自作白族玫瑰餡餅

Has a good time making Bai Minority Rose Flower pastry. They use pig lard, which makes everything better.

I've been working as a food tour guide in Xi'an for almost two years and have guided more than 500 travelers. One thing I've noticed is that finding food isn't always the hardest part of eating in China.

It's knowing what to order.

For example:

• You find a busy local noodle shop, but the entire menu is in Chinese.
• Google Translate gives you a strange translation, and you're still not sure what the dish actually contains.
• You want to try local specialties, but you don't know which restaurants are worth visiting.
• You finally choose something, but you have no idea how spicy it will be!

I'm curious about your experiences, especially if you've visited Xi'an or are planning a trip to China.

What's one food-related situation in China that you found confusing, frustrating, or unexpectedly difficult?

I'd love to hear your stories. I'm a local guide, so I may also be able to share some practical tips.

When I was at BICC (Beijing International Chinese College) back in 2017/2018 they served a spicy fish soup that I have not stopped thinking about. I emailed the school and my teachers but nobody has gotten back to me. I did some digging and it might be “Suan Cai Yu noodle soup” but I’m not 100%. All I know is that it was delicious and I desperately want to eat it again.

I've been trying to make cumin lamb using this recipe, but I've been having some trouble getting consistently crispy lamb.

I've tried cooking it in both a carbon steel wok and a cast iron pan, but I haven't noticed much of a difference between the two.

I'm still a beginner cook, so I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong. I feel like I'm following the recipe pretty closely, but the lamb usually gets crispy when I first cook it, only to soften as I continue with the rest of the recipe.

Has anyone run into this issue or have any tips on how to keep the lamb crispy throughout the cooking process? I'd appreciate any advice!

Hi there! I'm hoping someone can help me identify/confirm this ingredient. We ordered Sichuan style twice cooked pork tonight. It contained this ingredient which looked like a green onion but much larger and didn't have an onion flavor. Is it a Chinese leek? It seemed larger than a leek so maybe it's some type of leaf? Regardless, the dish was excellent. Thanks for your help.

I want to follow https://thewoksoflife.com/how-to-velvet-chicken-stir-fry/?__cf_chl_rt_tk=ezuXBQP17oJXVgTKBxD.EqU4uqWyhF9Qv0D1NjM2ut4-1791900819-1.0.1.1-HL_ToUm_xbmxFnijiLHi6X0O4aH_s9.DfTOeaO_v_Qw for velveting chicken for stir frying.

I'm a bit confused about the pre-cooking process. Step 4 is the searing for 20 seconds along with "Stir-fry until the chicken has turned opaque" step. This is referred to as the "pre-cook" process IIUC, but I'm a bit confused why we need to pre-cook, (inevitably) cool, and then cook/stir fry again instead of doing it all in one go?

I already got Wife cake/sweetheart cake, mooncakes, and mung bean osmanthus cakes on the way, but what are some things I can get at a bakery and for dinner?

I'm the wife, so I don't know if there are any other cultural things a woman gives to a husband. Just trying to learn.

We got married at the beginning of November, so I was also thinking of some autumn treats too.

This is homemade char siu, Chinese-style roast pork with that sweet-savory glaze and slightly charred edges.

I love how the outside gets sticky and caramelized while the inside stays juicy. It’s one of those dishes that smells amazing before it even comes out of the oven.

What do you usually serve with char siu — rice, noodles, or something else?

Char Siu Pork

Ingredients:

500 g pork

1 tbsp red yeast rice

1 tsp five spice powder

3 tbsp sugar

3 tbsp honey

3 tbsp soy sauce

1 tsp pepper

3 tbsp white wine

1 tbsp red wine

1 tbsp sesame oil

4 garlic

Instructions:

Combine red rice yeast, sugar, honey, soy sauce, pepper, rice wine, red cooking wine, sesame oil in a bowl. Add crushed garlic into the sauce. Mix well. Add red food coloring if you like. Cut the pork neck into long strips about 5 cm wide, put the meat inside a zip lock bag.

Pour the marinade sauce into the bag. Zip it tightly. Press the meat inside the bag to make sure all the meat is covered with the sauce. Transfer the bag into the chiller afterwards. Refrigerate overnight to two nights or for at least 8 hours before roasting. The next day or on the day you want to roast, take out the bag. Prepare a baking pan, you may line it with aluminium foil, so the charred sauce will not stain the pan. Bake in a preheated oven 180°C for 20 minutes. Keep checking once in a while. Reduce the oven temperature if the meat looks burning.

After 20 minutes of roasting, brush it generously with honey or maltose for a glossy, caramelized finish. Return the pork to the oven and roast for an additional 5 minutes. Flip the pork, brush the other side, and roast for another 5 minutes. The total roasting time should be around 30 minutes, with the pork developing a caramelized and slightly charred surface. Let it cool for about 10 minutes on a cooling rack.

Once slightly cooled, slice the Char Siu into your desired thickness. Serve immediately, and enjoy your juicy, flavorful Char Siu Roast Pork!

For more detailed recipe: Char Siu Pork.

my coworker brought this back from yunnan! it has a really nice lemongrass/citrusy aroma. i'm guessing it’s lemongrass dried beef (xiang mao cao gan ba / 香茅草干巴)? has anyone tried this before or know the best way to eat it?

I just managed to find some Chinese chive flower sauce! I’m very happy to have found it but would appreciate some tips on how to use it! Thank you in advance :)

I had 2 friends come over to help me make dumplings!

For the dough:

500 grams of flour
1/2 tsp salt
250 grams of hot water (150 degrees Fahrenheit)

I mixed together with a wooden spoon and let it cool a bit before kneading for about 3 minutes. I let the dough rest in the fridge for about 4 hours before my friends came over.
I also bought store-bought wrappers so we could compare (I preferred the homemade wrappers).

We had 2 fillings, one vegetarian and the other had beef. They both had carrots, cabbage, Shaoxing wine, mung bean vermicelli, tofu, wood ear fungus, and shiitake mushrooms. They were great and so fun to make!

Are Yal disappointed at all in the finale ?