Craving Chinese takeout? Recreate your favorite restaurant-style dishes at home with easy, flavor-packed recipes. From crispy egg rolls and savory spareribs to noodle dishes, stir-fries, and fried rice, these homemade classics deliver bold flavor without the delivery wait.

Classic Egg Rolls

Serves: 8-10 | Preparation Time: 10 minutes | Cooking Time: 15-29 minutes

Ingredients

For marinade

• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons oyster sauce
• 1 teaspoon rice vinegar
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 teaspoons fresh ginger, minced
• ½ teaspoon brown sugar

For rolls

• 1 pound ground pork
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 cups cabbage, shredded
• 1 medium carrot, peeled and shredded
• Salt and pepper
• 1 package egg roll wrappers
• Peanut oil for deep frying

Directions

1. Combine the ingredients for the marinade in a bowl, blending well.
2. Add the ground pork and cornstarch and combine. It’s best to use your hands, clean or gloved, to do this.
3. Let the mixture marinade for about 5 minutes.
4. In a wok, heat the vegetable oil over medium heat. Stir-fry the pork until it is no longer pink.
5. Add the cabbage and carrots, and cook until heated through (about 2 minutes).
6. Season with salt and pepper as desired, and remove from the heat.
7. Place one wrapper at a time on a clean surface or tray, in a diamond shape.
8. Add about ¼ or ⅓ cup of the pork filling close to the tip of the diamond at the bottom, closest to you. Do not put too much filling or the wrapper will break while frying.
9. Fold the bottom tip of the wrapper over the filling. Roll tightly once.
10. Fold the left and right corners inward, and continue rolling up to the top corner.
11. Moisten the top corner with a little water or a paste of water and cornstarch to seal the roll.
12. Repeat until all the filling or wrappers are used up.
13. Prepare the peanut oil by heating it in a wok over medium-high heat. The oil is ready when wooden chopsticks immersed in the oil release tiny bubbles.
14. Working in batches, fry the rolls until they are golden brown. For more efficient heating and to get crisp rolls, do not overcrowd the rolls in the oil.
15. Use a spider strainer or tongs to lift the rolls out of the oil, and place them in a dish lined with paper towels.
16. Serve hot.

 

 

Garlic Spare Ribs

Serves: 4-6 | Preparation Time: 15 minutes | Cooking Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients

• Water for boiling ribs
• 4 pounds spareribs, cut apart

For sauce

• 1 ½ cups brown sugar
• 1 ½ cups water
• 5 cloves garlic
• 3 ½ tablespoons light soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
• 1 ½ tablespoons dry mustard
• Spring onions, chopped (for garnish)

Directions

1. Fill a pot with water and bring it to a boil.
2. Add the spareribs, cover, and simmer until the meat is tender (about 30 minutes).
3. Remove the ribs from the broth and drain.
4. In another pot or wok, combine the ingredients for the sauce.
5. Bring it to a gentle boil, and add the spareribs.
6. Bring once again to a boil, and simmer for 10-15 minutes.
7. Serve garnished with chopped spring onion, if desired.

 

 

Beef Chow Fun

Serves: 2-3 | Preparation Time: 1 hour | Cooking Time: 5 minutes

Ingredients

• 8 ounces flank steak, cut across the grain in strips

For the marinade

• ¼ teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon oil

For the rest of the dish

• 3 tablespoons oil, divided
• 1 thumb ginger, cut into thin slices
• 4 scallions, halved lengthwise and cut into 3-inch pieces
• 1 12-ounce pack fresh flat rice noodles, pre-cut
• 2 tablespoons rice wine
• ½ teaspoon sesame oil
• 2 tablespoons dark soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons regular soy sauce
• ⅛ teaspoon sugar
• Salt and white pepper, to taste
• 4 ounces fresh mung bean sprouts

Directions

1. Mix the ingredients for the marinade together, and marinate the beef for 1 hour.
2. Heat the wok to smoking. Add 1 ½ teaspoons of oil, and sear the beef until browned. Remove the beef from wok and set it aside.
3. Add the rest of the oil and cook the ginger until fragrant.
4. Add the scallions and noodles, spreading them evenly inside the wok.
5. Stir-fry over high heat for about 15 seconds.
6. Add the wine, spooning it around the rim of the wok.
7. Add the sesame oil, soy sauces, sugar and white pepper. Scrape the bottom of the wok with a spatula, and lift the noodles upwards to mix.
8. Keep the heat high, and continue mixing the noodles until they are evenly coated with sauce, and heated through.
9. Add the beef and sprouts, mix, and cook until the sprouts tender and the beef is heated through.

