Now, we all know that chop suey can hardly be considered a Chinese dish, but unfortunately, no one has informed the restaurants back home. Luckily for you, we've singled out a trio of deliciously easy recipes that pay tribute to some of China’s best culinary creations, ensuring that you will never have to consider chop suey as an option...ever.

Beef Potstickers

Prep time: 40 min
Cook time: 15 min
Among the various things that have been discovered by accident, plastics, penicillin and so on, potstickers, no doubt, taste the best. According to legend, the trademark Chinese dish was created when an imperial chef of the Song dynasty left a batch of dumplings on the stove for too long, burning them on one side. With no time to spare, the chef presented the dish to the court, calling them his own creation and, fortunately for him and for us, the court members loved it. Really now, who wouldn’t?

Ingredients

Dough:
100 g Flour
15 mL Hot water
80 mL Cold water

Filling 150 g Beef, finely chopped
150 g Cabbage, chopped
1 Egg, beaten
15 g Scallion, chopped
1 tsp Chicken essence
1 tsp White sugar
1 tsp Soy sauce
2 tsp Sesame oil

Oil

Steps

Dough
1. In a large bowl, slowly mix together the flour and hot water. Pour in 30 mL of cold water and continue mixing until smooth. Cover the resulting dough with plastic wrap and let sit for 20 minutes.
2. Cut the dough into small pieces and flatten each piece into a round slice with a rolling pin.

Filling

1. In a separate bowl, slowly mix together the rest of the ingredients, first by hand, then with chopsticks. Wait 5 minutes.
   
2. Place a spoonful of filling into each dough wrap and pinch the edges together.
   

Cook

1. Pour some oil into a pan (non-stick works best) and fry the dumplings on medium heat.
   
2. Wait 1 minute before pouring in 50mL of cold water. Cover and cook until dumplings are a golden brow
   

Notes

For a slight variation in flavor, substitute white sugar with brown sugar and raise or lower the amounts of cabbage and scallion as desired. Also, for equally delicious vegetarian potstickers, substitute the beef with pre-flavored tofu such as White Jade, which can be found in any Chinese grocery store or supermarket.

Tofu with Pine Nuts

Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 15 min
Legend has it that tofu was invented when a chef attempted to create flavored soybeans by combining cooked soybeans with nagari, a substance commonly found in seawater, only to wind up with bean curd. We’re not sure what “flavor” he was going for, but we think that it all worked out in the end. The high protein content found in scallops and tofu makes this dish a worthy option for growing children, while pine nuts are filled with unsaturated fatty acids, essential for building cells and preventing heart and vascular diseases.

Ingredients

1 block Tofu
30 g Pine nuts
1 bunch Chives, chopped
10 g Scallops
30 mL Water
1/2 tbsp Starch
1 tsp Salt
2 tbsp Soy sauce
2 tsp Oyster sauce
1 tsp Rice wine
1 tsp Ginger, chopped
100 mL Water

Steps

1. In a shallow bowl, mix together the scallops and rice wine. In a microwave, heat for about 5 minutes on a medium setting.
   
2. Next, drain the tofu and cut it into thin slices about 1.5 inches wide and 1/3 inch thick (see photo).
   
3. Heat about 2 tbsp of oil in a frying pan or wok and cook the ginger and tofu on medium heat. (Hint: For those who can’t seem to get around the soft texture, we suggest firming it up by first lightly breading the tofu with flour and then frying on medium heat in a centimeter of oil.)
   
4. Pour in the wine and scallop mixture, followed by the soy sauce, oyster sauce and water. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring often.
   
5. Next, mix together the water and starch, and evenly pour the mixture over the food. Cook for another 3 minutes. Stir in pine nuts.
   
6. Cook for another minute before removing from heat.
   
7. Top with chives and serve.
   

Roast Pork Noodles

Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 10 min
Ah, noodles! Eaten hot or cold, boiled or fried, sucked up or gulped down, the possibilities are endless, always delicious and, as it turns out, we have China to thank. While researching a flood plain in Lajia, a team of archeologists uncovered a pile of 4,000 year-old noodles, citing it as incontrovertible evidence that the noodle is, in fact, a Chinese creation (pasta is another story). So, it looks like one more for the home team and what better way to celebrate than with this mouth-watering recipe?

Ingredients

500 mL Pork/Chicken/Beef broth
100 g Chinese noodles
3 slices Roast pork (or other cooked meat)
1 head Chinese cabbage, sliced
2 pieces Nori, sliced

Steps

1. Bring the broth to a boil. Add the Chinese cabbage and salt to taste. (FYI: Broth can be quite salty to begin with, so be careful when adding salt.)
   
2. In a separate pot, cook the noodles until soft.
   
3. Spoon noodles into a bowl and pour the hot soup over it. Top with slices of roast pork and nori.
   

Notes

Chinese la mian or hand-pulled noodles, are absolutely perfect for this dish. Not only are they made fresh daily but they are also unbelievably cheap and can be picked up at any nearby Jingkelong market.