Chinese fakeaway-difference in price

[Almostbacktoschool]

We’re pretty skint after Christmas, as I’m sure many are. Wanted to do a Chinese takeaway for Dd tomorrow evening and games for mini New Year’s Eve before bed. She’s never had a Chinese before and keeps mentioning it (think she saw on tv)
Would there really be a massive difference in me making it all at home-cost wise?
Spring rolls & prawn crackers and chicken chow mein for 3?

What kind of mains are you thinking of? Mayflower do a great range of sauces that are fairly similar to the takeaway - sweet and sour, satay and black bean you can buy for £1 in b&m or there's the curry powder if she'd like a Chinese chicken curry.

Oh actually just reading the post above mine - yes I would buy chow mein from the takeaway, it's hard to recreate at home and supermarket versions are rank.

Have a look at Ziang’s Food Workshop on YT. I have done their egg fried rice many times.

I suppose it would be cheaper, but I’m not sure by much (especially if you don’t have most of the staples). We have several different Chinese restaurants nearby but prices for chow mein vary between £5.50 - £9.50 (maybe some higher actually). I think I could buy that, spring rolls and prawn crackers for less than £12 for the local.

I cook quite a bit of Asian food at home these days and have got reasonably good at it. Sesame oil is a big secret ingredient, really makes a difference to the flavour and there are good videos online for how to do a decent egg fried rice (I normally use pre packaged microwave rice in the wok). A regular dinner here is egg fried rice with stir fried vegetables and chicken griddled in sesame and garlic.

BUT, I do have such fond memories as a child of having Chinese takeaway. It really does depend what you’re going to order though, because some dishes are easier to create at home than others. Do you know what kind of dishes she is expecting?

in my experience Chinese takeaways vary vastly in quality though. We grew up with a fantastic one in my hometown, but after almost 20 years living in my current city I have only recently found a good Chinese restaurant and it is £££. We have a fantastic Vietnamese place locally though that does excellent fried noodles (mi xao) and pho.

If she is new to Asian food then maybe somewhere like Wagamama would be a good introduction, although not really Chinese, or if you think she would like dim sum is DimT still around?

Just get some egg fried rice and chicken balls from the Chinese takeaway, will prob cost the same as the faff of making it.

Yeah that's your best bet I think

I use Blue Dragon chow mein sauce in sachet, I’d allow three packets.
cut 3 good size chicken breast into thin strips and fry in sesame oil (see below), add the sauce at the end and gently heat

I steam some rice, beat an egg, fry as a flat pancake/omelette, roll and chop into thin slivers, add to the rice for egg ‘fried rice’, you can fry it but I don’t bother.

I do a massive stir fry of veg, sainsburys do tins of bamboo shoot and water chestnuts, use half of each freeze the rest for another time. Fry with sesame oil from sainsburys for authentic taste. I then add mushrooms halved or quarter so still fairly large, strips of red pepper, celery cut on the slant, thin discs of carrots, spring onion, half a red onion, small florets of broccoli, handful of frozen peas, a few frozen beans, anything you have really.

cook some egg noodles, I like the medium ones.

a bit of soy Sauce in the veg at end of cooking, add the drained noodles to the veg
a splash of soy in the egg rice
chicken and sauce nice and hot

i buy snack selections of samosa, spring rolls etc.

it’s not overly cheap but cheaper than a takeaway, but it’s very nice, generally we get some leftovers for a lunch the following day. I don’t skimp on the sauce as it’s that that makes it in my opinion, I do splash a tiny bit of hot water into the empty frying pan that had the chicken and sauce in to get a bit more sauce but be careful as it’s not good if too watery.

It’s worth checking if your local Chinese does a lunch deal that you could reheat later? Ours do 2 courses (spring roll and a main) for £7 - hungover young adult DC’s are fans!

It depends on your budget. In most places you could get that for £20. You could get it from a supermarket like M&S for about £12

Missed the fact she’s 4, two sachets, two chicken breasts, you’ll probably not get any lunches from it.

It's probably cheaper and less faffy to get the supermarket version. I'd 100% do that and cook it up!!!

We make our own rice and usually have spring rolls in the freezer (M&S ones are nice). We then just order mains from the local takeaway. Saves a lot!

Unless you can cook from scratch, I'd order a takeaway. The supermarket versions are pretty bad in comparison and aren't worth it.

If all you want is prawn crackers, spring rolls and chicken Chow mein for two adults and a 4 yo, then it's really not going to be expensive from a takeaway. I don't think it would be more than a few quid saving over supermarket food tbh, and the takeaway is soooooo much nicer. (Obviously the problem is when you decide you need to add the sweet and sour chicken balls, the crispy seaweed, the beef in black bean sauce...)

Chow mein is literally just noodles and beansprouts with seasoning, it’s one of the easiest things you could possibly make.

Unless you already have them in, by the time you've bought specific spices and sauces for authentic flavours you might be as well to get a supermarket ready meal Chinese 'takeaway'.

Have a lovely NYE.

Have a look at ziangs workshop on YouTube . His recipes are spot on , tastes just like a takeaway

It’ll never taste as good unless you get some
msg.

Had a Chinese last night with my son who is also 4. Cost £25 and I hardly bought anything. Sometimes I like to my own at home, mayflower curry sauce is so nice for a Chinese fakeaway

I made a few very good Chinese takeaway dishes during lockdown using this website

www.recipetineats.com/category/chinese-recipes/

(General Tso's chicken recipe is outstanding)

But definitely a faff to do it yourself so personally I'd get a takeaway and make savings elsewhere.

Supermarkets often have a deal in the fresh section of noodles + sauce + stir fry veg mix. You could get that and add whatever bits of meat / fish / veg alternative you have handy.

You could add spring rolls etc from their freezer party selections. Also look out for bags of ready cooked prawn crackers in the crisp aisle.

If you have a teapot and some little cups you could also do green tea or jasmine tea. Chop sticks might be fun if you can find some cheap ones.

Your DD is 4, has never had a take away before, and she has seen it on TV so I am guessing that it is the whole banquet experience she is wanting.
Yes, supermarket stuff is not as tasty, but your DD wont know that.

At some point, I would recommend getting "raw" prawn crackers. They are little plastic looking disks that you put in hot oil. They puff up into crackers, and are a lot of fun to watch :)

www.sainsburys.co.uk/gol-ui/product/chinese-and-thai-ready-meals/sainsburys-chinese-takeaway-selection-1283kg-7991489-p-44
Something like this would feel like a treat without paying takeaway prices?

Sainsburys do a nice one and their thai for two is also nice. They do offers and sometimes you can pick up the bag with those or similar in for £7.50.