Need a Chinese recipe - simple and easy please!?

Having a chinese dinner isn't too difficult. Just remember that for the most part, the technique is small pieces of meat and/or veggies cooked quickly over high heat. Changing the combination of meats and veggies, plus flavoring sauces that you add will give you endless combinations of flavors, and dishes. But they could all be prepared the same way.

Therefore, choose a meat of your choice, either chicken, beef, or shrimp, and cut into bite-size pieces. Pick veggies that your family likes, and do the same. Carrots, broccoli, bell peppers, bok choy, napa cabbage, and mushrooms all work well. If you can find them, shitake mushrooms are found in lots of chinese dishes.

To add more authentic flavor, go to the ethnic foods aisle of your supermarket and look for bamboo shoots, water chestnuts, baby corn, straw mushrooms, and any other chinese ingredient that you may want to add to your dish. La Choy is a common brand name that you may find. Any of the canned ingredients you can use without cutting them up.

For a sauce, you will need beef or chicken stock, sesame oil (this is a flavoring agent only, you only need a few drops. You don't actually cook with it), peanut oil or any other oil that can withstand very high heat, soy sauce, and other flavoring sauces such as hoisin sauce, plum sauce or oyster sauce, both of which can be found in the ethnic foods aisle as well. Finally, you will need a thickening agent to thicken your sauce. Arrowroot or cornstarch are good choices for chinese food.

To cook:

Get a wok or large skillet very hot. Add some peanut oil. Add your ingredients based on how long they take to cook. So veggies go first, such as carrots and broccoli, followed by bell peppers, cabbage, bok choy, etc. As you add each ingredient, you should be using a spatula to constantly move the ingredients around in the wok/skillet so they don't burn. Next add your meat and keep stirring.

To make your sauce, add the following (at first, I would mix everything in a separate bowl first, and have it made and waiting to add to yourwok/skillet when the right moment comes. As you become more proficient at this, you can add them straight to the wok/skillet once you are used to the proportions.) You will need beef or chicken stock, about 1/2 cup to a cup. about 5 DROPS of sesame oil, a couple of teaspoons of soy sauce, and a couple of teaspoons of hoisin sauce, plum sauce, or oyster sauce, or all of them. Mix them together well, and add to the wok/skillet. Mix well with the meat and veggies.

In a small cup, add arrowroot or cornstarch to some warm water and stir completely until there are no lumps. Add to the wok/skillet and stir until your sauce thickens.

Serve over rice, and add some chow mein noodles on the side.

Typed up, it seems more difficult than it really is. Just have all of your ingredients cut up, and measured out first, and it cooks up really fast, I promise.

Sorry I can't give more exact measurements for sauce ingredients, I tend to cook by sight, and not measurement. Just remember that you only use a touch of sesame oil, and a few teaspoons of plum, hoisin, or oyster sauce, as compared to more stock. My first few attempts at chinese food weren't great, but as I got used to working with the ingredients, and finding the amount of each flavoring sauce that I liked, I got better and better at it.

Good luck, and happy eating!

Chinese Dumplings- I love this recipe below!

Otherwise, take your favorite meat, cut into strips and put in a bowl with soy sauce, preferably Kikkoman. (Don't use LaChoy it is awful.)

In a wok or frying pan heat a few table spoons of vegetable (or peanut) oil.

Add onions and bok choy (or celery) , fry and remove.

Then add your meat. When the meat is near done, add the onions and bok choy back and some green onions and carrots if you like.

For a variation on this, dredge the soy sauce soaked meat through cornstarch before frying or add some ginger powder to the soy mixture or some fresh ginger to the frying.

Note: In Chinese cooking it is important to NOT let the vegetables get squishy and to have the food cut into small pieces before it gets to the table. Presentation is also important.

You could try this sweet and sour sauce recipe with some stir fried chicken or some battered pork:

2 1/2 tablespoons of vegetable oil

1 tablespoon vegetable oil (to mix with other ingredients)

1 medium green pepper, cut into strips

1 medium-sized onion, thinly sliced

3 tablespoons of sugar

5 tablespoons wine vinegar

2 tablespoons of tomato puree

4 tablespoons orange juice

4 tablespoons water or stock

2 tablespoons cornflour, blended in 7 - 8 tablespoons water

Serves 4 - 5

Mix together the 1 tablespoon of oil with the sugar, wine vinegar, tomato puree, orange juice and water.

Heat the 2 1/2 tablespoons of oil in a frying pan and stir fry the pepper and onion for 2 - 3 minutes.

