Homemade chinese recipes that taste like takeaway.....

[Pomgirl]

Does anyone have any recipes that make chinese dishes like the takeaway? I am going to try my own chicken balls but want something else to serve with

I have had success with recipes from the TV show Chinese Food Made Easy. It was a BBC show we got in Canada for a while. I really learned about the ingredients used to create the flavors. Highly recommend it.

Thanks ill check it out

Bbcgoodfood had a great crispy chili beef recipe, I'm actually having it tomorrow! I printed it out and it's no longer online buy this is basically it (3 limes might be too much imo)
www.kitchensanctuary.com/crispy-chilli-beef/

The dumpling sisters book is fab, I made their crispy shredded beef from their website the other night, and it was amazing!

If you want to really push the boat out and go authentic, then the site The Mala Market has some amazing Sichuan recipes, not for those that can't take their chilli though!

You probably don't need it now, but have a book by ching he Huang, Chinese made easy possibly. The chicken chow mein is fabulous. Sweet and sour pork is nothing like a take away but a zillion times better. Some brilliant recipes in there.

I had a brilliant recipe for lemon chicken, the gist of it is to cut the chicken up small and then douse it in cornflour and lemon juice, which makes a sort of batter, deep fry the chicken, and then you use the left over cornflour lemon slop to make a sauce which you boil, pour over the chicken and then into the oven for 10-15 minutes until it's all sizzly and bubbly.

Does anyone know if they use a different type of onion? I love the onion! Kind of light sweet flavour...not so hot!

Just checked out the Dumpling Sisters book on Amazon, the hard cover is £15.99 but the Kindle edition is only £1.99. Have had a quick skim through, everything looks delicious. Like others, Ching he Huang is great for authentic tasting recipes, her General Tso's Chicken is gorgeous. Gok Wan's brother, Kwoklyn's book, Chinese Takeaway Cookbook has some good recipes too, and he grew up in the family Chinese takeaway so insider knowledge on how to get that authentic takeaway taste (can you tell I like Chinese food!)

The Leon Fast Vegetarian ma po tofu is incredible

Possibly not quite what you had in mind, but this brand of curry paste is very good for making Chinese style curry. Can get it in many of the major supermarkets, Amazon etc. Literally just mash it up with some water into a sauce, add to meat / veg, & simmer till cooked through.

Mmm going to check all these out! Thanks all!!

You need Zhiangs Oriental something or other on YouTube with Chin and Choo (I think??). They are lovely and do UK takeaway-style Chinese food, rather than (as they say) the best Chinese food. It's great.

I had garlic honey prawns for lunch today. Easy and quick in the frying pan. Just butter, garlic, spring onions, sweetcorn, honey, soy sauce, lemon juice and prawns fried together. Added a pack of microwave garlic rice and then mix s couple eggs through it. Delicious.

MsMightyTitanAndHerTroubadours, do you still have that lemon chicken recipe? It sounds like one I used to get in our local takeaway but have never found it anywhere else!

I make my own stir fry sauce - just add chicken strips, stir fry veg pack, pak choi, ginger, garlic and chilli

6 tbsp soy
2 tbsp dry sherry
2 tbsp runny honey
1 tsp sesame oil
2 tsp cornflour

I have Ken Hom's 100 stir fry recipes (part of the my table range) and every one we have tried is fantastic. The oyster beef is better than our local (good) takeaway as is the lemon chicken. Also do the Vietnamese mushroom recipe frequently. We need to try more, but the ones we have done are so good, we keep remaking!

It's taught me so much about the basics of Chinese food, ie using Chinese rice wine to marinate beef for the correct texture or velveting (sp?!) chicken. And because it's stir fry, they're quick enough for through the week.

Ken Homs chicken chow mein is lovely. I leave out the Parma ham though ((yes you did read that correctly!)

I use it as a base and add other things to it depending on what's in the fridge.

I always make salt and chilli wings. Pat the wings as dry as u can and add a teaspoon of salt, 5 spice and pepper salt (can buy the pepper salt from Chinese shops) fine to use without the pepper salt also. Add enough cornflour to really coat the wings then place on a wire rack on a baking tray so they're not touching the baking tray and so the fat drips off. Cook fat side up then then halfway through till cooked and crispy. Chop up an onion, couple of spring onions, half a chilli and grate some ginger and add a couple of crushed garlic cloves to a pan with another teaspoon of 5 spice cook off till almost soft then add the wings and add another teaspoon of salt cook until hot. Can adjust seasoning to your taste

There's a book by Kenny McGovern called "The takeaway secret"

I can recommend it - my copy is falling apart & covered in food stains!

Not homemade BUT can I recommend the Mayflower sauces? Oh my they taste exactly like the take away. The sweet and sour one, satay sauce one and the curry sauce too.

You can find them in B&M!

This is my favourite "treat" dinner, we don't have any take always nearby and this knocks the socks of anything from the supermarkets!
www.deliciousmagazine.co.uk/recipes/stir-fried-beef-with-broccoli-and-cashew-nuts/

We do a huge stir fry, and add equal quanitities of tahini paste or peanut butter, sweet chilli sauce and light soy sauce. Takes amazing.