Chinese recipes - like from takeaways

[Deactivated] on 10/04/2014 - 19:55

When my wife & I follow (supposed) recipes for chinese, it never comes close to the taste of what we can buy from a takeaway. We have all the right ingredients and a wok burner. We know to do aromatics first. To use good quality stock. To use dark soy for marinating, light for cooking. So I think it's the recipes or amounts in them that are wrong.

We've three great successes: honey & sesame seed battered prawns, combination chicken, and sweet & sour battered pork. But the rest… yee-uck!

Has anyone been down this path before, and know where we can find recipes that turn out food just like (good, nice-tasting) takeaways? (Not those imitation recipes in magazines at supermarket checkouts.) I know there's thousands of recipes online. But we're tired of trying one after the other, only to have it taste disgusting.

Food & Grocery

Comments

      • scrimshaw on 11/04/2014 - 21:48
        +1

        Chinese BBQ shops are the biggest offenders. Have a look at BBQ One in Eastwood — they have seven offences within 12 months.

        Fail to display potentially hazardous food under temperature control - chicken, roast pork
        Fail to take all practicable measures to eradicate and prevent the harbourage of pests - cockroach activity observed
        Fail to maintain premises, fixtures, fittings and equipment to the required standard of cleanliness

        you don't really need to even check the website to see who the offenders are, just take a look at the shop. Seems like cooks from mainland china come to Australia and start working here with no idea of what HACCP is and how food contamination works.

      • Speckled Jim on 17/04/2014 - 11:29

        Noodle Box are slightly better in this regard. At least you can see it being tossed together.
        The only other takeaway we buy is supermarket BBQ chicken.

    • bs0 on 12/04/2014 - 17:31
      +1

      I wouldn't say that fast food and restaurants are any different. You could definitely witness the same incidence hapoening in a restaurant

  • nicbaz on 11/04/2014 - 20:52
    +4

    1. Wok Burner: http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/High-Pressure-Gas-Wok-Burner-55Mj…

    2. Oil: high smoke point, and lots of it.

    3. Cook in batches, and in a specific order:
      -Cook thinly cut meat for about 30-60 seconds until browned, and remove from wok
      -Then more oil, cook aromatics, spring onions for about 30 seconds until aromatic.
      -Then sauce (light/dark soy, oyster sauce etc) until it boils (a few seconds)
      -Then in with vegetables (maybe a minute or two)
      -Then mix in the meat and serve.
      If cooking with noodles, much more oil is required.

    4. Good recipes: http://forums.egullet.org/topic/75962-chinese-food-pictorial…

    5. Marinate meat in a soy/cornstarch mixture

  • CMichael on 11/04/2014 - 22:02

    When cooking noodle based stir fry, where do you buy your noodles from?

    I buy the 'fresh' Hokkien from Woolworths, but it cooks very soft and gives a very gluggy consistency. Especially once reheated the next day…

    Looking for more firm noodles like what is used at Noodlebar and such.

    • Kjjd on 11/04/2014 - 22:58
      +1

      I use the Yunion brand Hokkien noodles . If you like a thinner noodle try do it as Shanghai egg noodles and Japanese noodles. I don't see them at supermarkets ,only at Asian grocery stores.

      • pyro love bird on 12/04/2014 - 19:40

        I second this, although I think Yunion is a WA based company?
        Otherwise you can buy dried egg noodles and I quite like them too, most restaurants use dried egg noodles because they keep for longer etc. I wouldn't recommend the stuff at woolies, I always get things from asian stores.

    • Twodogs on 12/04/2014 - 00:37

      The firmer noodles from woolworths are Chow mein noodles " Fantastic Brand " in the dairy isle .

    • This Guy on 12/04/2014 - 01:43

      Follow the directions on the pack. I think it's break them by microwaving or leving in water for a few minutes. Heat your wok up so drops of water evaporate on touch, cook the rest of the meal and add noodles in the last two to five minutes (depending on if you have a good or standard stove).

