What Chinese food do you like to cook at home?

[abcdefg]

Another thread recently touched on the issue of foods that were best ordered out instead of making them at home. The observation was by @somethingfunny.

 

https://www.chinese-forums.com/forums/topic/55464-sweet-and-sour-what-do-you-call-it/?page=2&tab=comments#comment-427490

 

Quote

 

I did 糖醋里脊 once and found it similarly 麻烦.  I think I deep fried them once to ensure the meat was cooked, then put them to one side while I made the sauce and then deep-fried them again at a higher temperature to get the correct colour.

 

I added it to the list of things that are just better to have in a restaurant.  There is criteria for this:

1. Difficult to cook.

2. Doesn't necessarily taste better when you make it yourself.

3. Is horrendously unhealthy.

 

I think all the dishes being discussed here fulfill all three of these requirements quite easily.

 

 

This got me to thinking about what dishes would fit in the "other" list; namely those things that are best made at home. Wondered what people thought might belong in this group.

 

The dishes that most often call out to me here in Kunming are ones that utilize fresh seasonal ingredients, items that are tasty, plentiful and cheap for a few weeks out of the year. Dishes that feature special hand-made local condiments and seasonings would also fit on my list. And I gravitate to making dishes that might not readily be found elsewhere; things that might qualify as "regional cuisine."

 

Are there certain Chinese dishes that you find relatively easy to make where you live? Things that taste better or are more healthy when done in your own kitchen? Would be interested in your thoughts. 

[889]

This reminds me of one of the first East-is-East-and-West-is-West concepts I learned.

 

That is, in the West, home-cooking is plauded, while in the East restaurant fare is the gold standard,

 

So a Western restaurant will declare it serves home-style cooking. But as a guest served a home-cooked meal in China, you compare the host's skills to a professional chef's: "比四川饭店好!“

 

[imron]

4 hours ago, 889 said:

That is, in the West, home-cooking is plauded, while in the East restaurant fare is the gold standard,

home-cooking might be 'plauded' in the west but restaurant fare is still where the gold standards are, see for example Michelin stars.

 

Not to mention every other Chinese restaurant also declares that they make 家常菜, so I think this not really the best example for showing how  'East-is-East-and-West-is-West'.

[abcdefg]

On 12/2/2017 at 11:12 AM, 889 said:

That is, in the West, home-cooking is plauded, while in the East restaurant fare is the gold standard,

 

Must admit I'm in awe of those restaurant chefs who can slice, dice, grill, fry and steam each item just right without giving it a second thought. And then they present it all such that it pleases the eye as well. Skills well worth paying for most of the time.

 

Today I had a quick 12-Yuan lunch at a recently-opened 快餐店 (kuai can) a few blocks from home. Two meat dishes and three vegetables 两荤三素 for that price plus unlimited steamed rice and watery broth.  Atmosphere score was zero, but the food was a real bargain.  

 

When I go to such places I'm mentally asking myself which of their available items I could make at home only better. Without being a fanatic, I can still use substantially less sugar, less salt, less MSG and less oil and most of the time have decent results.  

[david1234]

Hi guys,

 

I am a cook and I am started to learn Chinese cooking.

 

So I want to ask you What are the important Chinese spices which are important in Chinese cooking?

[Christa]

If living in the U.K. then all steamed seafood is best done at home rather than in a restaurant. Even London Chinatown's best restaurants don't seem to do it fresh enough. In China, however, this is not necessarily the case.

[889]

Yes, I was waiting for someone to mention 家常菜.

 

At restaurants, I take 家常菜 to mean the simple type of dishes commonly served at home, but not that they're necessarily prepared like Mom used to make them. "Family dishes" as it were, but not necessarily made "Family-Style."

[abcdefg]

On 12/2/2017 at 5:25 PM, Christa said:

If living in the U.K. then all steamed seafood is best done at home rather than in a restaurant. Even London Chinatown's best restaurants don't seem to do it fresh enough. In China, however, this is not necessarily the case.

 

That's true here in China too. I lived part of two years in Zhuhai on the coast of Guangdong and got spoiled by always ordering fish plucked out of a live tank, weighed, and cooked right away. Here in Kunming fish can be hit or miss when eating out. Same with shrimp. 

 

(PS to Christa -- Fish names are really confusing. I still only know a few favorites and am frequently baffled when trying to read menus.)  

 

On 12/2/2017 at 7:08 PM, 889 said:

"Family dishes" as it were, but not necessarily made "Family-Style."

 

Agree. Often just dishes served plain without any garnish. Not made with as much care as Mom invested. 

[Christa]

13 minutes ago, abcdefg said:

That's true here in China too. I lived part of two years in Zhuhai on the coast of Guangdong and got spoiled by always ordering fish plucked out of a live tank, weighed, and cooked right away. Here in Kunming they can be hit or miss when eating out. Same with shrimp. 

