All Posts
by date
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.
-
Shanghai Cai Fan (Rice with Salted Pork and Greens)
Updated:View Post: Shanghai Cai Fan (Rice with Salted Pork and Greens)Here is another familiar comfort food from Shanghai. As far as Shanghainese cuisine is concerned, this dish is as relevant as Hong Shao Rou (Red Cooked Pork) or Shanghai Soup Dumplings. My grandma used to make this dish with a big…
-
Spicy Griddled Tofu “Steaks”
Updated:View Post: Spicy Griddled Tofu “Steaks”This dish is inspired by street food we found during our trip to Xi’an. It was “tieban dofu,” or griddled tofu, using Xinjiang spices like cumin and chili. It’s tasty, healthy, and vegan! But the good news with this dish…
-
Curry Crab
Updated:View Post: Curry CrabOk, so we acknowledge that crab isn’t the easiest critter to prepare. But Curry Crab is such a delicious and tasty dish…you just have to try it if you haven’t before! We always manage to prepare a few dishes during crab season,…
-
Lemon Manchego Toasts with Green Olive Tapenade
Updated:View Post: Lemon Manchego Toasts with Green Olive TapenadeHere’s an easy vegetarian party appetizer idea for ya’ll. Lemon Manchego Toasts with Green Olive Tapenade. Deceptively easy, and really tasty. I opened the fridge last week and took a real good look at the condiments and other sundries on…
-
Homemade Scallion Sesame Crackers
Updated:View Post: Homemade Scallion Sesame CrackersEvery time I pick up a package of crackers, the minute I see the ingredient list, alarm bells go off in my head. All those multi-syllabic words on a never-ending list that ultimately makes me mechanically return them back to…
-
Steamed Shrimp with Glass Noodles – Two Ways
Updated:View Post: Steamed Shrimp with Glass Noodles – Two WaysThis steamed shrimp recipe is inspired by a dish we had at a restaurant down the street called Ku Xia (translation: “Cool Shrimp”). The restaurant serves a duo of shrimp dishes—one with garlic, and one with cilantro and green chilies.…
-
Steak and Scallion Rice Cake Stir-Fry
Updated:View Post: Steak and Scallion Rice Cake Stir-FryLots of families are big on chicken. Roast chicken, grilled chicken, chicken pastas, chicken pot-pie, chicken Caesar salad, you get the drill. But for as long as I can remember, whenever my family had a choice of protein, the default…
-
Shanghai Sweet and Sour Ribs
Updated:View Post: Shanghai Sweet and Sour RibsIn China, people often distinguish themselves as Southerners (南方人) or Northerners (北方人). It’s a question you’ll get often in taxis or first meetings. The biggest distinguishing features for us, anyway, are the regional cuisines. Southern cuisine is roughly more delicate, refined and sometimes…
-
Ratatouille Grilled Cheese
Updated:View Post: Ratatouille Grilled CheeseCan you feel it guys? The days are getting shorter, the air cooler. I can smell the hayrides, apple cider, and pumpkins all the way from Beijing. In other words: summer is nearly over, my favorite season is on the horizon, and I…
-
Flourless Chocolate Citrus Almond Cake
Updated:View Post: Flourless Chocolate Citrus Almond CakeIn the continuing quest to rid our pantry of an overabundance of ground almonds, courtesy of Kaitlin and her impulsive, trigger-happy nature (she took to the food processor and was deliriously pulverizing our entire supply of almonds before she even…
-
Scallop Fried Rice with XO Sauce and Crispy Garlic
Updated:View Post: Scallop Fried Rice with XO Sauce and Crispy GarlicThis Scallop fried rice will blow your mind. It’s not just the fresh bay scallops that make it a treat for seafood lovers, it’s the XO sauce and of course, the crispy garlic chips, that bring it to another level.…
-
Almond Crusted Macaroni and Cheese
Updated:View Post: Almond Crusted Macaroni and CheeseWhen Kaitlin was here in Beijing last week (TWOL newcomers: click here for context!), she took about 2 whole pounds of almonds and ground them up into almond meal. After this moment of lapsed judgement that has of yet been left unexplained,…
-
Vegetable Lo Mein
Updated:View Post: Vegetable Lo MeinThis vegetable lo mein isn’t so much a takeout dish makeover so much as just a really simple, versatile noodle dish that can be a staple vegetarian meal or a go-to meatless Monday dinner. Vegetable lo mein is healthy, tasty, and very…
-
Chive Flower Japanese Tempura Recipe
Updated:View Post: Chive Flower Japanese Tempura RecipeSo after we munched on the glory that was our first Frizzled Chive Flower Flatbread, we were definitely looking for other ways to cook our in-season chive flowers. And what could be better than a little chive flower Japanese tempura?…
-
Chinese Chive Flower Flatbread Recipe
Updated:View Post: Chinese Chive Flower Flatbread RecipeFor the last couple of weeks, I found myself back in Beijing with the family. This always means food, food, food–lots of it and super cheap! We always have the list of places we go back to time and again,…
-
Hunan Steamed Fish with Salted Chilies – Duo Jiao Yu
Updated:View Post: Hunan Steamed Fish with Salted Chilies – Duo Jiao YuThis Hunan Steamed Fish, or “Duo Jiao Yu” in Chinese, is a famous Hunan-style dish. Traditionally, this dish is served using the upper part of the fish including the fish head (or sometimes ONLY the fish head. Uh, a really…
-
Easy Bourbon Banana Cream Pie
Updated:View Post: Easy Bourbon Banana Cream PieIs there a dreamier dessert out there than banana cream pie? Yes there is. Boozy banana cream pie. That is all. Bourbon Banana Cream Pie: Recipe Instructions Start by preheating your oven to 350 degrees. Stir the crushed cookie crumbs with…
-
Peking Duck Grilled Cheese
Updated:View Post: Peking Duck Grilled CheeseThis week, my sister and cousin Kim have been here in Beijing visiting, which means it didn’t take long before we were on our obligatory pilgrimage to a local Peking Duck joint for what is arguably Beijing’s most well-known dish.…
Welcome!
We’re Sarah, Kaitlin, Judy, and Bill– a family of four cooks sharing our home-cooked and restaurant-style recipes.
sign up for our newsletter and receive:
our Top 25 recipes eBook
Our email newsletter delivers our new recipes and latest updates. It’s always free and you can unsubscribe any time.
Save Your Favorite Woks of Life Recipes!
Create an account to save your favorite dishes & get email udpates!