    • casval on 12/04/2014 - 22:48

      If you have any asian grocery stores nearby, shop there. Woolies asian products are overpriced. My local store, eg. Gold Star 500g hokkien noodles $1.40. These are firm.

      Beans sprouts is another shocker at woolies. Typically 79c to $1.50 per kg at asian grocers. Woolies around $2.50 for something like 200g?

  • [Deactivated] on 12/04/2014 - 00:23
    +1

    Try googling "pf changs <insert dish> recipe". It's a big chain chinese place in the US, very westernised, possibly moreso than local individual chinese places. There are plenty of people out there trying to replicate their recipes.

  • sandsay on 12/04/2014 - 00:34

    I like Malaysian Chinese/Malay/Indian food like sweet & sour prawns, fried mee etc. Traditional Chinese (at least the stuff found here eg chicken legs is disturbing to me). You don't really know if it's real cow meat, and how the cows are raised and culled.

    *shivers.

  • This Guy on 12/04/2014 - 02:18

    Sugar, shortning, heat and starch.

    Mix meat with backing soda and leave for a day.

    Before cooking, mix starch and water to make a thick fluid that reacts to impacts.

    Wok needs to be hot enough so that a drop of water anywhere will instantly evaporate. This can take what seems like five minutes with standard stoves, but keep testing with drops of water and make sure you don't over heat your wok.
    Chuck your shorting in. Melt and spread it (10 seconds max).
    Chuck in meat (or tofu). Cook for 30 seconds.
    Add powders and sauces (this is where you add the sugar). Cook another minute max. Swirl in starch to thicken WHILE STIRING (unless you want starch worms).
    Add veg. Cook for minute and a half.
    Quickly swirl soy sauce around dry rim of wok, then swirl meal over rim (Gets rid of the sh!tty soy sauce taste). If adding noodles, add after swirl. Cook for 30 seconds longer.

    Cook time from start to finish on very high heat should be around three and a half minutes, otherwise your veg will get soggy and your meat dry. Bicarb soda chemically cooks the meat. If you don't leave it over night, you need to leave your meat on heat longer so you don't kill people.

    Soups are different.

    Sauce is normally plum sauce, oyster sauce, sugar and flavoring for that dish.

    • This Guy on 12/04/2014 - 02:30

      Sorry, starch should be added after soy sauce but before noodles. Been a long time since that job :)

    • This Guy on 12/04/2014 - 02:53

      Also got to deep fry battered meat for honey/Sweet and sour dishes first…

  • Speckled Jim on 12/04/2014 - 10:29

    RFM, I will make one recommendation for a stir-fry experience that will leave you all smiling!
    Jimmy's Sate Sauce

    If you can't find it at Woolies, most Asian grocery stores should have it. Here is the larger 360g jar we buy:
    http://www.asiangrocerystore.com.au/jimmy-satay-sauce.html

    Basically an ad here:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zws_iq4NaE

    It's a concentrated sauce, so the jar goes a long way and keeps perfectly in the fridge. You only need a tablespoon or two for a family meal. While you may baulk at the price, you'll be convinced after your first meal, I'm certain. It's not peanuty like a Thai sate, but a sweet and spicy type. I've used it in beef and chicken dishes. It's truly wonderful.

  • porsche26c on 12/04/2014 - 14:51
    +2

    i would purchase Kylie Kwong simple chinese cooking cook book. alot of the receipts are easy and really nice. however it is not the starchy stuff you buy from chinese take away. great dumpling receipts, stir frys etc.
    great place to start.

    • [Deactivated] on 13/04/2014 - 13:01

      We have one of her cookbooks. The Soy Chicken was pretty good. Nice book, but not a lot of recipes!? (There's only a few in the chicken section. Most are fish recipes.)

  • LiamF on 12/04/2014 - 18:10

    I'm going to seriously recommend that you look into cookbooks and/or recipes by Fuschia Dunlop. She's Sichuan-trained, and has written the three Chinese books that I cook out of most heavily - I've yet to have any issues with her food.

