Ancient Chinese Food Recipes

In this collection of ancient Chinese food recipes I have picked out a few that are both tasty and quite simple to make. The Chinese cuisine is actual several and a quite complicated matter. If you want to read a little bit more about Ancient Chinese Food just click this link where I have tried to describe more in detail the regional differences and what their agriculture was like. Otherwise just follow my recipes below and cook away!

Ancient Chinese Food Recipes - Starters And Soups

Spring Rolls
(12 rolls)
- 50 ml dried black mushrooms
- 1/2 cup mung beans
- 1 small carrot
- 2 tsp thick soy sauce
- 2 tsp oyster sauce
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 2 tbsp chicken broth
- 1/2 tsp honey
- 4 cups vegetable oil
- 100 g finely sliced pork fillet
- 12 spring roll wrappers
- 1 lightly beaten egg
Soak mushrooms in water for 30 minutes then squeeze and cut them in small pieces. Rinse and drain mung beans, shred the carrot. In a bowl, blend oyster sauce, soy sauce, broth and sesame oil. Heat a wok and add two tbsp of vegetable oil, stir fry the pork fillet until cooked. Add carrot, mung beans and mushrooms, continue to stir fry for a few minutes. Add the sauce from the bowl and heat. Remove the mix and put in bowl to cool. Heat 3-4 cups of vegetable oil in the wok. Start making the rolls, pinsel the edges with the beaten egg and place 1-2 tbsp (depends on the size of the wrappers) of mix close to one corner, while tucking in the sides roll corner to corner, seal the end with a light pinch. Deep fry several at the same time, until crispy, 3 - 5 minutes. place on paper to remove excess oil. Ready!

Pork And Watercress Soup
(Serves 4)
- 100 g lb pork fillet
- 2 cups water
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp finely chopped onion
- 1/4 cup finely chopped celery
- 2 cups chicken stock
- 1 cup watercress (packed)
In a saucepan, put pork, water, salt , onion, celery and stock. Simmer under lid until pork is done, 15-20 minutes. Add watercress and quickly bring to a boil. Serve.

"Talk doesn't cook rice." (Chinese Proverb)

Ancient Chinese Food Recipes - Main Courses

Chopped Beef And Spring Beans
(Serves 4)
- 500 g spring beans
- 4 tbsp vegetable oil
- ground black pepper
- 500 g chopped beef
- 1/4 cup finely chopped onion
- 2 pressed garlic cloves
- 1 cup beef stock
- 3 lightly beaten eggs
- 2 tbsp maizena flour
- 1/4 cup water
- salt
Slice string beans to 5 mm slices, in a saucepan with water cook until tender. Shake black pepper and oil and pour in a warm frying pan. Add beef, chopped onion and garlic and cook on medium heat, stirring consistently until meat is cooked. Add beans and beef stock, cook under lid for 5 minutes. Lower temperature as much as you can and add beaten egg, shake maizena and water and pour into the frying pan when the egg has started to coagulate. Stir and cook until starts to thicken. Salt to taste. Serve with rice.

Fried Rice
(Serves 6)
- 1/3 cups vegetable oil
- 150 g ham in small cubes
- 1 chopped onion
- salt
- ground black pepper
- 3 cloves finely chopped garlic
- 5 cm of peeled finely chopped ginger
- 3 diced scallions
- 300 ml diced cooked carrots
- 4 beaten eggs
- 4 cups of cooked white rice, not too sticky
Heat a frying pan and add 1 tbsp of vegetable oil. Cook the cubed ham while stirring, after a couple of minutes add onions and cook it all until ham is done. Add ginger and dice the white part of the scallions into the pan. Stir fry for a minute and add the cooked carrots. Stir fry for a couple of minutes and remove the mix to a bowl. In the now empty pan add two tbsp of oil and heat, add egg, salt and pepper to taste, stir until egg is coagulated, place it on top of the mix in the bowl. Clean the pan and heat, add the rest of the oil. Add rice and stir fry until rice is separated and oil is evenly distributed, salt and pepper to taste. Leave it for a few minutes until a little crispy, add the rest of the scallions. Pour the rice mix into the bowl and mix well. Ready to serve!

Simplified Beggar´s Chicken
(Serves 4)
- 1 tsp ginger juice
- 2 tbsp thick soy sauce
- 2 tbsp rice wine
- 2 tsp salt
- 4 star anise
- 1 fresh cleaned chicken (1 1/2 kg)
Stuffing:
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 100 g sliced fat free pork
- 2 chopped onions
- 6 fresh finely sliced shiitake mushrooms
- 50 ml pickled cabbage
- 1 tbsp thin soy sauce
- 1 tbsp rice wine
- 1/2 tsp honey
- 1/2 tsp sesame oil
Cut ginger in small pieces and use a garlic press to get the ginger juice, pour in bowl and mix with thick soy sauce, rice wine, star anise and salt. Rub the chicken with the liquid mix and marinate for one hour in plastic bag, turning it over every 15 minutes. Preheat oven to 180 °C. While waiting for chicken, cut pork, onions and mushrooms. Heat wok and add oil, stir fry pork and onions until meat is done, add mushrooms and pickled cabbage. Continue to stir fry and add thin soy sauce, rice wine, honey and sesame oil. Put in bowl. Take the now marinated chicken out of the plastic bag, stuff with mix in the bowl, close with toothpicks. Bake on tray in oven for at least 75 minutes spooning the juices on top of the chicken every 15 minutes. Make sure the meat juices are clear. When out of oven remove stuffing and serve on the side. Good with rice. In the original recipe you are supposed to marinate it in mud, modernising with a plastic bag is a tad more convenient.