English home-cooking recipes

Dry-Fried Spicy Chicken (Peking University Canteen Style)

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.

Saskatoon Pie

Soybean Curd Pork

This is a classic Jiangnan home-style dish. Braised with red fermented bean curd, the pork has a translucent red appearance like amber and the meat is tender enough to melt in your mouth. The interplay of salty, sweet, wine, and soybean flavors unfolds on the tongue layer by layer. Rich in high-quality protein and B-Vitamins, it becomes more digestible after slow stewing.

Apple Frangipan Tart

Tomato Meat Sauce

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.

Crab Hot Pot (Rou Xie Bao)

This dish is rich and savory: the crab is sweet and slightly spicy, the potatoes soft, the rice cakes chewy, and the sauce is fantastic over rice—a hearty dish perfect for gatherings. It's rich in quality protein and trace elements. It's moderately difficult: you need to handle live crab and control heat and seasoning ratios, which is a bit challenging for beginners. Expect about 1 hour in total.

Sour Plum Soup

Sour Plum Soup is a traditional sweet and sour, cooling beverage that relieves summer heat. It is especially refreshing when served chilled. The ingredients in the recipe (dark plum, hawthorn, licorice, etc.) help promote saliva production and quench thirst, promote digestion, and improve appetite. The preparation is simple and beginner-friendly, requiring only soaking, boiling, and refrigerating. The entire process, including soaking, two rounds of extraction, and refrigeration, takes more than 6 hours, so it is recommended to prepare in advance.

Old Friend Pork Noodles

Old Friend Pork Noodles are sour, spicy, fresh, and savory. The rice noodles are smooth and textured with the rich aroma of fermented black beans and pickled bamboo shoots, representing the typical Nanning home-cooking taste. Pork provides high-quality protein, while the rice noodles quickly replenish carbohydrates. This has a medium cooking difficulty; remember to soak the rice noodles in advance. Skilled cooks can have the dish ready in about 40 minutes.

Red curry chicken kebabs

General Tsos Chicken

Brewed Pineapple Coffee

This special drink blends the rich aroma of coffee with the sweet and sour taste of pineapple. It features refreshing bubbles and a dense foam, offering a rich textural experience. Pineapple is rich in Vitamin C and dietary fiber, pairing with coffee to awaken the mind. The difficulty is moderate, requiring only whipping cream and mixing liquids; it takes about 10 minutes in total.

Gula Melaka Pork (Sweet and Sour Pork)

Gula Melaka Pork is a classic Cantonese home-cooking dish. It is savory and sour with a crispy exterior and soft interior; the aroma of pineapples makes the meal refreshing and cuts the richness of the meat. Pork provides high-quality protein, while the green pepper and pineapple supplement vitamins and dietary fiber. The difficulty of this dish lies in mastering the frying temperature, so it poses a slight challenge for beginners. However, as long as you follow the steps, you will succeed. The whole process, from marinating to serving, takes about 40 minutes, making it a quick dish perfect for feeding your family.