    She's got a huge number of recipes up at: http://uktv.co.uk/food/search/searchArea/566&q=fuchsia+dunlo…

    I strongly recommend her gong bao ji ding (known in the West as Kung Po chicken) or ma po dofu as a starter. They're not westernised recipes - I've yet to have any issues with them.

    If you're after Western Chinese/American Chinese, I'd recommend finding her recipe for General Tso's chicken - there's two versions, one of which is sourced from the original Taiwanese chef, and one of which is more-Western still.

    • HN Professional on 21/04/2014 - 23:55

      I'd second your recommendation (she's the real deal: walks the wok) but I think realfamilyman has already indicated that his family aren't into the spicy stuff (Fuschia's area of expertise)

  • cryptos on 12/04/2014 - 18:43

    Anyone know a curry laksa paste recipe, my local makes it and I'm sure it is a mix of Sadat and curry, but I cannot reproduce it, obviously tried curry powders and Malay satay sauces.. Would love to have something close.

    Personally I think the main inferred ident for good Asian cooking is a high heat / wok combo, Asisan stores sell those cast iron burners, that kinda high heat.

    stir-fry to me means constantly stirring adding ingredients fast and getting it off the heat, veggies still semi crisp and colourful

    • pyro love bird on 12/04/2014 - 19:44

      Maybe start by trying out different pastes that are premade before attempting it yourself? Recreating things like curry pastes are quite complex and very difficult if you're not too sure what you're doing. I don't particularly like laska myself but I've heard that Valcom and Woh Hup are good brands to be using :)

  • BlkR on 12/04/2014 - 20:07

    You guys do realise that dishes like Mongolian Lamb, Sweet and Sour pork, Ham and Chicken Rolls are just fake chinese dishes that are made to cheat westerners right? ….. lol.. you try to find those dishes in China and they are thinking what on earth are you talking about..

    As authentic goes, Burwood, Ashfield areas do have authentic chinese food, Northern and Southern Style… though definitely not your Mongolian Lamb type dishes =P

    • StewBalls on 12/04/2014 - 21:40

      Actually, in many parts of Northern China you do find Mongolian Lamb that very closely resembles what many restaurants in Australia are serving…just FYI! ;)

      • BlkR on 13/04/2014 - 23:31

        actually no there is not a mongolian lamb dish that resembles what we have here in Australia, coming from DongBei and have a so called family own Restaurant here, i can safely say I should know a bit lol….

        • StewBalls on 14/04/2014 - 08:26

          I have it on good authority that there really is…I recently had friends from Liaoning visit, when we went out for dinner they actually ordered Mongolian Lamb (I wouldn't coz I hate the stuff)…they commented on how similar it was to what they've had in the North/West when they've been travelling on business.

          You might just have to get out a bit more bro…

          Truth be told, some of my local Chinese friends cook a dish that also very closely resembles S&S pork (just thinner strips, but still battered with sweet pineapple sauce) which they also tell me is very traditional (sorry, didn't ask which region)…so whilst I agree that much of the cuisine has been diluted for Aussie tastes, you can't just dismiss all of it as "fake".

        • BlkR on 14/04/2014 - 08:32

          yes they have Mongolian Lamb dish , but it IS NOT the same at what we have here in Australia… anyway… it is all fake as we both agree hahaha

        • StewBalls on 14/04/2014 - 08:35

          Hmm, sounds like maybe our local restaurant is just a bit better than yours then… ;)

    • HAL on 13/04/2014 - 00:47

      Sweet and Sour pork is a Cantonese dish that you'll definitely find in China…

      Though there is a mixture of authentic and highly westernised varieties here…

      • [Deactivated] on 13/04/2014 - 13:13
        +1

        Not sure if it was from a book, internet, or TV, but years ago I learned somewhere that Cantonese was the type of food my family liked best (at the time).

        • HAL on 13/04/2014 - 18:34
          +1

          9/10 times when people refer to Chinese food it's usually Cantonese.

