Recipe Station

In that little hole in the wall Chinese food restaurant in Chinatown my picky, then four year old, became addicted to soup dumplings! When my mother visited she was shocked to see our mac-n-cheese-eating-kid finishing off her own bamboo steamer of pork dumplings! So of course that’s number one on the list.

Chinese Soup Dumplings

Ingredients

Wrapper

• 2 cups flour
• 1 cup cold water

Meat Jelly

• 1/4 pound pork rind
• 4 slices of ginger
• 3 green onions
• 1 tablespoon cooking wine
• Water as needed

Pork Filling

• 1 pound ground pork
• 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
• 2 tablespoons light soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon minced ginger
• 1 tablespoon minced green onion
• 1 teaspoon sugar

For instructions visit: China Sichuan Food

For my daughter the dumpling connoisseur I had to find a traditional recipe, which means a little extra work and ordering a bamboo steamer online, but you could also use a vegetable steam basket in large pot. This recipe calls for raw pork rinds (skin) that was actually easy to find at my local meat department but since I don’t have a pressure cooker I had to cook the rinds in my slow cooker on low the day before but it was SO worth it.

For my husband I had to find the best Orange Chicken recipe! He had one request, don’t mess with it and by trying to make it healthy. So here is a delicious fried version.

Chinese Orange Chicken

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch chunks
• 1 cup 2 tablespoons cornstarch, divided
• 2 large eggs, beaten
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 teaspoon sesame seeds
• 1 green onion, thinly sliced

For The Marinade

• 1 cup chicken broth

• 1/2 cup freshly squeezed orange juice

• 1/2 cup sugar

• 1/3 cup distilled white vinegar

• 1/4 cup soy sauce

• 2 cloves garlic, minced

• 1 tablespoon orange zest

• 1 teaspoon Sriracha, or more, to taste

• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

• 1/4 teaspoon white pepper

For Instructions visit: Damn Delicious

No Chinese food meal would be complete without a plate of fried rice. This recipe is nice and easy, great for a weeknight meal. It calls for cooked chicken, but I have made it with shrimp, beef and pork, whatever protein I have on hand to make it a complete meal, or I leave the protein out and serve it as a side to the orange chicken!

Better Than Take-Out Chicken Fried Rice

Ingredients

3 cups rice, prepared
1/2 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cooked
1 cup peas & carrots, frozen
1 white onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 eggs
3 tablespoons sesame oil
1/4 cup soy sauce

For instructions visit: Rachel Schultz

For me Broccoli Beef is the best Chinese stir fry and since my daughter’s favorite is a little labor intensive I searched for a delicious easy, slow cooker recipe to re-create my favorite!

Slow Cooker Broccoli Beef

• 1.5 pounds flank steak, thinly sliced and chopped into 2 inch pieces

• 1 cup beef broth

• ⅔ cup low sodium soy sauce

• ⅓ cup brown sugar

• 1 tablespoon sesame oil

• 1 tablespoon minced garlic

• ¼ teaspoon red chili flakes (optional)

• 4 cups broccoli florets

• 2 tablespoons corn starch + 4 tablespoons cold water

For instructions visit: Creme de la Crumb

So we have sweet and savory covered but you gotta have a little spice! Probably one of the most popular Chinese dishes, Kung Pao Chicken is another of my husband’s favorites and since he didn't make any special requests about making it a tad healthier this amazing recipe is baked!

Baked Kung Pao Chicken

• 3-4 chicken breasts, cut into bite sized pieces
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1½ cup cornstarch
• 3 eggs, beaten
• ¼ cup canola oil
• ¼ cup soy sauce
• ¼ cup vinegar
• 1 tablespoon red chili paste (like Sriracha)
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• ¼ cup brown sugar
• ½ tablespoon cornstarch
• 1 red pepper, chopped
• ¼ cup peanuts
• green onions, chopped for garnish

For instructions visit: Oh Sweet Basil

One of the many reasons I love making Chinese food is that it tastes even better the second day.

Sometimes if I know we have an especially busy week, I will make a big meal on Sunday, cook the Broccoli Beef all day in the slow cooker, and the Orange Chicken and Fried Rice right before it’s time to eat and we’ll sit down for a nice shared meal, but instead of over indulging like we did on those Sundays in New York, I’ll pack the leftovers up and move them to the fridge. Chinese food is the one type of leftover my family never complains about eating!

Now when it comes to the dumplings there are never any leftover! And since they require a little more love to prepare I try and save them for special occasions. I enjoy surprising my daughter with them!

So the next time you have a craving for Chinese instead of ordering take-out or delivery try one of these incredible recipes.

You won’t be disappointed!