here is portioned for a household and slots neatly into a balanced week — light enough for a busy weeknight, generous enough for a relaxed weekend cook-up. Pick a few favourites from China, add them to your free weekly meal plan, and we will fold every ingredient into one organised shopping list so the cooking is the only part left to do.