What is Your Favorite Chinese Food?

DaShi · November 28, 2003, 07:10

What kind of Chinese food do you like the best? What is your favorite Chinese dish? Can you make it? If so, could you please provide a recipe?

Nubclear · November 28, 2003, 07:30

Chinese food is nasty

aaglo · November 28, 2003, 07:33

I love chinese food.
In our local restaurant they serve very good chicken Kung Po, but I bet there are many ways to make it.

I don't know how they do it, but it's goooooooood.

Rogan Josh · November 28, 2003, 11:28

Crispy Aromatic Duck with pancakes!

General Ludd · November 28, 2003, 11:35

I don't have any experience with authentic chinese food, the closest I've gotten to it is the americanized buffets. That said, I'd say vegetable fried rice (which i often make myself) and spring rolls.

Q Classic · November 28, 2003, 12:44

well, of americanized chinese food, it's got to either be spicy orange beef or spicy general tso's chicken.

Q Classic · November 28, 2003, 12:46

that's at least when jj'ajj'angmyun or jj'ampong isn't availible.

GePap · November 28, 2003, 14:17

Well, scallion pancakes and most types of fried rice. And if you own oa Wok, it's all so simple, if time consumming, to make.

Imran Siddiqui · November 28, 2003, 15:32

Just about anything.

BeBro · November 28, 2003, 15:45

Pizza!

Spec · November 28, 2003, 16:10

Chineese food is delicious, just like sweet chineese girls.

My personnal best are vegetable and meat mix in the Wok. I dont know how to make it but my sister really makes it exquisite. Mmmmmmmmm.....Think I'll call her and ask what she's doing saturday night.

Spec.

molly bloom · November 28, 2003, 21:33

I have too many dishes that I like in various different Chinese cuisines to list, but I do like stuffed duck's web, and chicken's feet in black bean and chilli sauce, and steamed scallops with ginger, and won ton soup, and szechuan spicy lamb, and those lovely steamed rolls with chinese sausage inside, and water chestnut cake, and sea bass on crispy noodles, and pork with oyster sauce, and clams in chillii and black bean sauce...

but here's a couple of recipes that are relatively easy (you will need access to an Chinese/Viet Namese supermarket for the last one) and a delicious Chinese inspired cocktail suitable for any occasion. Well, except a funeral perhaps.

DaShi- here’s a Chinese influenced cocktail for Christmas, Chinese New Year, or any other occasion you feel warrants it:

Champagne with lychee:

Add 3 lychees to 100 ml of vodka, leave to infuse for at least one hour, but the longer the better.

Place a fresh lychee in a champagne flute, add the lychee flavoured vodka, and top up with Champagne. This would also work with sake, or a Chinese rice spirit.

Salt and pepper squid

2 tbsp sea salt
1 tbsp szechuan peppercorns
1 tbsp black peppercorns
½ tsp dried chilli flakes
1 tbsp cornflour
500 g cleaned squid hoods, cut into strips
Vegetable or peanut oil for deep frying (about 3 cups)
Lemon or orange wedges

In a wok or heavy based frying pan over a medium heat, stir combined salt and peppercorns until fragrant and lightly toasted (about 3-4 minutes). Add chilli flakes. Allow to cool, then use a pestle and mortar and crush to a fine powder.

Place half the pepper and salt mixture into a large bowl and add cornflour. Add squid strips, and toss well to lightly coat with the pepper mix.

Heat oil in a deep fryer or wok. Cook squid in batches by lowering into oil in a deep frying basket or slotted spoon for about 2 minutes, or until just cooked through. Drain on kitchen paper, and serve sprinkled with reserved pepper mix and lemon or orange wedges.

Serves 4

Chow fun (you will need to buy the rice noodle and char siu at a Chinese or Viet Namese supermarket)

½ lb of fresh rice noodle sheets, cut into ½ inch wide long strips

1 cup of char siu/roast pork, cut into ¼ inch wide strips
½ cup bamboo shoots, cut into ¼ inch strips
1 lb Chinese cabbage sliced in ½ inch wide strips

gravy/sauce:

1 and ¼ cups of chicken broth
1 tbsp cornstarch
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
2 tbsps light soy sauce

2 tbsps oil

Heat wok over a high heat. Add 1 tbsp oil. Cover surface of wok with oil. Add noodle strips. Stir fry to heat noodles through, about 2 minutes. Remove, place on a warm plate.

If rice noodle sheets are not available, then you can substitute dry rice stick noodles (sha ho fun), boiling them for 8 minutes beforehand, and draining them before frying.

Clean wok, reheat over high heat. Add 1 tbsp oil, cover surface of wok. Stir fry char siu, cabbage and bamboo shoots for 2 minutes.

Add gravy ingredients. Toss fry for another 2 minutes until gravy is clear. Pour over warm noodle strips. Serve.

