Chinese Recipes

Sweet and Sour Pork Tenderloin

Difficulty：★★★★☆ 1573 kcal

Sweet and sour pork has a rich sweet and sour flavor and tender meat inside a crispy coating, making it a popular home-style dish found in many regional cuisines. Pork tenderloin provides high-quality protein, but the coating and sauce increase the overall calorie count. Mastering the marination, double-frying, and sauce temperature requires practice, making it slightly challenging for beginners. We recommend preparing all ingredients beforehand and completing the process without breaks. The total time from prep to serving is about 45 minutes to 1 hour.

Sweet and Sour Ribs

Difficulty：★★★★☆ 1022 kcal

Sweet and Sour Ribs is a traditional famous dish known for its sweet and sour taste with a crispy exterior and tender interior. It is widely popular. The ribs are rich in high-quality protein and calcium, offering good nourishing effects. This dish involves multiple steps including blanching, deep-frying, making the syrup, and reducing the sauce, requiring control of heat and seasoning. It is not particularly suitable for beginners, but the optimized success rate is high using this guide. Estimated preparation time: Approximately 45 minutes.

Lean Meat with Potato Slices

Difficulty：★★☆☆☆ 585 kcal

A quick and easy home-cooked stir-fry. The meat is tender and juicy, and the potato slices are soft with a chewy texture that absorbs the flavors, with a fresh aroma from the scallion greens. This is a typical home-style dish. Lean meat is rich in high-quality protein and iron, while potatoes provide carbohydrates and dietary fiber for a balanced diet. The process is simple and clear; pay attention to knife skills and heat control, making it suitable for beginners with some basic experience. From preparation to serving, it takes approximately 1 hour.

Tomato Meat Sauce

Difficulty：★★★★☆ 1955 kcal

This Italian-style sauce is rich and delicious, with a mix of vegetables and beef for a complex texture. It is rich in protein and various vitamins, making for a balanced nutritional profile. The process is slightly tedious and requires some cooking basics, specifically how to fry beef to achieve a grainy texture and how to control the heat for slow simmering. Prep to finish takes about an hour. You can make a larger batch and freeze them for convenient use anytime.

Air Fryer Crispy Marinated Chicken

Difficulty：★★★★☆ 700 kcal

Air fried chicken is a home-style meat dish that is marinated then fried. The crust is crispy, and the inside is juicy; the seasoning can be adjusted flexibly according to taste. Chicken wings are rich in high-quality protein and fat, making them suitable as a main dish or a snack.

Pork and Pickled Cabbage Stew

Difficulty：★★★★★ 1817 kcal

Pork and Pickled Cabbage Stew is a classic Northern home-style stew. It features a rich sour and savory aroma, tender pork belly, and flavorful ribs. It provides mainly protein and also brings beneficial components like lactobacilli from the pickled cabbage. Although the steps are clear and easy for beginners to follow step-by-step, patience is required for slow cooking; the whole process takes about 3 hours.

Stuffed River Snails

Difficulty：★★★★☆ 533 kcal

Stuffed River Snails (Tianluo Niang) are the number one dish in Yangshuo's 'Eighteen Stuffed Delicacies.' With firm snail meat, tender pork, and a fresh aroma of mint and perilla, it has been featured on 'A Bite of China 2'. Rich in protein and trace elements, the snail and pork combination offers nutritional synergy. This dish has a few more steps and is slightly challenging for beginners, but it is a great dish for the whole family to make together on holidays.

Pork Skin Jelly

Difficulty：★★★☆☆ 1630 kcal

Pork skin jelly is a common traditional cold dish in Northern Chinese New Year's Eve dinners. It is crystal clear, smooth, and chewy (Q-texture), making it especially suitable to go with wine. Pork skin is rich in collagen and has beauty-enhancing properties. This dish has a slightly high difficulty level and requires patience in removing the fishy smell of the skin and long simmering, with an estimated preparation time of about 24 hours.