 

(PS to Christa -- Fish names are really confusing. I still only know a few favorites and am frequently baffled when trying to read menus.)  

 

Aah, I only ever lived in the coast and have never had fish in the Chinese interior.

 

Of course, the U.K. should never really have an excuse, given that it's an island...

 

I only know a couple of fish names as well. Mmmh, I can see a thread coming at some point...

[abcdefg]

5 hours ago, david1234 said:

I am a cook and I am started to learn Chinese cooking...So I want to ask you What are the important Chinese spices which are important in Chinese cooking?

 

David -- Welcome to the forum. Good question. Let's you and I start a new thread.

 

Or better yet, here's a recent thread on the subject of spices we can use to discuss this topic further:

 

https://www.chinese-forums.com/forums/topic/55441-chinese-spices/

[imron]

6 hours ago, abcdefg said:

Atmosphere score was zero, but the food was a real bargain. 

I know exactly the kind of place you mean!

3 hours ago, 889 said:

"Family dishes" as it were, but not necessarily made "Family-Style."

Sure, but how is this different from restaurants in the west doing "home-style cooking"?

[889]

Because the Chinese restaurant dishes don't pretend to be cooked the way they're cooked at home. There's 酱爆鸡丁 in a restaurant and 酱爆鸡丁 at home. They're different. If only because home kitchens don't have stoves with the high heat of restaurant kitchens. 锅气 and all that.

 

It's the home cook who does her best to imitate the restaurant chef, not vice versa.

[DavyJonesLocker]

5 hours ago, Christa said:

If living in the U.K. then all steamed seafood is best done at home rather than in a restaurant. Even London Chinatown's best restaurants don't seem to do it fresh enough. In China, however, this is not necessarily the case.

 

London's China town is still really poor compared to China. At least there are more mainland Chinese cuisines in London now. 20 years ago the vast majority of London's China town restaurants seemed to be originating from Hong Kong.  There are a few authentic ones that get rave reviews but they are still like your average shopping center restaurant in China.

 

Some of the more authentic ones are outside central London like Kilburn where they have two separate menus, one for the general public and one for the Chinese.

 

[Christa]

18 minutes ago, DavyJonesLocker said:

London's China town is still really poor compared to China. At least there are more mainland Chinese cuisines in London now. 20 years ago the vast majority of London's China town restaurants seemed to be originating from Hong Kong.  There are a few authentic ones that get rave reviews but they are still like your average shopping center restaurant in China.

 

Well, I certainly agree that the best Chinese restaurants are undoubtedly to be found in China and Taiwan.

 

I do think that London Chinatown can be very good though, with certain exceptions, the seafood being the main one.

 

Yeah, they did used to be all Cantonese. I miss that in a way, walking through there hearing everyone speaking Cantonese. The restaurants are more diverse now but I kind of miss that Hong Kong in the U.K. feeling it used to have.

 

Nothing stays the same...

[realmayo]

With all due modesty, when I cook 东坡肉  it is delicious and even though it's done better in restaurants (they get the colouring better and also even wobblier skin), all the things I really like about the dish are doable at home. I've also had repeated success with cold Sichuan style chicken dishes. Obviously these are simple to make, no deep or double frying, no super hot wok needed.

 

Then again, I can bash out a stir fry in the UK which makes me very happy indeed -- largely because the flavours are so obviously distant Chinese ones which (and where) I miss. If I was living in China and eating in simple restaurants all the time then I'm sure my home-made version of those types of dishes would quickly taste pretty pedestrian.

[abcdefg]

4 hours ago, realmayo said:

With all due modesty, when I cook 东坡肉  it is delicious and even though it's done better in restaurants (they get the colouring better and also even wobblier skin), all the things I really like about the dish are doable at home.

 

That's good to know. I've never tried 东坡肉 at home. Do you use a clay pot? 

 

4 hours ago, realmayo said:

Obviously these are simple to make, no deep or double frying, no super hot wok needed.

 

Simple is a good thing, in my book. A lack of "critical steps" is something I prize as a hobby-level home cook. If a dish won't tolerate tiny variations in cooking time or cooking temperature, for example, it goes on my "eat it out" list. Similarly, a dish without too many steps is a plus. This lack of complexity, in which the quality of the main ingredients shine,  is something I look for when trying to decide what to make at home. 

 

And then there is the "Gordon Ramsey Factor." He is not welcome to arrive in my kitchen and throw everything out or reduce my prep staff to tears. I do not crave a Michelin Star and am not willing to sacrifice everything to achieve the Master's blessing.  

[Alex_Hart]

I think a lot of the 快餐 type stuff is harder to make at home. Here in Hangzhou, the big 杭帮菜 restaurants serve dishes that are relatively easy to replicate at home, 糖醋鱼、梅干菜炒菜, the crabs that were just flooding the markets, bamboo dishes, etc. Hangzhou style cuisine also has a ton of 炒菜 compared to other places in China (which is saying something!), and once you figure out how to use a wok properly they're all readily within your grasp. 