 

 

Kung Pao Shrimp

Serves: 2 | Preparation Time: 10 minutes | Cooking Time: 5 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 pound medium shrimp, peeled and deveined

For marinade

• 1 tablespoon rice wine
• 1 teaspoon cornstarch
• ½ teaspoon salt

For sauce

• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1 tablespoon Chinese black vinegar
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• ¾ teaspoon cornstarch
• ½ teaspoon sesame oil

Other ingredients

• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 large green or red bell pepper, seeds removed and thinly sliced
• 1 tablespoon garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon ginger, peeled and minced
• 3 Thai chilies, broken in half and seeded
• ¼ cup chopped unsalted, dry-roasted peanuts
• 3 cups cooked rice

Directions

1. Stir the marinade ingredients together, and marinate the shrimp for 10 minutes.
2. Whisk together the ingredients for the sauce. Set aside.
3. Heat a wok over high heat, and swirl in the oil.
4. Add the bell pepper, garlic, ginger, and chilies, and stir-fry for 1 minute.
5. Add the shrimp, and stir-fry for 2 minutes or until the shrimp have turned orange.
6. Stir in the sauce, and cook until thickened, about 30 seconds.
7. Sprinkle with peanuts and serve over rice.

 

 

Orange Chicken and Vegetable Stir-Fry

Serves: 4-6 | Preparation Time: 15 minutes | Cooking Time: 10 minutes 

Ingredients

For sauce

• ½ cup orange juice
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
• 1 tablespoon orange zest
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 teaspoon ginger, peeled and minced
• 1 ½ teaspoons honey, or to taste

For stir-fry

• 1 pound chicken tenderloin, cut into bite-size pieces
• Salt and pepper
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 cup chopped broccoli, sliced
• 1 cup carrots, sliced
• 1 cup snow peas, trimmed
• ½ cup celery, sliced
• ½ cup mushrooms, sliced
• 2-3 tablespoons peanut or vegetable oil
• ½ cup medium yellow onion, chopped
• Rice, for serving

Directions

1. Place all the sauce ingredients in a blender and blend for 10-15 seconds.
2. Transfer to a saucepan, and heat to a simmer. Cook for 5 minutes.
3. Pat the chicken dry with paper towels.
4. Mix together the salt, pepper, and cornstarch, and coat the chicken with the mixture.
5. In a saucepan or wok, boil enough water to cover the vegetables. Drop the broccoli, carrots, snow peas and mushrooms in the boiling water, and simmer for 3-5 minutes. Remove the vegetables from the water and drain on paper towels.
6. Heat a clean wok over medium high heat. Add the peanut oil and fry the onions with the chicken for 3-5 minutes.
7. Add the pre-boiled vegetables, and stir-fry for 2 minutes.
8. Gradually add the sauce while stirring constantly, allowing a few seconds between additions. The sauce should thicken and coat chicken pieces.
9. Serve while hot over rice.

 

 

Yang Chow Fried Rice

Servings: 4 | Preparation Time: 30 minutes | Cooking Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients

• 2 large eggs, scrambled (cooked)
• 2-3 tablespoons vegetable or peanut oil
• 1 medium onion, minced
• ½ cup ham, cut into cubes
• ½ cup Chinese roast pork
• 5 cups cooked or day-old rice, lumps broken
• ¾ cup frozen peas, thawed
• 4 ounces fresh shrimp, shelled and deveined
• 1 ½ teaspoons salt
• ¼ teaspoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon rice wine
• 2 green onions, finely chopped
• 2 cups lettuce, finely chopped
• ⅛ teaspoon freshly ground white pepper

Directions

1. Break the scrambled eggs into small pieces and set them aside.
2. In a saucepan, boil some water to blanch the shrimp. Immerse the shrimp momentarily, until the color changes to orange. Remove them from the pot, drain them, and set them aside.
3. Heat a wok over high heat. Add the oil and stir in the onion. Cook until it is translucent.
4. Add the ham and pork, and cook for 30 seconds to heat through.
5. Add the rice, and mix for 2 minutes to heat it through. Use the spatula to remove any remaining lumps, sprinkling water over any stubborn ones to soften them.
6. Add the shrimp and peas and cook, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes more.
7. Stir in the salt and sugar, and drizzle the wine around the rim of the wok.
8. Continue mixing, scraping the bottom of the wok with the spatula and lifting the rice upwards. Sprinkle with water to moisten or add a little more oil, if needed.
9. Add the scrambled eggs, green onion, lettuce, and pepper, and mix until the lettuce is wilted.

 

 

 

***These recipes and more are found in Lina Chang’s Chinese Takeout Cookbook: Favorite Chinese Takeout Recipes to Make at Home. To get your copy, click on the cover below or click here.

To download or print the featured recipes, click here.