Roasted Chicken Wings

Difficulty：★★☆☆☆ 187 kcal

High-temperature roasting of marinated chicken wings results in a crispy exterior and tender, juicy interior, featuring the savory flavor of black pepper and soy sauce. Rich in high-quality protein and collagen.

Pan-Seared Steak

Difficulty：★★★★☆ 1605 kcal

This is a classic Western pan-seared steak: a caramelized crust around a tender, juicy center, with butter, garlic and herbs for rich flavor. It's rich in quality protein, fat and minerals such as iron and zinc. The process is fairly beginner-friendly, though mastering the heat takes some practice. It takes 15-30 minutes in total.

Pan-Seared/off-the-Coal Mutton Chops

Difficulty：★★★★☆ 1850 kcal

A dish that is crispy on the outside and tender on the inside with a rich fragrance. The mutton is first stewed with spices and then pan-seared to a golden crust. The flavor is rich and not greasy, making it an ideal "hard dish" for both daily dining and entertaining guests. Mutton is rich in high-quality protein as well as minerals like iron and zinc, helping to warm the blood and boost Qi. The preparation steps are a bit lengthy, but anyone can master them by following the process; using a pressure cooker takes about 1 hour in total, while a regular pot takes about 1.5 hours.

Qiyang-Style Steamed Rice-Flour Duck (Hunan)

Difficulty：★★★★☆ 1332 kcal

A traditional specialty from the Qiyang and Qidong area of Hunan: the duck is stir-fried, coated in a rice-flour mixture and steamed, giving a soft, sticky texture with a savory flavor and a long finish. Duck is rich in quality protein and B vitamins, and the rice flour provides energy for a balanced dish. It requires stir-frying followed by pressure steaming, so it is a little challenging and suits people with some cooking experience. It takes about 1 hour from prep to table; an older duck needs longer steaming.

Hunan-style Braised Pork Belly

Difficulty：★★★☆☆ 1348 kcal

Hunan-style Braised Pork Belly is a home-style dish with a rich Hunan flavor. After slow braising, the pork belly is fat but not greasy, meltingly tender, salty and savory with a spicy hint. Rich in high-quality protein and fat, it provides sufficient energy for the body. This dish requires some patience and is a bit of a challenge for beginners, but it is not difficult to master following the steps, with an estimated total time of about 1 hour.

Zibo BBQ

Difficulty：★★★★☆ 650 kcal

This is a specialty BBQ from Zibo, Shandong. The unique way of eating it involves wrapping meat and green onions in small pancakes. The blend of meat aroma, sauce aroma, and onion aroma creates a rich texture. Pork belly is rich in high-quality protein and fat, while green onions provide dietary fiber; paired with small pancakes, it helps quickly replenish energy. This dish requires skill in controlling the charcoal heat and the broiling technique, making it slightly challenging for beginners, and takes about 40 minutes to complete.

Steamed Mandarin Fish

Difficulty：★★★☆☆ 359 kcal

Mandarin fish is characterized by tender meat that highlights a fresh and sweet natural flavor. This is a home-style method for freshwater fish that emphasizes the original taste. It is rich in high-quality protein and various trace elements, making it easy to digest and absorb. Handle the fish fins with care during preparation; while the steps themselves are not complex, beginners just need to be careful. From preparation to serving, it takes about 30 minutes.

Stir-Fried Pork with Onion

Difficulty：★★★☆☆ 979 kcal

This is a home-style stir-fry, savory with a touch of sweetness and a rich sauce. The onion softens and mellows, and paired with tender pork slices it goes great with rice. Pork provides quality protein and B vitamins, while onion contains fiber and various antioxidants that whet the appetite and aid digestion. It is simple, so beginners can handle it easily; it takes only about 15 minutes.