 

On the other hand, lots of 快餐 or noodle places have tons of different prepared foods that go into one dish. 桂林米粉 and 昆明豆花米粉 come to mind, but there are plenty scattered across all of China. These dishes are usually cheap and "simple," but I find them really annoying/complex/time consuming to make at home. For example, 桂林米粉 while flexible often seems to include at least 干豆、萝卜干、油炸黄豆、茶叶蛋、and something that reminds me of 雪菜.  I also sometimes added a 油条. None of these are particularly hard to find in China, but I can't imagine going through the effort to prepare two kinds of pickles, fry soy beans, make tea eggs, fry a youtiao and make the noodles (I've bought three or four varieties of 米粉 and none tasted particularly good) for what I usually ate while sitting on a plastic stool in the rain for 5 kuai. 

 

I would extend this to the favorite breakfast food for locals here, 烧饼. Of course, it would be hard to make the actual bing (cooked in a tandoor-style oven, though I suppose you could do it in a normal oven), but you also need the stuffing and then fry 油条 to wrap the bing around, and finally you need to prepare some 豆花. Again, costs like 8-10 kuai here but would take me half a day to prepare. 

[ChTTay]

 

14 hours ago, Christa said:

Of course, the U.K. should never really have an excuse, given that it's an island...

 

The UK being an Island... It’s got 64 million people. If we fished fresh produce off the coast enough to feed them all we’d all be in trouble. I don’t even know what the stocks are like surrounding the island but can’t be that good. Like anywhere, It all depends on the restaurant and location. Even if you’re by the sea and you go to a cheap restaurant, they could also be using cheap, imported frozen produce. 

 

Back on topic, for health reasons, I find cooking Chinese food at home to be preferable to eating out. I live in China and most restaurants aim is for the food to taste great so you come back again, regardless of what they put into the dish. In practice, they’re delicious because they’re heavily seasoned and often use the more flavourful cuts (read: fattier). Even if we eat vegetables out, there’s something about it that just doesn’t feel as nourishing as eating them at home. 

 

I find cooking things like 地三鲜，青椒炒鸡蛋，西红柿炒鸡蛋，少炒肉，炒青菜，almost all soups, 红炒茄子，all cold dishes, are almost all better at home. Of course, if you go to a fantastic restaurant they’ll be better but if it’s just a run of the mill 家常菜 they’re better at home. I’m lucky in that my girlfriend is a very good cook haha. She does most of the Chinese food (I usually pitch in with more Guangdong style Chinese food) while I do most “Western”. 

 

We don’t tend to cook much meat. Cola chicken wings are easy and much better at home. Otherwise, 红烧肉 is another easy one that’s better at home because you can control the fattiness of the meat.  

 

Oh, one thing, I have tried making 回锅肉 at home a few times. It’s way better in a restaurant. Mostly because I just can’t bring myself to leave the amount of fat that comes off the meat in the dish (and eventually in my body). I always drain most of it off which means the flavour isn’t quite as good and the meat tends to get drier. 

[abcdefg]

1 hour ago, ChTTay said:

Back on topic, for health reasons, I find cooking Chinese food at home to be preferable to eating out. I live in China and most restaurants aim is for the food to taste great so you come back again, regardless of what they put into the dish. In practice, they’re delicious because they’re heavily seasoned and often use the more flavourful cuts (read: fattier). Even if we eat vegetables out, there’s something about it that just doesn’t feel as nourishing as eating them at home. 

 

Agree completely. At times when I've had to eat out, such as when living in a hotel or a dorm room, the best way I found to get some green leafy vegetables was to order them cooked into a simple soup. Kucai soup 苦菜汤 is one of my eating out go-to staples. 豌豆尖豆腐汤 is another. If I order vegetables stir-fried, they wind up loaded with all kinds of other stuff. The extras enhance flavor or course, but that comes at a steep cost. 

 

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@Alex_Hart --

 

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On the other hand, lots of 快餐 or noodle places have tons of different prepared foods that go into one dish. 桂林米粉 and 昆明豆花米粉 come to mind, but there are plenty scattered across all of China. 

 

That's true for sure here in Yunnan. Your mention of 豆花米线 really nails it. Delicious and, although simple at first glance, it is in fact layered and complex. The dish has a dozen very special components and their gestalt is crucial to having it be a success. 

[陳德聰]

I find that I will often complain about having to pay for a chef to cook me food that I feel I can make at home. This is especially true for most vegetable dishes that I enjoy.

 

耗油芥蘭，乾煸四季豆，白灼菜心 or basically anything that involves 炒 I suppose. I also often feel like anything involving ground meat tends to be both more economical and more likely to be delicious if I make it at home, because I get to season the meat however I like, often with lots of 花椒 and 孜然. So that means things like 麻婆豆腐，(蒸)水蛋，青椒肉末（蓋澆飯）etc.