Simple Chinese Recipes for Traditionally Incompetent Cooks

Got a hankering for Chinese food and want to keep healthy, but don’t have the cooking skills to match? Try some of these recipes, which are simple and healthy.

Preparing simple Chinese dishes at home can have some rather important benefits. Love chicken fried rice but hate green peas? No problem. Substitute something else or skip ‘em altogether. Love chow mein noodles but have a nagging allergy to peanuts? Home cooking is the magic bullet.

Chinese cooking is a thousands-of-years old tradition. In other words: tricky. But skip the fancy sauces and you’re halfway there. A credible imitation can usually be purchased at your local grocery store anyway. Choosing simple recipes with easily sourced ingredients will get you the rest of the way.

Easy Peasy Chow Mein Noodles

New to chinese cooking? Preparing a tasty bowl of noodles should be your first goal. Do it right and you’re likely to be converted for life!

Ingredients:

1 package Chinese noodles

5 shrimp, rinsed and shelled

2 oz. thinly sliced pork

1 tbsp chopped garlic

1 cup bean sprouts

1/2 cup cabbage, shredded

1/4 cup carrots, shredded

1/4 cup oyster sauce

2 tbsp sesame oil

2 tbsp soy sauce

Assorted chopped vegetables of your choosing

Preparation:

Cook noodles in boiling water until tender. (Should take about 2 minutes. Remember, overcooked noodles get limp and soggy so pay attention). Drain excess water and set aside.

Whisk together oyster sauce, sesame oil and soy sauce in a small bowl. In a large wok or skillet, heat vegetable oil and sauté your choice of veggies with pork.  The more the better. Add shrimp and seasoning mixture and sauté until warm and yummy. Serve hot.

Serves 4

See? Easy peasy.

Backyard Cabbage Salad

A great dish for eating out of doors with friends and family, preferably on a back porch on a bright sunny day.

Ingredients:

Salad:

1 cup fried chow mein noodles, broken in pieces

1/2 cup cashews, chopped

1/3 cup sesame seeds

1/2 head of cabbage, shredded

2 large carrots, shredded

1 bunch green onions, chopped

2 tbsp peanut oil

Dressing:

1/4 cup honey

1/2 cup peanut oil

1/4 cup cider vinegar

1 tablespoon soy sauce

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350ºF or 175ºC. Drizzle crushed noodles and nuts with peanut oil and toast until they’re looking tasty and brown. (It wouldn’t hurt to sample a few.) Meanwhile, whisk together dressing ingredients over low heat to make sure honey is nicely melted and blended. 

Toss chopped cabbage, green onions, toasted mixture and dressing in large bowl. Voilà. Serve and enjoy.

Serves 4-6

Classic Chicken Fried Rice

Had a couple of successes and ready to try something next-level delicious and decadent? Don’t be fooled by the long list of ingredients. Chicken fried rice is remarkably simple to make and ready in under an hour.

Ingredients:

2 cups white rice

2 cups water

1 chicken bouillon cube

2 skinless, boneless chicken thighs

Large bunch of green onions, chopped

4-5 celery sticks, chopped

2 tbsp chopped garlic

1 chopped green bell pepper

Your choice of oil (canola or peanut work great)

A few generous splashes of soy sauce

Splash of sesame oil

3 eggs

Preparation:

Throw the rice, water and bouillon cube into the rice cooker and let it do its magic. Fry the chicken and celery until chicken is cooked through. Remove from pan and chop into bite sized pieces.  Meanwhile, toss the garlic, green onions and egg in a frying pan with your favourite oil until eggs are firm. (Hint: use the same pan!) Remove and chop. 

Finally, flash fry your vegetables until lightly cooked, add chopped chicken, chopped egg and rice. Finish with a splash of soy sauce and a generous portion of your favourite oil.  (Hint: the more generous the better. Now is not the time to start dieting.)

Serve hot and delicious.

Serves 4

Classic Bachelor Rice

Give up? Got five minutes and zero energy to prepare a bite to eat? Cook or reheat yesterday’s sticky white rice. Fry an egg.  Place on top. Add soy sauce. Enjoy.

You got this.

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