Pepper Salt Pork Chop Strips

Difficulty：★★★★☆ 1290 kcal

Pepper Salt Pork Chop Strips is a classic home-style dish from Shanghai cuisine. It is crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, with a savory taste. Pork chops provide high-quality protein and essential amino acids, helping to replenish energy. Although the steps are a bit numerous, following the process is not difficult, so beginners can try it boldly. From prepping to cooking, it takes about 40 minutes.

Boiled Fish Slices (Shuizhu Roupian)

Difficulty：★★★★★ 361 kcal

Boiled Fish Slices is a classic Sichuan dish with a spicy and numbing flavor, tender meat, and crisp vegetables. It is perfect with rice. Pork tenderloin provides high-quality protein, paired with mung bean sprouts, making for a balanced nutrition. The recipe is slightly tedious, especially requiring patience in marinating the meat and making the knife-cut chili; beginners will need about 1 to 2 hours.

Boiled Beef (Pot Style)

Difficulty：★★★☆☆ 431 kcal

Boiled Beef is a classic Sichuan dish featuring a numbing and spicy flavor. The beef is tender and smooth, with a bright red soup that is spicy, fragrant, and savory. The beef is rich in high-quality protein and iron, and paired with bean sprouts, it adds dietary fiber. This dish is manageable for beginners, but pay attention to the heat level and safety when pouring the hot oil. Overall preparation time is approximately forty minutes.

Hakka Steamed Pork Belly with Preserved Mustard Greens (Meicai Kourou)

Difficulty：★★★★☆ 3756 kcal

This is a famous traditional Hakka dish: glossy reddish-brown with a thick sauce, the pork is rich but not greasy, meltingly tender and fragrant. Pork belly provides quality protein and fatty acids, and the preserved mustard greens add dietary fiber. There are quite a few steps and you need to master boiling, frying and steaming, so it's somewhat challenging for beginners. From prep to table, including soaking the mustard greens, it takes about 2.5 hours.

Chu Hou Braised Beef Brisket

Difficulty：★★★★☆ 980 kcal

This is a classic Cantonese dish: richly meaty and glossy red, with tendon-laced brisket that's tender, flavorful and full of texture. It's rich in quality protein and collagen, nourishing and warming. It takes some patience, but a pressure cooker cuts the time dramatically, making it fairly beginner-friendly. Regular stewing takes about 3 hours; with a pressure cooker it's done in about 1 hour.

Shazhucai (Northern Style Braised Pork & Intestines)

Difficulty：★★★★☆ 1657 kcal

This is a classic stew from Northeast China. It is sour, refreshing, savory, and warming to the body. Sauerkraut is rich in lactic acid bacteria and dietary fiber, pork ribs provide high-quality protein and calcium, and blood sausage helps replenish iron intake. Making this dish requires patience to handle the sausages properly to prevent them from bursting, posing a slight challenge for beginners in the kitchen. From preparation to completion, it takes approximately one hour.

Lamb Brisket and Bean Curd Stick Clay Pot

Difficulty：★★★★★ 2391 kcal

This is a traditional Cantonese clay pot dish: lamb and bean curd sticks blended with Chu Hou sauce and fermented bean curd for a rich, savory flavor that is unctuous but not greasy, warming body and soul, perfect for cold winters. Lamb is rich in protein and iron and is warming and nourishing, while bean curd sticks provide quality plant protein for a balanced meal. There are many prep and stewing steps, but the heat control is not complicated, and beginners can succeed by following step by step. Expect about two and a half hours from prep to serving.

Boneless Chicken Feet

Difficulty：★★★★★ 815 kcal

Tangy, spicy, and appetizing; it is a home-style cold appetizer. Chicken feet are rich in collagen, which is good for the skin. The bone removal process is tedious and laborious, making it high in difficulty, so it is not suitable for novices. The total time taken is approximately 8 hours and 15 minutes.

