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Eva Pau's Asian Kitchen
series • cooking
PG
series • cooking
PG
Friday night is often takeaway night, but here are a bunch of reasons to create your own Chinese classics! "Friday night will never be the same," says Eva Pau as she cooks up some great Chinese takeaway recipes in Eva Pau's Asian Kitchen. Of course, you don't have to wait for Friday night to create authentic Chinese recipes in your kitchen. Toss the takeaway menu and instead, create your own delicious Chinese dishes with these recipes, including Pau's takes on two of her takeaway favourites.
"Black bean beef has been a takeaway classic since takeaways began, and it's all down to the beans. They are bursting with a deep, rich, unique flavour, a taste that you just can't replicate with anything else," says Eva Pau, who uses them in a from-scratch sauce for her recipe for this takeaway favourite. It's a really quick dish, and you'll have it on the table faster than any takeaway.
Black bean beef. Source: Eva Pau's Asian Kitchen
Gong bao ji ding (or kung pao chicken) is a chicken stir-fry originating from the Sichuan province in China, where it was rumoured to have been named after an ex-governor of Sichuan. Since then, the dish’s popularity has spread globally. Give it a try in this fast but full-of-flavour recipe from Adam Liaw.
Source: Jiwon Kim
Remember the dumplings of yonder years – sad, stodgy dim sum filled with some questionable meat? Thankfully we now live in a dumpling dreamland, replete with xiao long bao, pork pot-stickers and these pillows of pumpkin, known as kawa mantisi.
Source: Leanne Kitchen
Eva Pau shares her take on one of her favourite Chinese takeaways, adding sliced carrot to the usual peas and onion in the chicken curry. Indian and Chinese spices combine to create culinary magic in a dish she loves to serve with chips – dunk them in the curry sauce and enjoy!
Chinese chicken curry. Source: Eva Pau's Asian Kitchen
For a light, fresh and aromatic stir-fry that’s ready in the time it takes you to order takeaway, try O Tama Carey’s ginger and shallot-spiked mussels. The award for Best Supporting Ingredient goes to iceberg lettuce, which adds a nice crunch to the dish.
Chef Tony Ching learnt this simple pork and noodle recipe from his mother, so you know it’s gotta be good. Ready in less than 30 minutes, the salad can be enjoyed hot or cold.
Source: Alan Benson
Let’s reason here. You can buy crispy pork belly from take-out shops, but will it be as good as this porky recipe? No way. Coated with palm sugar caramel and served with baby buk choy, the dish is “worth every second” it takes to make.
Crispy pork belly with palm sugar caramel sauce and steamed baby buk choy Source: Petrina Tinslay
Forget sweet and sour pork, hot and sour tofu and prawns have our hearts a-flutter. To make matters better, this picture-perfect dish can be made in less than 10 minutes.
Source: Leanne Kitchen
If chicken feet are your go-to yum cha cart, then we reckon these homemade succulent, spicy claws deserve a try. A Cantonese cook's recipe is usually so top secret that they take it to their grave! The trick? Marinate, deep-fry, soak and braise your feet.
We’ve all had our fast food disappointments – chewy meat, soggy batter, vegetables so oily they slip down your throat... Give all that a miss and try a Chinese classic: bitter melon with salted eggs. It’s fresh, quick to make and packed with health benefits. Recipe here.
Grease is no longer the word that turns our tastebuds on, but sometimes we still crave a deep-fried fix. That’s where spiced pork dumplings with homemade chilli sauce come in. Smarter than spring rolls, prettier than prawn toast, these appetisers may become an addiction.
Source: Alan Benson
When a dish is more than 700 years old, you don’t mess with it. You also don’t find it at a cheap ‘n’ cheerful Chinese joint. Take Luke Nguyen’s words of advice and make this fish claypot at home.
‘Dessert’ isn’t a thing in traditional Chinese cuisine, but that’s not to say sweets don’t exist. Ditch the deep-fried desserts found on a takeout menu for watermelon in rosewater sauce served with peanut ice-cream. It’s surprisingly awesome.
