Sure, Chinese is a complex cuisine, but every family 家 has their go-to recipes for when time isn't on your side. The kind of satisfying dinner that takes no time to make, but everyone loves. We’ve kept the preparation and cooking time to under 30 minutes – though you’ll need extra time when marinaTing is called for.
Luke Nguyen reckons you can pull off this classic Hong Kong dish in 15 minutes flat. Challenge accepted.
Kung pao chicken
A flavour-packed stir-fry is always a good idea and this one is so simple to pull together. You can put the chicken into the marinade in the morning and keep it in the fridge, ready to go. The rest takes about 10 minutes to prepare.
Beef chow fun
Fire up the burners because this recipe needs some serious heat to pull off. If you can bring the sizzle, beef chow fun takes mere minutes to cook and is basically wonderful.
Chicken with black bean sauce
There’s a reason chicken and black bean sauce is a perennial favourite in Chinese restaurants all over the world: it’s mighty good. It also takes just 20 minutes to make.
Sichuan spicy water fish fillets
Fish is so fast to prepare when gently poached in a broth spiced with ginger, garlic, Sichuan peppercorns and chilli. Make sure you’ve got your pantry well-stocked so you’re ready to go.
Great Aunty Kim’s mint egg
She might be Poh’s Aunty Kim, but you’ll want to adopt her after trying her recipe. It’s ready in 20 minutes and is tasty and filling.
Beef with broccoli and oyster sauce
Prepare and blanch the vegetables and marinate the beef in the morning to keep in the fridge. Then it’s just a matter of throwing everything into a wok when you get home. You’ll be eating this meal within 15 minutes.
Egg fried rice
This speedy vegetarian dish works best with leftover cooked rice, though you can make it with freshly cooked too. Once you've mastered the basics, you can add extra ingredients, depending on what's in your pantry.
Stir-fried hoisin pork and snake beans
Are you sensing a theme here? You simply cannot go wrong with a quick stir-fry on weeknights. This meal is super-tasty, full of nutrition, takes 20 minutes from scratch and can be modified to suit different palates.
Black sesame rice noodles with pork and pickled mushrooms
A restaurant-quality dinner you can have on the table in under half an hour. You can prepare the marinated mushrooms in advance, or marinade as soon as you get home.
Mapo tofu
A spicy dish featuring pork, tofu and plenty of big Chinese flavours like Shaoxing, Sichuan peppercorns and Sichuan pickled chillis. Serve with steamed Asian greens for a hearty, well-rounded mid-week meal.
Bang bang chicken
This is a great street food dish you can make at home. The layered depth of flavour in this meal belies the fact that it takes only 30 minutes to create. Guaranteed to become a favourite.
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