Xinjiang Big Plate Chicken (Dapanji)

Difficulty：★★★★☆ 1108 kcal

Xinjiang big plate chicken is a richly flavored, colorful Xinjiang home-style dish: the chicken is tender, the potatoes soft and saucy, with a numbing heat and a slightly sweet finish. It is rich in quality protein and carbohydrates, and the bell peppers add vitamin C. It requires caramelizing sugar and controlling the reduction, which is somewhat challenging for beginners, but not hard if you follow the steps carefully. It takes about 1 hour in total.

Italian-Style Roast Chicken

Difficulty：★★★☆☆ 315 kcal

Italian-style roast chicken is a homestyle oven dish with Mediterranean flavors. The chicken thighs are marinated in garlicky olive oil, and after roasting the skin is lightly charred while the inside stays tender and juicy. With lemon juice and parsley it tastes fresh, not greasy. Chicken is rich in quality protein and olive oil provides unsaturated fatty acids, for balanced nutrition. The difficulty is moderate—you need to preheat the oven—but beginners can follow the steps easily. From marinating to out of the oven takes about fifty minutes in total.

Hui Style Braised Pork Belly

Difficulty：★★★★☆ 3847 kcal

Hui Style Braised Pork Belly is a classic Hui style home dish. It is shiny red in color, fatty but not greasy, with a soft and chewy texture, featuring a harmonious blend of salty and sweet flavors. Made primarily with pork belly, it is rich in quality protein and fat. The cooking process requires skill in caramelizing sugar and managing heat, making it slightly challenging. Estimated preparation time is about 45 minutes.

Dry-Fried Spicy Chicken (Peking University Canteen Style)

Difficulty：★★★★☆ 1300 kcal

This is a sweet-and-spicy innovative Sichuan dish from the Peking University canteen. The chicken is marinated then fried, crisp outside and tender inside; the potatoes are fragrant and soft, the green pepper crisp, all coated in a glossy red sweet-spicy sauce that is salty, sweet, slightly hot and very appetizing. It is rich in protein, carbohydrates and vitamins. It involves deep-frying and reducing a sauce, which is a little challenging for beginners, but following the steps you will succeed. It takes about 1 hour.

Guangdong Braised Beef Brisket with Daikon

Difficulty：★★★★☆ 483 kcal

This is a classic Cantonese home-style stew. The beef brisket is tender and flavorful, while the daikon absorbs the rich soup to become sweet and aromatic. Rich in high-quality protein and dietary fiber, it stimulates appetite and aids digestion. While the steps are a bit lengthy, the difficulty is moderate, and beginners can succeed by following the process. The total cooking time from start to finish is approximately 2.5 hours.

Shanxi Guoyou Rou (Oil-Passed Pork)

Difficulty：★★★★☆ 679 kcal

Guoyou rou is a traditional Shanxi specialty: tender pork slices, crisp garlic scapes, savory and slightly sour with the mellow aroma of aged vinegar, a typical regional home-style flavor. Pork tenderloin provides quality protein, and with wood ears, garlic scapes and onion it is well balanced. It requires some control of heat and coating technique, so it suits cooks with some experience. It takes about 40 minutes from prep to plate.

Ba Zhang Zhou Zi (Braised Pork Knuckle with Handle)

Difficulty：★★★★★ 1037 kcal

Ba Zhang Zhou Zi (Braised Pork Knuckle with Handle) is a traditional famous dish from Daye, Shaanxi Province, named because the hooves resemble a handle. The knuckle skin is sticky and soft, the meat is tender and unctuous. Paired with sweet bean sauce and scallions, it is savory and rich. It is rich in collagen and high-quality protein, nourishing for the skin. The preparation requires deboning, shaping, and long steaming, which poses a challenge for beginners. The whole process takes about 3.5 hours.

