Popular Chinese Food That You Must Try

Chinese food is one of the favorite cuisines all over the world. The use of rich spices and fresh vegetables makes the taste of every bite of Chinese food mouth-watering and mesmerizing for you. Chinese food is made up of strong spicy and tangy flavors with a hint of sweetness and a lot of fresh vegetables. For the people of China, food has symbolic meaning. For example, the service of rare and expensive food items and the inclusion of a variety of food items in a meal usually show their respect to the guests. 

If you are craving delicious Chinese food in Franklin Park, NJ then you should try out the following food items:

Kung Pao Chicken:

Kung Pao Chicken is a classic and authentic Chinese recipe made up of stir-fry chicken, peanuts, and fresh vegetables. In some restaurants, it is also known as Kung Pao Chicken. During traditional cooking, ingredients like Sichuan peppercorns, Chinese black vinegar, Chinese rice wine, and whole dried red chilies are used in it. You can add a variety of vegetables like carrots, water chestnuts, celery, zucchini, and broccoli. It is best to serve it with steamed rice or fried rice. You can even serve it even with noodles.

Szechuan shrimp:

Szechuan Shrimp is Chinese food with sweet, tangy and spicy flavours that gives you a mouth-watering experience. Tender baby shrimps are marinated with cornstarch and other spices. During the process of cooking Szechuan shrimp, you can add other ingredients like doubanjiang (chili bean sauce), hoisin sauce, Shaoxing wine, carrots, and the red bell pepper. You can serve it as a side dish with hot steamed rice, noodles, or soups.

Chǎofàn:

One of the popular Chinese foods is Chao Fan. It is also popular at restaurants in the Philippines. It is a bowl of stir-fried rice which is traditionally made with left-over rice mixed with eggs or sometimes meat or pork. Other ingredients used are carrots, spring onions, and peas. You can serve it with siomai, gyoza, or lumpia.

Dumplings:

They are of two types- crescent-shaped dumplings named as gao; and round, purse-shaped dumplings named as bao. But under these categories also, you will find a wide variety of dumplings based on ingredients used, kind of dough used, and whether the dumpling is boiled, steamed, or fried. The main ingredients used while making a dumpling can range from minced meat, chicken, tofu, pork, and various vegetables. They are served with dipping sauces.

Poon Choi:

This is a Cantonese-style recipe and is believed to have originated six centuries ago, during China Song’s dynasty. Poon Choi is one of the popular and traditional dishes during the time of Chinese New year. It is made in large proportions and hence served in large wooden, porcelain, or metal basins called poon. 

It can be made of any kind of meat like beef, pork, chicken, shrimps, prawns, eels or crabs, pigskin, fried fish maw, dried oysters, and duck. You can also include processed foods such as fish balls, squid balls, mushrooms, bean curd, and ginseng. Vegetables are also added such as broccoli, bok choy, radish, turnip, taro, and cabbages. You can serve it as a separate dish of green, leafy vegetables.

Chow Mein:

Chow Mein originated from Cantonese culture. Chow means “fried” and “mein” means noodles. Therefore,  Chow Mein is a dish of fried noodles served with a savory sauce which is generally made up of soy sauce, oyster sauce, sesame oil, vegetable broth, and cornstarch for thickening. Other vegetables like cabbage, carrots, bean sprouts, and green onions are added. You can also add chicken, beef, shrimp, or tofu. Serve it with Fried Rice, Orange Chicken, Kung Pao Chicken, General Tso’s Chicken, or Wonton Soup.

Ma Po Tofu:

Mapo tofu is a popular Chinese dish originating from Sichuan province. It consists of tofu spiced up with flavours of fermented bean paste, plenty of red-hot roasted chili oil, Sichuan peppercorns, soy sauce, ginger, and garlic. Other ingredients included are chicken stock, cornstarch, and ground pork. You can simply serve it hot with steamed rice or noodles.