China Recipes

Chinese cooking is vast — eight major regional cuisines, thousands of years of technique, and more dishes than any single person could learn in a lifetime. The recipes here barely scratch the surface, but they focus on dishes that translate well to a home kitchen without specialized equipment. Sichuan mapo tofu, Cantonese stir-fries, Northern Chinese dumplings, simple wok-fried noodles. The wok is the heart of Chinese cooking, and if you have one (or a large, heavy skillet), most of these recipes become significantly easier. High heat, fast cooking, and having everything prepped before you start — that's the Chinese cooking trifecta. The flavors tend to be bold: garlic, ginger, soy sauce, rice wine, sesame oil, chili. If your pantry has those basics, you're equipped for most recipes in this section. Don't skip the Shaoxing wine in recipes that call for it — it adds a depth that no substitute quite matches.