Oerdin · November 28, 2003, 21:43

Orange chicken is yummie! I also like the dim sum in China Town; I just like how they bring back plate after plate of these little dishes. If you don't want one you don't take it but if you do it costs only like $0.50.

Shogun Gunner · November 28, 2003, 22:45

Yes, the Cantonese Tea Lunch DIM SUM rules!!!

I love the shumai which are the pork and shrimp steamed dumplings.

ICBM · November 28, 2003, 23:05

Cat on a stick

mindseye · November 28, 2003, 23:17

My favorites are Hunan, Sichuan ("szechuan") and XinJiang foods.

Hunan - Hui Guo Rou is a personal favorite, a smoky pork dish from Hunan that reminds me of the real bacon we used to eat when I was a kid in the countryside of Iowa. Fortunately, it's so common you can eat it at most any "home cooking" Chinese
restaurant.

Sichuan - GongBao JiDing ("Kung Pao Chicken") really is a treat, especially if prepared authentically, in which case it tastes much better than the American version (tastes like it has lime juice, and is much hotter).

XinJiang - although some Chinese don't like to think of XinJiang food as "Chinese" (even while they maintain that XinJiang is part of China), many westerners like it because it's a lot like western food (no surprise, XinJiang's Huighers are China's caucasians). XinJiang cuisine is heavy on lamb, cumin, oninons, tomatoes, garlic, and nan (a kind of bread). My all-time favorite is a special pie ("rou nan") which a local XinJiang restaurant makes . It looks exactly like an American pinched-crust apple pie, but is filled with stewed lamb with green pepper and onions. Every westerner I have taken to this restaurant swoons over it. In fact, this dish was my Thanksgiving meal.

DaShi, if you wander up to Shanghai sometime, I'll take you there.

Almost forgot - my favorite snack (so many great ones) is ShengJian, something like GuoTie ("potstickers"). They are basically XiaoLongBao (sometimes called "Shanghai dumplings on western menus) that have been fried on the bottom. YUMMMM!

mindseye · November 28, 2003, 23:34

Quote:

Originally posted by ICBM
Cat on a stick

I haven't tried cat yet, but dog is pretty good (had it twice). It's usually eaten in the winter, in "hotpot". The flavor is halfway between beef and lamb.

Much better is pigeon ("gezi"). It's served grilled, wrapped in foil. I don't known anyone who has tried it and doesn't love it.

Shogun Gunner · November 28, 2003, 23:38

My wife has reported to me that they have restaurants in Beijing dedicated to serving Rat. Still can't wrap my mind around that one...

Shogun Gunner · November 28, 2003, 23:39

dp, sorry...

Oerdin · November 28, 2003, 23:49

Quote:

Originally posted by Shogun Gunner
My wife has reported to me that they have restaurants in Beijing dedicated to serving Rat. Still can't wrap my mind around that one...

I actually liked rat. The texture is like chicken but the flavor is much hearter and the meat is fairly greasy like beef.

jdd2007 · November 29, 2003, 00:30

shrimpses

Urban Ranger · November 29, 2003, 00:48

Quote:

Originally posted by mindseye
XinJiang - although some Chinese don't like to think of XinJiang food as "Chinese" (even while they maintain that XinJiang is part of China), many westerners like it because it's a lot like western food (no surprise, XinJiang's Huighers are China's caucasians).

I reckon that's because there's rather a lot more meat in those dishes than traditional Chinese ones. Or rather, much more meat in a meal than a traditional Chinese meal.

Ramo · November 29, 2003, 01:40

Salt-baked squid/shrimp/quail/etc. Gotta love that salt.

Ramo · November 29, 2003, 01:59

Would some Chinaman mind pointing me to a good salt-baked whatever recipe?

The Emperor Fabulous · November 29, 2003, 02:32

All of it

Oerdin · November 29, 2003, 03:00

Quote:

Originally posted by Ramo
Salt-baked squid/shrimp/quail/etc. Gotta love that salt.

I havn't tried that before but it sounds good.

David Floyd · November 29, 2003, 04:46

Anything spicy. I love Kung Pao Shrimp.

But what's better than Chinese food is Vietnamese food

Urban Ranger · November 29, 2003, 05:13

Quote:

Originally posted by Ramo
Would some Chinaman mind pointing me to a good salt-baked whatever recipe?

Salt-baked chicken.

Very easy to do. All you need is this huge pile of salt and a chicken.

Clean the chicken, remove the innards. Heat the huge pile of salt, and stick the chicken inside. Wait until cooked.

self biased · November 29, 2003, 05:35

i like crab rangoon.

Urban Ranger · November 29, 2003, 10:46

Or perhaps you like "beggar's chicken?"

Remove the innards from a chicken but keep the feathers on. Rinse out the inside thoroughly. Plaster the outside of the chicken with a thick layer of mud, dry in sun. Then put the whole thing in a fire. Wait until cooked - you are supposed to be able to smell the fragrance of cooked chicken meat.