          I believe two factors have really helped it spread:

          1/ It's quite "bland" in the sense that it tries to bring out the essence of the ingredients itself, it's gentle on a "westernised" palate. Yum Cha is a good example.
          2/ A huge number of early Chinese migrants were from the Canton region… brining their "Chinese" food with them.

          There are huge variations in Chinese food, definitely worth exploring!

      • lplau on 13/04/2014 - 21:07

        There is a lot of dishes which you may find, but you will also find that those dishes NO Chinese EVER orders them.

        Like sweet and sour pork, you won't see that served frequently in China although if you ask ,they will be able to make it.

        • Ughhh on 14/04/2014 - 10:55

          Food in Hong Kong (Cantonese) is different to food in mainland China btw.

      • BlkR on 13/04/2014 - 23:31

        agreed, highly westernised thats for sure

    • [Deactivated] on 13/04/2014 - 13:10

      Sure, but at least neither is boring meat & 3 veg. I didn't get to taste pizza, or chinese food until I was about 16yo. So we're focussing on learning chinese atm.

      • HAL on 13/04/2014 - 18:37
        +1

        Good on you for making an effort and not sticking to what you know!

  • Dr Techno on 13/04/2014 - 00:46

    Might be a good idea to follow a few youtube channels that do Asian cooking. More interactive learning, also you could probably ask questions there.

    Some good channels I've came across -

    Cooking with Dog (Japanese)
    https://www.youtube.com/user/cookingwithdog

    Helen's Kitchen (Vietnamese but some chinese-ish recipes in there)
    https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMmZEL8jV1B61NKAXcyW87A

    Some chinese ones I just found -
    https://www.youtube.com/user/mingskitchen
    https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaUR4ViaAVLLzKQ2ex6u1Sg

  • HAL on 13/04/2014 - 01:07

    Surprised no one has mentioned "wok hay" (Cantonese)… the breath of the wok… basically the charred smokey flavour imparted by the wok

    Having grown up on Chinese food, this defines and makes a dish (especially stir fried noodles)

    I hope this helps… unfortunately I am a great consumer of food not a great cooker :)

    • lplau on 13/04/2014 - 21:08

      Lol, and that "wok hay" is what usually causes people to have bad breath or mouth ulcers if they have too much. Since it makes their body lean towards "Hot" side.

      • HAL on 13/04/2014 - 21:41

        But it's soooo good! :D

  • Mamaof3 on 13/04/2014 - 16:47

    Go to christines recipes (google it)! She's got a great collection of 'authentic' recipes.
    I've tried a few myself and its very similar to the restaurant stuff.

    Stuff out of jars and tins are never going to taste authentic

  • docians on 13/04/2014 - 18:26
    +1

    Does anyone here have a recipe of sweet and sour pork that tastes like takeaway
    Most of the recipes I've seen look and taste different
    I guess I am a sucker for starchy fatty red takeaway pork with batter :)

    • scrimshaw on 13/04/2014 - 18:44

      Canton style sweet sour pork
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=ta…

      • [Deactivated] on 13/04/2014 - 19:57

        I don't know if we're frequenting the same takeaways, but unlike the youtube vid above, the ones we've been to batter their pork. This is the one my wife makes. It is very similar to the ones we've been to.

        Ingredients:

        500g cubed pork
        1 egg lightly beaten
        oil for frying
        1/2 cup cornflower
        4 shallots, peeled and cut into 2cm lengths
        1 red capsicum cut into 2cm squares
        1 420g can pineapple pieces, juice reserved
        1 clove garlic, crushed
        3 tsp cornflour blended with 2 tblsp water

        Sweet & Sour Sauce:

        1/2 cup white vinegar
        1 tblsp soy sauce
        1/4 tsp salt
        1/2 cup brown sugar
        2 tblsp tomato sauce
        3/4 cup reserved pineapple juice

        Method:

        1. Mix pork chunks in a bowl with a beaten egg so each piece is coated with egg.

        2. Heat oil (5cm deep) in a wok. Roll pork pieces in cornflour and fry in hot oil until brown. Remove and drain on paper towel.

