Kung Pao Chicken

Andrea Meyers - Kung Pao Chicken

Some days we just want good Chinese food like you would get for takeout. Nothing fancy or esoteric, just some of our favorite Chinese restaurant dishes, such as kung pao chicken, hot and sour soup, egg drop soup, Mongolian beef, sesame chicken, char siu pork, and dan dan noodles. If you love Chinese takeout, then [...]

Sesame Green Beans

Andrea Meyers - Sesame Green Beans

I remember my father talking about his childhood and how his parents kept food on the table. They raised pigs for a while and my dad hunted with his dad, then later alone. As their family grew, food had to go further, and my dad would comment on how they stretched the family budget. They [...]

Mu Shu Pork Lettuce Wraps

Andrea Meyers - Mu Shu Pork Lettuce Wraps

“Mommy, you know me so well!” That’s what I hear from Top Gun every time I tell him that we are having Chinese food for dinner. Seeing the excitement on his face always make me smile and feel happy that I’m making his favorite dishes, and that he has an adventurous palate and likes a [...]

Chicken Chow Fun (The Kids Cook Monday)

Chicken Chow Fun (The Kids Cook Monday) - Andrea Meyers

Chow fun is a classic Chinese noodle dish often served with beef. The fresh rice noodles (ho fun) typically used are very wide and sliced into strips before cooking, but I’ve never seen them in our local international groceries, so I substitute L or XL bahn pho (dry Vietnamese rice noodles). Though not authentic, it’s [...]

Chinese Chicken Lettuce Wraps (The Kids Cook Monday)

Andrea Meyers - Chinese Chicken Lettuce Wraps

When our boys see Asian dishes on the menu, they tend to get excited. Builder Guy inevitably asks if we’re having Chinese dumplings with the meal, Top Gun requests Chinese chicken and broccoli whether it’s on the menu or not, and Monkey Boy says he just wants chicken (or a lollipop). Fortunately Monkey Boy generally [...]

Chicken Stir-Fry with Asparagus and Snow Peas, and My Thoughts on Carbon Steel Woks

Chicken Stir-Fry with Asparagus and Snow Peas - Andrea Meyers

My carbon steel wok is 13 years old and a treasured part of my kitchen gear. I found it for $5 on a clearance table and snapped it up, and that little bargain has proven invaluable over time. It wasn’t my first wok as I had given the nonstick woks a try, but after going [...]

The Daring Cooks Make Chinese Dumplings and Potstickers

I remember first tasting Chinese dumplings and potstickers when I lived in Saipan, and I always liked ordering them in restaurants, but then I visited Hong Kong and southern China and got hooked. It was so fun to see the dim sum trays in the restaurants, taste different things, and try to figure out what [...]

Quick and Easy Mandarin Orange Chicken

Quick and Easy Mandarin Orange Chicken - Andrea Meyers

Some of my favorite things to order at Chinese restaurants are the dishes I won’t make at home, basically anything battered and fried. I’m not lazy, I just don’t enjoy cleaning up the splattery mess I always seem to make when frying. Orange chicken is one of my favorites, but I always save it for [...]

Chicken Bok Choy

Chicken Bok Choy - Andrea Meyers

Bok choy is one of my favorite types of cabbage because it’s both leafy and crispy, lending a nice mix of textures in a dish, and I like it stir-fried simply with chicken, garlic, and ginger. This time I tried Jaden’s technique for starting with a cold wok, which was totally contrary to any wokking [...]

Beef and Bell Pepper with Black Bean Sauce

As I have written in previous posts, I did not grow up with Asian food, and it wasn’t until I moved to Saipan for my first overseas teaching job in 1989 that I had any exposure to the real thing. The island was (and still is) populated with a mix of nationalities and there were [...]