Pakistani Beef Curry

Difficulty：★★★★★ 602 kcal

This Pakistani-style beef curry is rich, soft, and mildly sour and spicy—it's appetizing with a strong aroma of spices. Beef provides high-quality protein, and paired with tomatoes and yogurt, the nutrition is balanced. The cooking method is not complicated, but it requires a bit of patience with the slow cooking, making it perfect for leisurely preparation on a quiet weekend. About two and a half hours from start to finish to bring out a pot of warm, exotic deliciousness.

Stir-fried Beef with Green Chilies

Difficulty：★★★☆☆ 449 kcal

A simple home-cooked stir-fry. It is savory with a hint of spice, the beef is smooth and tender, and the peppers are crisp and refreshing. Beef provides high-quality protein and iron, while peppers are rich in Vitamin C, making for a balanced meal. Although marinating requires some patience, the steps are clear, making it beginner-friendly with a moderate difficulty. The whole process from prep to serving takes about 1 hour.

Screaming Bullfrog (Sichuan Pickled-Chili Bullfrog)

Difficulty：★★★★☆ 1643 kcal

This dish is fresh, spicy and appetizing, with silky, springy frog meat—a classic Sichuan home-style dish. Bullfrog is high in protein and low in fat, and pairing it with fermented ingredients like pickled ginger and pickled chilies helps whet the appetite. The method is fairly straightforward, but the oil temperature and seasoning ratios need a bit of attention; most beginners can finish it within 1 to 2 hours.

Sichuan Crispy Fried Pork (Xiao Su Rou)

Difficulty：★★★☆☆ 1939 kcal

Calculation: ### Main ingredient

Spicy Minced Pepper and Meat Stir-fry

Difficulty：★★★☆☆ 620 kcal

Spicy Minced Pepper and Meat Stir-fry is spicy, flavorful, and satisfying. It is a typical Southwestern-style home-style dish. The tenderness of the meat pairs with the refreshing spiciness of the peppers, whetting the appetite. Pork is rich in protein and fat, while peppers provide abundant Vitamin C to aid digestion. Although mastering the heat for sautéing and stir-frying is key, the steps are clear and beginners can easily handle them; the estimated cooking time is about 25 minutes. Note that this dish emphasizes spiciness, so it is not recommended for those on a very bland diet.

Stir-fried Beef Slices with Peppers

Difficulty：★★★★☆ 619 kcal

This Hunan-style stir-fry uses high heat to bloom the flavors of the peppers, delivering a beef texture that is tender and juicy with a spicy fragrance. The flavor is fresh, spicy, and crisp, while the celery remains tender and crunchy, offering a distinct Hunan style. The beef tenderloin provides high-quality protein and easily absorbable iron, while the celery adds dietary fiber, making for a balanced nutritional profile. The ingredient prep and cooking steps are clear and straightforward. The entire process relies on high-quick stir-frying, making it very beginner-friendly, taking approximately one hour from preparation to serving.

Stir-Fried Chicken Liver

Difficulty：★★★☆☆ 760 kcal

This stir-fried chicken liver has a rich garlic aroma and a tender, smooth texture with a hint of smoky cumin. It is a classic home-style dish. Chicken liver is rich in iron, vitamin A, and high-quality protein, which helps nourish the blood and improve eyesight. When cooking, you need to master the technique of blanching to remove the fishy smell; this is slightly challenging for beginners. From preparation to serving, it takes about forty minutes.

Stir-fried Pork Slices

Difficulty：★★★☆☆ 2873 kcal

Stir-fried Pork Slices is a classic Hunan-style home-cooking dish that is spicy and appetizing. The pork slices are crispy and fragrant, not greasy, paired with fresh peppers and stir-fried with fermented black beans and bean paste to produce a rich sauce aroma. Rich in high-quality protein and fat, and peppers provide rich Vitamin C, which helps stimulate appetite and warm the body. The difficulty is medium, suitable for beginners with some basic experience. Note the marinating of the meat slices and the control of the heat. From preparation to serving takes about 1 hour, with 30 minutes for marinating and the stir-frying process taking about 15 minutes.