        3. Drain most of the oil from wok. Add shallots, capsicum, drained pineapple pieces and garlic. Stir fry for a few minutes. Add pork and toss to combine.

        4. Mix all sauce ingredients together. Add to wok and bring to the boil. Stir in blended cornflour and cook while stirring until mixture is thick and clear. Transfer to serving dish. Serve with steamed rice.

        Serves 6

        • BlkR on 13/04/2014 - 23:34

          Tip:

          sweet and sour sauce
          Worcester Sauce
          Vinegar
          Sugar
          Salt
          water
          Red colouring

          to make those food court style sweet and sour pork =P

  • [Deactivated] on 13/04/2014 - 19:36

    Say does anyone know… If we cook meat that has been marinated first, the marinate coats the wok with a thick layer. Then the veg takes longer to cook because the wok metal isn't touching the veg. So we've been cooking the veg first, pour them out of wok into a large bowl, stir-fry the meat, then pour the veg back in, and seconds later any sauce. This seems to prevent the marinade layer sticking to the bottom of the wok. Many recipes say to stir-fry the meat first. Is there a way to prevent the marinade from coating the wok, and does it even make any difference which way around we do it?

    • nicbaz on 13/04/2014 - 22:13

      To me, it sounds as if your marinade is high in sugar and this can cause the issues you are describing. You can use more oil, as well as a super hot wok, to maybe help this.

      Here is a nice recipe/tutorial, had it for tea last night actually!
      http://forums.egullet.org/topic/76072-pictorial-soy-sauce-ch…

    • Mad-Season on 13/04/2014 - 23:11

      Sounds like the sugar in the marinade is caramelising and creating a coating on your wok.

    • [Deactivated] on 14/04/2014 - 01:27

      Hm… Ok. I was following this recipe from earlier in the thread:

      http://rasamalaysia.com/beef-and-broccoli-recipe/2/

      (Just the marinade part.) I hadn't added any sugar yet. It happens whenever there's any kind of sauce or marinade on the meat, and the meat is the first thing into the wok.

      If I reverse the order it doesn't happen. So I usually stir-fry ginger, garlic, and onions in a little oil for a short time, then throw vegetables in. Then remove those from the wok, and then cook any meat before adding the vegetables back in, and finally any sauce/stock.

      I scraped some of the coating off the wok tonight - it was the sauce and fibres of the meat stuck to the pan. When I go to stir the meat after tipping it into the wok, it sticks to the wok and "tears". That - and the marinade - is what is sticking to the wok.

      • mmd on 14/04/2014 - 15:55

        Hi RFM
        I noticed the marinade sticks to my pan too sometimes.
        The marinade seems to stick more onto my wok (esp on the sides), compared to my non stick kmart frypan.
        One solution is to use extra oil/lard (did u watch the sbs food safari beef stir fry video? The chef was deep frying the beef in the massive wok!) or like what u've done i.e. fry vegies first, remove, then fry beef and then add vegies (the healthier approach :P).

        May I ask you what is your opinion on the recipe from this site compared with solomon's? More authentic taste?

        • [Deactivated] on 25/04/2014 - 16:55

          Sorry, I missed this before. Videos like this that show the cooking are great. Thanks!

          I haven't had time to cook it yet, but I've downloaded it on the HDD for later.

          Charmaine Solomon has been around since ~ 70s. I take a lot of recipes from that era with a grain of salt (pun intended).

      • nicbaz on 14/04/2014 - 19:58

        More oil, more heat!

        Heat up the wok until it is smoking, add about 2-3 tablespoons of oil, and the fry the meat for around a minute until browned. Should be lots of smoke, lots of heat, but very quick!

        Something like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHRudxFOvcg

    • moocher on 14/04/2014 - 12:11

      I clean the wok if there is any residue from the initial cooking of the meat. Doesn't need to be a thorough clean, just dish brush and water to get the stuff off, then heat the wok to evaporate the moisture and add new oil. That's what mum taught me to do too.

