All Posts
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Below, view all our posts in chronological order, starting with the most recent. To browse recipes by category, course, or collection, visit our Recipe Index. Also be sure to check out our How-To section and Chinese Ingredients Glossary.
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Oyster Sauce
Posted:View Post: Oyster SauceOyster sauce can be found in a variety of Chinese and Asian recipes, including many of the recipes on this site. It’s also included in our list of 10 Essential Chinese Pantry Ingredients, for good reason. A sauce made from…
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Judy and Bill’s Kitchen Tips for Smart Cooking, Maintenance & Reducing Waste
Updated:View Post: Judy and Bill’s Kitchen Tips for Smart Cooking, Maintenance & Reducing WasteHi everyone! We’re coming at you with not a recipe, but a quick article gathering some thoughts and kitchen tips / wisdom from the parental half of The Woks of Life. Here are some key lessons that Bill and Judy…
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Baked Sesame Chicken
Updated:View Post: Baked Sesame ChickenThis baked sesame chicken recipe yields deliciously crispy, juicy, and flavorful chicken—without the need for deep-frying! We toss it in a slightly sweet, savory sauce that tastes just like restaurant-style sesame chicken. NOTE: This recipe was originally published on October…
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Pan-fried Wontons
Posted:View Post: Pan-fried WontonsToday we’re talking about how to make pan-fried wontons. Because while wontons are primarily meant to be used in soups, you can also pan-fry them—if you would rather have some crispy potsticker-y vibes! The method is the same as pan-frying…
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A Little of This, A Little of That
Updated:View Post: A Little of This, A Little of ThatHi everyone, this is an essay that I wrote for our cookbook, The Woks of Life: Recipes to Know and Love from a Chinese American Family, now available wherever books are sold. (If you haven’t already, grab a copy! It…
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Vegetable Chow Mein
Posted:View Post: Vegetable Chow MeinThis Vegetable Chow Mein recipe is a truly delicious meatless option for all you vegetarians out there. It’s also a light and satisfying side dish or meal for anyone looking for a veggie-forward Chinese noodle recipe. While many recipes on…
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Beef with Bamboo Shoots & Peppers
Posted:View Post: Beef with Bamboo Shoots & PeppersThis stir-fry of beef with bamboo shoots & peppers was inspired by a favorite dish we used to eat at a restaurant that we frequented a lot as a family in my childhood. It’s savory, tasty, and quick to make—delicious…
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How to Revive a Rusty Wok
Updated:View Post: How to Revive a Rusty WokDid you buy a carbon steel wok years ago and promptly forget about it? If it’s rusty or otherwise a little worse for wear, don’t worry. In this post, we’re talking about how to clean and re-season a rusty wok…
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Bok Choy Stir-fry
Updated:View Post: Bok Choy Stir-fryWe all need a go-to green vegetable side dish to go with any main course, and this bok choy stir-fry recipe is a great candidate. Today, we’re sharing restaurant tips and tricks to make a delicious and simple bok choy…
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Crispy Tang Yuan (In an Air Fryer)
Posted:View Post: Crispy Tang Yuan (In an Air Fryer)As the Lantern Festival, known in Chinese as Yuánxiāo jié (元宵节), approaches, it’s time to start thinking about eating yuanxiao or tang yuan. These are glutinous rice balls stuffed with various fillings. This air-fryer tang yuan recipe takes frozen sweet…
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Chinese Lantern Festival (Yuanxiao Jie – 元宵节)
Updated:View Post: Chinese Lantern Festival (Yuanxiao Jie – 元宵节)The Chinese Lantern festival, or yuánxiāo jié (元宵节) falls on the 15th day of the first lunar month. It comes two weeks after Chinese New Year’s Day, which the first day of the 15-day Spring Festival celebration period. It marks…
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Chinese Zodiac Compatibility Guide
Updated:View Post: Chinese Zodiac Compatibility GuideToday, we’re sharing our (very informal) guide to Chinese zodiac compatibility! If you grew up in a Chinese family, chances are that over the years you’ve had parents and relatives drop cryptic hints about your zodiac animal sign, whether it’s…
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Braised Pork Chops, Shanghai-style (葱烤排骨)
Posted:View Post: Braised Pork Chops, Shanghai-style (葱烤排骨)Braised Pork Chops Shanghai-style, 葱烤排骨 (cōng kǎo páigǔ), are one of the pinnacles of Shanghainese home cooking. Pork chops are pounded, dredged in egg, briefly shallow-fried, and then braised in a sweet soy sauce with a generous bunch of scallions.…
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Steak Stir Fry (Chow Steak Kow)
Posted:View Post: Steak Stir Fry (Chow Steak Kow)Steak Stir Fry, or Chow Steak Kow, as we used to call it at my parents’ restaurant, is not your standard beef stir-fry. Tender, rich ribeye or sirloin steak bites are cooked in a soy garlic sauce—with some American touches!—and…
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Mushroom Noodle Soup
Posted:View Post: Mushroom Noodle SoupThis vegan mushroom noodle soup is made with three kinds of mushrooms to make the most deliciously potent broth. It was inspired by a dish known as “double mushroom soup” (shuāng gū miàn, 双菇面) that I first tried in a…
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Walnut Shrimp
Posted:View Post: Walnut ShrimpWalnut shrimp, also sometimes known as Honey Walnut Shrimp, is one of those recipes that goes a long way back for me. It probably goes way back for any Cantonese kid growing up near a Chinatown! It’s appears at most…
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Party Hosting Tips from a Chinese Mom (& How to Be a Good Guest)
Posted:View Post: Party Hosting Tips from a Chinese Mom (& How to Be a Good Guest)With Chinese New Year gatherings coming up, you may find yourself either hosting a dinner or invited to a gathering. Today, we’re going to talk about party hosting tips from a Chinese mom’s perspective. We’ll also talk about how to…
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Lobster Noodles (Yee Mein / E-Fu Noodles)
Posted:View Post: Lobster Noodles (Yee Mein / E-Fu Noodles)Lobster Yee Mein (or yi mein), pronounced lóng xiā yī miàn in Mandarin or loong ha yee meen in Cantonese (龙虾伊面), is a dish combining long life noodles, or yi mein, (also call e fu noodles) and Cantonese-style lobster. It’s…
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We’re Sarah, Kaitlin, Judy, and Bill– a family of four cooks sharing our home-cooked and restaurant-style recipes.
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