Kung Pao Chicken

Difficulty：★★★★☆ 1790 kcal

This famous Sichuan dish is known for its "scorched-chili lychee" flavor: lightly sweet and sour with the aroma of dried chilies and Sichuan pepper, tender chicken and crunchy peanuts, full of layered textures. It's rich in quality protein and unsaturated fatty acids and great with rice. There are a simple and an advanced version, both fairly beginner-friendly—just plan the marinating time ahead. It takes about 1.5 hours from prep to plate.

Ginger and Green Onion Braised Chicken

Difficulty：★★★☆☆ 549 kcal

Ginger and Green Onion Braised Chicken is a classic Cantonese home-style dish. The chicken is tender and juicy with a rich aroma of ginger and green onions, offering a delicious savory taste that goes well with rice. The chicken thigh provides high-quality protein; paired with ginger and green onions, it warms the body and dispels cold while promoting appetite. Overall, the process relies mainly on steaming and hand-tearing, with clear steps, making it easy even for beginners. From prep to finishing takes about 40 minutes.

Cumin Beef

Difficulty：★★★☆☆ 612 kcal

Cumin Beef is a fragrant, spicy, and tender home-style stir-fry. The rich cumin flavor blends perfectly with the softness of the beef and the crispiness of the green pepper. Beef is rich in high-quality protein and iron, and paired with the green pepper, it provides a balanced nutritional profile. This dish requires some knife skills and control over the heat, making it suitable for cooking enthusiasts with a basic foundation. Including marinating and prep work, it takes about 45 minutes to serve.

Spicy Stir-Fried Chicken with Ginger

Difficulty：★★☆☆☆ 1539 kcal

This Hunan-style dish is a great side dish to accompany rice. The chicken is savory, flavorful, and has a rich ginger aroma; it is spicy without being overly dry. The chicken is rich in high-quality protein, and ginger helps drive out cold and warm the stomach while stimulating appetite. The process is simple and easy even for beginners. The total time from marinating to serving is approximately 1 hour.

Cheesy Bacon Macaroni

Difficulty：★★★☆☆ 728 kcal

Calculations: Determine how many portions you want to make before starting. One serving is exactly enough for 2 people.

Orleans-Style Baked Drumsticks

Difficulty：★★★★★ 955 kcal

Orleans-style baked drumsticks are a simple and easy-to-make dish rich in protein and iron. The total time takes about 3 hours, with about 20 minutes of manual operation.

Shangzhi Pork

Difficulty：★★★★★ 1621 kcal

Shangzhi Pork is a traditional dish from Shangxian, Shaanxi Province. It has a bright red hue, a soft and tender texture, is not greasy, and carries the unique fresh fragrance of Shangzhi. Pork provides high-quality protein and fat, while the fern vegetable adds dietary fiber and various trace elements. This dish involves a tedious process with requirements for cutting skills and heat control, suitable for those with some cooking foundation. From prep to completion, it takes approximately 2.5 hours.

Brewed Duck (Beer Duck)

Difficulty：★★★★☆ 170 kcal

This is a unique home-style dish. The duck meat is fresh, soft and tender, with a faint aroma of beer. It is hot without being greasy and fragrant without being cloying. Duck meat is rich in protein, and beer removes fishiness and enhances fragrance for a richer taste. The recipe is beginner-friendly, with total preparation and cooking time taking about 1 hour.

Potroast with Brown Sauce

Difficulty：★★★☆☆ 991 kcal

The ribs should be tender and fall off the bone, the potatoes soft and flavorful, with rich sauce, slightly sweet and slightly spicy. It is a typical home-style northern stew. Rich in protein, calcium, and carbohydrates; nutritionally balanced. Slightly challenging to make, requires mastering caramelization and heat control, but the steps are clear enough for beginners. Total time is approximately 1.5 hours.