  • nubzy on 13/04/2014 - 20:46

    Some great tips been posted here. All I know is that a wok is essential for chinese and stir fry cooking. Tried to make stir fry dozens of times on my electric stove and always a failure, doesn't have that signature taste, vegetables and meat is soft and lacks flavour.

  • lplau on 13/04/2014 - 21:04

    Depends what you mean by Chinese Takeaway, is it Chinese takeaway like the food court style ones, where they have already made everything or is it Chinese takeaway from the local restaurant sort of thing?

    Firstly the food court style pretty much most of them are nasty and is what the Chinese call "Trick Ghost Men (Gnat Guai Lo)" food, essentially it deviates very far from authentic food and is generally what "Foreigners" consider is Chinese. (Lemon Chicken is NOT a authentic Chinese dish)

    Where as a good restaurant take away will tend to actually make authentic Chinese dishes unless you go to one of those "Trick Ghost Men" restaurants.

    In Melbourne there is quite a few good Chinese places which you can often get quite authentic Chinese. My colleagues always asks me to choose the chinese restaurants since I've pretty much eaten at most of them. When I choose the authentic ones they are like "OMFG this stuff is so much different to what we usually get".

    Then I find out they usually ask for fried chicken ribs or lemon chicken. I'm like ……… "NO COMMENT".

    Its almost like going to India and asking for "Butter Chicken" LOL!.

    • [Deactivated] on 25/04/2014 - 17:01

      The food I'm refering to looks similar to, but doesn't taste "tired" or "used", like shopping centre food courts do. But I don't think it's authentic either. (We'll have to save that for later, after we taste authentic first, so we know what it's meant to taste like.) What I mean is food from stand-alone chinese restaurants. So I guess it must be somewhere inbetween the two!?

  • Parentheses on 13/04/2014 - 23:48

    People have spoken about the heat, but that really is a huge part of it - your wok needs to be hot enough to sizzle the oil not just when you put the things in, but the entire way through the cooking process.

    You are also going to be butting up against the health craze in all the cooking books - restaurant chinese cooking will likely have a lot more salt and sugar (particularly brown sugar in the soy/rice wine based sauces) than what the recipe book editors are comfortable listing.

    You would also do well to double anything that isn't meat or veggies in the dish - spices, liquids, etc - takeaway chinese is all about the sauce. I personally use half of whichever sauce I'm making as a marinade, most of which burns away when batch-browning (the batch part is important) the meat, then adding the second half and the veggies (which may or may not be pre-boiled) with all the meat together for a final toss on the heat.

  • Tech5 on 15/04/2014 - 03:46

    Key ingredient for all recipes: Chicken Bouillon Powder

    http://static.caloriecount.about.com/images/medium/lee-kum-k…

    I guarantee the dish will taste delicious

  • Azn310 on 15/04/2014 - 13:27

    Have you season the wok right? (No,I'm not talking about salt and pepper) Also get the wok really really hot and cook fast before things start to burn. And then wash the wok with hot water and bring it to boil, then dump it, that's it. Never use detergent on woks or it will ruin your patina (seasoning on wok)

  • [Deactivated] on 25/04/2014 - 17:06

    Can anyone recommend a good asian grocer in Sydney (near a train station)? I went to a few local ones but they didn't have much different to Woolworths, but at a dearer price. I had to visit three before I could find Won Ton Soup Powder. Only one had fresh chinese green vegetables (which were all tired, limp, and snail-eaten). Is there a place that has lots of different fresh veg, spices, powders, etc.?

    • pyro love bird on 25/04/2014 - 23:55

      If it's not around your area I suppose you could buy them from an online store?

      Otherwise china town? Cabramatta is a little ways away but it's got fresh produce, although the place might give you a bit of culture shock, it's like walking right into VN.

      • cobba on 26/04/2014 - 08:00

        Yeh, and if you go to Cabra, its really wise to take the train (or motor scooter as I do) as parking is a real PITA. Other than that, you will find everything you need,,,, and more in regards to ingredients…..

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