Recipes – Towards China

A good place to begin

Easy

Short ingredient lists, simple moves and plenty of confidence.

Easy20 min

Aubergine in plum sauce

A quick steam softens aubergine before it reaches the frying pan.

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Easy22 min

Blistered tiger-skin peppers

Brown blisters on green peppers give this dish its tiger-skin name.

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Easy13 min

Chinese chives and eggs

Garlic chives and eggs cook together in soft, golden pieces.

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Easy15 min

Classic egg-drop soup

A thin stream of beaten egg turns into ribbons in hot broth.

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Easy20 min

Cold noodles with Sichuan dressing

Cold noodles carry a warm tingle from Sichuan pepper, with cucumber for crunch.

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Easy20 min

Creamy sesame noodles

A toasted-sesame sauce coats these noodles, with cucumber on top for crunch.

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Easy25 min

Crisp five-spice potatoes

Small potatoes get two textures here: a soft middle and golden, cracked edges.

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Easy20 min

Crunchy shredded potato stir-fry

These potato matchsticks stay lightly crisp instead of becoming fluffy.

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Easy20 min

Crunchy smashed cucumber salad

Crack, dress, crunch. A no-cook cucumber salad with garlic, sesame and a tangy dressing.

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Easy2 hr 15 min

Crunchy wood-ear mushroom salad

Wood-ear mushrooms stay springy and crunchy after cooking.

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Easy23 min

Egg and spring-onion crepes

These thin, soft pancakes come from a pourable egg-and-flour batter.

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Easy30 min

Egg foo young

Egg foo young is a filled omelette served with a savoury gravy.

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Every swap explains what changes. Some specialist ingredients are worth finding: plain flour cannot do the job of glutinous rice, and chilli sauce cannot recreate fermented bean paste.