Looking to recreate childhood flavors or restaurant favorites? Discover authentic Chinese recipes from traditional street foods to must-have holiday dishes.
Chinese steamed buns, or mantou (馒头), are a staple food in China. Mantou usually refers to plain steamed buns while filled buns are called baozi (包子). Flower rolls (花卷) are like an intermediate since they have filling, but it’s sealed on the inside. Check out my recipe for scallion or sweet sesame flower rolls! This…
Soft scallion flatbread is an easy weeknight version of scallion oil pancakes. It’s softer, making it perfect for using as a wrap the next day (and it won’t drop crumbs everywhere!), uses less oil, making it simpler and healthier, and can be made with leftover dumpling/flatbread dough (such as from my Chive, Egg, and Mushroom…
These chive, egg, and mushroom pockets are my version of Chinese chive pockets (or boxes, the literal translation of their name). Chinese chives, aka garlic chives, have a pungent flavor that their name only partly captures. It can come off as too strong to people who haven’t used it before, but to me, it smells…
Despite being called “wine”, jiuniang contains little alcohol (less than 3%) and gets its name from the unique fermented aroma. It’s sweet without adding sugar, and when chilled it tastes like a dessert soup or pudding (see below on ways to serve it!). The flavor is quite distinct, so you’ll have to try it yourself…
Zongzi are a staple during the Dragon Boat Festival, held on the 5th of the 5th lunar month every year. The history of the holiday is interesting and you can read more about it here, but here’s a summary of the most popular story: after some political issues, the poet Qu Yuan drowned himself in…
Noodles are great, but they’re even better when they’re colorful. These carrot noodles have a very mild carrot flavor when cooked, so if you wanted to highlight it in a light broth, it’ll be there, but if you wanted to add heavier seasonings, the carrot flavor won’t interfere. Homemade noodles are time-consuming, but much of…
Homemade dumpling wrappers are so easy to make and taste so much better! Plus, fresh wrappers are much easier to work with—you can fill them way fuller without worrying about them cracking! Ingredients Rolling Dumpling Wrappers Dumpling wrappers should be thick in the center and thin around the edges so that the pleats are not…
Everyone’s heard of green eggs and ham, but green garlic? Green garlic does exist and the color is all natural! Laba garlic is garlic pickled in rice vinegar and it turns green-blue from chemical reactions that occur during the pickling process. Made on the 8th (ba, 八) day of the 12th month (la, 腊) of…
Chinese flower rolls are steamed buns layered with filling, usually scallions for savory buns and sesame paste for sweet buns. Their intricate shape makes them look complicated, but flower rolls are quite simple to make. These are a flavorful spin on plain steamed buns, or mantou (馒头) and can be eaten at any meal or…