There's nothing wrong with packing your fried rice full of other ingredients, but we typically prefer to keep the focus on the rice itself. That means going easy on the mix-ins (in this case, peas, carrot, onion, and scallion) and seasoning with just a teaspoon each of soy sauce and sesame oil. Despite what you might have heard, you don't necessarily need to use day-old rice; fresh rice fries up just fine.

The beauty of the wok is that you can use it for all sorts of techniques , Noodle Game Walkthrough|Https://Noodleinsight.Com/ but its real purpose in life is stir-frying. The convenience, versatility, and pure deliciousness of stir-fry makes it the perfect weeknight meal. No matter what the contents of your fridge look like, you can have an awesome stir-fry on the table in virtually no time. We've rounded up 33 of our favorite recipes, from kung pao chicken multiple ways and crab fried rice to vegetarian lo mein and Korean-style pork, to illustrate the incredible variety that's just a wok away.

The answer came when I was reading through Fucshia Dunlop's books, in which she mentions that in Northern China, the starchy water leftover from boiling noodles is often drunk like a silky soup or added to sauces to thicken them. It's exactly the same way an Italian cook will save some pasta water to add to their sauce—the extra dissolved starch thickens the sauce, binding it and helping it cling better to the noodles.

On top of steak cooked on the stovetop, pile cold cucumbers, red peppers, and peanuts, then drizzle with a spicy sauce made with fish sauce and dried Thai chiles. Eat it right away or refrigerate it overnight because it's even better the next day.

The problem with so many steam-table iterations of this dish lies in the broccoli: It's too often mushy and bland. To keep it crisp and flavorful here, and get a good sear on the strips of beef without overcooking them, we stir-fry the ingredients over very high heat, using a wok or a wok insert over a grill.

Lentil soup is one bowl of brown sludge that I can really get behind. It hits that sweet spot of being not so unappetizing that you wouldn't even try it, but being just unappetizing enough that the mental shock of how good it tastes compared to how it looks is enough to send an endorphin jolt running through your system.

You have to do ribs on the grill at least once in the summer, and if you're looking for something beyond your basic bottled barbecue sauce, you've come to the right place. Here, apricot preserves give the sauce a sweet, fruity flavor, and chipotle chiles add a contrasting earthy, spicy flavor to the sauce that tastes just as good when licked off your fingers as it does on the ribs.

Especially if you're not blessed with a really good Chinese-American restaurant close by, having the recipes to make your own sesame chicken or crab rangoons can open up a whole world of fun dinner options to scratch that very specific itch. Here are our DIY takes on 10 staples of Chinese takeout, including General Tso's and kung pao chicken, scallion pancakes, vegetable chow mein, and more.

Place mushrooms in the bowl of a food processor and process until pieces no larger than 1/2-inch remain, about 6 short pulses. Transfer to a small saucepan. Add vegetable oil and stir to combine. Place over medium-high heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until mushroom pieces shrink and are deep golden brown, about 8 minutes. Pour through a fine-mesh strainer set over a small bowl. Reserve mushroom pieces and discard all but 1 tablespoon oil.

"It’s important to consider your main flavor and texture when pairing wine with Chinese food. If it is a dark sauce, like the plum sauces or soy based, these are high in sodium, so a wine that is high in fruit focus is best. Wines like Dolcetto, Barbera, Blaufrankisch for reds and Riesling, Sylvaner, Cortese, Prosecco and Champagne in general work best."— Molly Wismeier, Restaurant R’evolution (New Orleans)

Heftier and chewier than chow mein, lo mein noodles are rarely accompanied by more than tiny bits of vegetables and meat when served takeout-style; what starts out delicious can wind up monotonous by the last bite. These stir-fried lo mein noodles get an injection of brightness from a mixture of crisp purple and Napa cabbage and julienned carrots. We soak the slivers of pork in baking soda before browning them, lending the meat a tender and juicy texture.

Making excellent tomato soup from scratch at home is almost as easy as opening a can, and the return on your minor time investment is significant. This version is sort of like a hot gazpacho, in that it's emulsified with bread and olive oil.

It's not easy making a vegan burger that doesn't come out mushy or bland or just plain boring. This one combines chickpeas, cashews, and barley along with fresh vegetables to form a complex, satisfying patty that will behave just like meat on the griddle or grill.

The Portuguese soup of caldo verde (literally "green broth") is about as simple as it gets when it comes to vegetable soups, yet its simplicity is the key to its comforting success. At its most basic, starchy potatoes are simply simmered with onions and kale until the kale is tender and flavorful, the onions have melted into the broth, and the potatoes completely disintegrate, thickening the soup into a rich, thick stew. Some really good olive oil drizzled over the top, and you've got a great, filling lunch or dinner. Here, the cauliflower gets charred, taking on a meaty taste, and the addition of chipotle chiles echoes that smokiness.