Add all the other ingredients apart from the cornflour and water mixture.

When your ready to use the sauce, blend in the cornflour mixture and stir quickly until the sauce has thickened and become translucent.

Fry some onions, garlic, ginger, peppers, chicken, mushrooms with some beansprouts (or you can get stir fry mix from most supermarkets) and some water chestnuts, then in a bowl mix up 2 tablespoons of light soy sauce, 2 teaspoons of dark soy, 2 teaspoons of rice wine (or dry sherry), 1 teaspoon of cumin powder, 2 teaspoons of paprika ,1-2 teaspoons of chinese 5 spice, 2-3 teaspoons of sesame seed oil, also some chilli powder if you want a bit of a kick but this is optional, add some water (4 tablespoons) mixed with 2 level teaspoons of cornflour to your mix, when all the veges and chicken is cooked add the mixture to it, and then cook some noodles and/ or rice to go with it. You can change the amounts to your personal liking xx

Simple & tasty - chicken stir fry with veg & egg fried rice:

1 chicken breast per person, slice into strips and marinate in :

one crushed garlic clove, half teaspoon ground (or one thumbsize grated fresh) ginger, two tablespoons kikkoman soy sauce, two tablespoons mirin - rice wine (from big supermarkets or Japanese/Chinese speciality stores), two finely chopped spring onions - leave to marinate as long as poss but no need for overnight e.g. 30 mins to 2 hours should be enough.

While marinating, prepare rice by boiling for 10 mins (or as per packet!), drain. Lightly beat two eggs (three or more for more 'eggy' mix), add splash of soy sauce & salt & pepper. In wok or big frying pan, add splash of peanut oil (or veg oil), until really hot then throw in rice - keep it moving or it may stick - when heated well through and starting to 'clump', pour in egg in one go. Leave for a few seconds and then separate & mix (if possible with chopsticks) to 'loosen' the egg as if making scrambled eggs, rather than letting it set like an omlette. Cook until egg starts to colour and put aside in a warm oven.

Take wok/frying pan just used, and wipe with kitchen roll, add another splash of oil and allow to heat up again. Add marniated chicken with it's marinade into wok and stir briskly until all chicken has turned white. Add fresh washed veg such as carrot, broccolli, etc starting with hard root veg, and add any other types you like - just remember to add the stuff that cooks quickest such as bean sprouts or other leafy veg at the end. Keep the food moving in the pan all the time and cook until the chicken has browned slightly and the carrots are cooked (the remaining veg will be cooked too, just use the chicken and carrots as a guide).

Serve with the rice, either like a curry e.g. chicken mix on top or in separate dishes, doesn't really matter.

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Chicken fried rice

Stir fry chicken strips in a wok, and remove

Stir fry 2 beaten eggs (not too solidly) and remove

Stir fry boiled rice which has cooled, using some soy sauce, and add the chicken and egg again to heat through

Serve.

cooking time 10 minutes

Stir Fry Beef with Broccoli

Serves 4

Ingredients :

1 lb. beef sirloin, cut into thin strips

2 tbsp. soy sauce

4 tsp. cornstarch

2 tsp. cooking oil

1 tsp. salt

1 lb. fresh broccoli OR 2 (10 oz. pkg. frozen)

1/2 tsp. ground ginger

3 tbsp. cooking oil

1/2 c. water

Hot cooked rice

Directions:

Partially freeze beef, slice diagonally into bite size strips.

Combine soy sauce, cornstarch, the 2 tsp. cooking oil and salt in bowl. Add beef, toss to coat well.

Slice broccoli lengthwise into thin strips, about 3 inches long.

Heat ginger in 3 tbsp. oil in wok at 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Add broccoli and stir fry for 3 to 5 minutes.

Remove from wok. Add more oil if necessary and stir fry beef about 5 minutes or until well browned.

Return broccoli to wok, add water. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly. Serve with hot cooked rice.

I serve this recipe to guests and they all like it.

Chicken drumsticks, or chicken legs. Leave skin on.

Light soy sauce (need good soy sauce - I use Pearl River Soy Sauce. Soy sauce comes in light soy sauce and dark soy sauce. You need the light (not lite). soy sauce.

Put the chicken in a dish and microwave or steam the chicken until done. The chicken is done when you can push a chopstick through it.

Leaving the chicken in the dish with the juices sprinkle soy sauce over the chicken.

Your dish is finished.

Chicken chowmain the recipie is on the side of Sharwoods medium egg noodles packet very nice