Looking for Chinese recipes? Want the perfect chicken chow mein? Try our ideas and twists here, or check out our Sichuan ideas, our Chinese New Year guide and our guide to Tibetan food.

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Create your own Chinese banquet with dim sum, Chinese-style ribs and crispy duck with pancakes. Or recreate your favourite takeaway with our Shanghai beef noodles or chicken chow mein and more.

Not spotted your favourite Chinese dish? Do you know an awesome Chinese chef or food writer that you’d like to see featured here? Email us or contact us on social media at @olivemagazine to let us know!


Listen to the olive podcast where Cherry Tang share 10 things you need to know about Cantonese food and cooking.


Best Chinese recipes

Soy sauce chow mein

This speedy chow mein dish from Hetty McKinnon’s book, To Asia, With Love, requires only a handful of ingredients but makes for a satisfying midweek dinner.

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A small plate of chow mein with a fried egg on top

Chinese congee

In China, congee is generally regarded as the ultimate comfort food. It’s easy to digest and kind on the stomach if you’re feeling under the weather, and for an extra-special touch, you can jazz it up with plenty of garnishes.

Bowl of congee surrounded by garnishes

Singapore noodles

These speedy Singapore noodles make a great accompaniment to a Chinese-style feast, flavoured with ginger, garlic, chilli and soy.

Two bowls of noodles with sliced chilli, alongside two pairs of wooden chopsticks and two glasses of water with a white background

Hot and sour soup

Originating from Henan cuisine in China, there are many variations of this dish across the world, so don’t feel restricted to add or replace some of the vegetables in the ingredients list.

Two bowls of mushroom, tofu and carrot hot and sour soup topped with coriander

Chinese braised winter squash

Recreate Hannah Che’s vegan braised winter squash as part of a Chinese-inspired feast – the squash is cooked until it’s buttery and tender, and on the verge of falling apart.

Bowl of squash and black beans topped with spring onion

Chinese dry-pot cauliflower

Stir-fry caulilini – a sweet stemmed, sprouting cauliflower – with ginger, chilli, spring onions, bean paste and black beans to recreate this colourful vegan dish by chef Hannah Che.

Bowl of colourful fried cauliflower

Chinese fish-fragrant aubergines

If you aren’t a fan of aubergine, it’s because you haven’t had this dish yet. Sichuan cooks fry aubergine until its golden and buttery, then braise it briefly in a sweet and sour sauce. The results are buttery, tender aubergine morsels which melt in the mouth.

Plate of aubergines in a sticky sauce

Chinese lettuce with ginger soy sauce

Hannah Che’s cooked lettuce dish makes a delicious vegan addition to any Chinese-inspired feast. A quick blanch intensifies Romaine lettuce’s sweetness and flavour, and the delicate soy sauce dressing bathes the crisp, juicy stems and dimpled leaves with sesame oil and ginger.

Plate of blanched lettuce soaked in soy sauce

Vegetable dumplings

Fill these vibrant vegan jiaozi (the Chinese word for ‘dumpling’) with mooli, celery, sweetcorn and water chestnuts as part of a Chinese-style feast.

A plate of green dumplings on a wooden table

Chinese steamed fish

This steamed soy dover sole, served with a pickled red chilli chutney for a kick of heat, is a must-make dish during Chinese New Year feasting.

A blue and white oval plate topped with a steamed fish in a chilli sauce and topped with red chilli and sliced spring onions

Chinese pork belly

This recipe for twice-cooked pork belly involves poaching the meat, then slicing and frying for a crispy skin and tender centre.

A dark red plate topped with slices of glazed pork belly with coriander on top

Drunken chicken

Follow chef Jeremy Pang’s recipe for drunken chicken, where steamed chicken thighs are marinated with a bittersweet mix of shaoxing rice wine and light soy sauce.

A terracotta bowl filled with pieces of steamed chicken in a chicken broth, with red chilli slices on the side

Pork biang biang noodles

Our version of bang bang-style noodles sees fresh pasta noodles coated in a sauce that’s as sweet as it is spicy, thanks to the addition of chiu chow chilli oil.

Two bowls filled with long ribbons of pasta, fried pork mince and green vegetables

Char siu pork

This Chinese-inspired recipe comes from Zijun Meng and Ana Gonçalves of London's TĀ TĀ Eatery. There, they cook the pork for eight hours at a very low temperature, but this recipe has been adapted for home ovens.

Char siu pork rice bowl recipe Tata Eatery

Hoisin duck

Rustle up a speedy Chinese-style dinner with this sticky hoisin duck served with vegetable fried rice. Use leftover cooked, fridge-cold rice for a crispy, fluffy texture – this ensures the fried rice can be made without the worry of it breaking down and becoming mushy.

A dark blue bowl filled with fried rice, peas and topped with slices of glazed pink duck

BaoziInn chicken dumplings

Francis Law’s vibrant Chinese chicken dumplings from the BaoziInn menu look seriously impressive, yet only call for simple ingredients.

A plate of pink-coloured Chinese dumplings

BaoziInn Chinese pak choi

Follow Francis Law’s recipe and discover a brilliant way to serve baby pak choi - lightly boiled and drizzled with soy sauce and homemade garlic oil.

A white bowl of pak choi

Spicy chicken chow mein

This super-simple chow mein can be on the table in 40 minutes. You'll need soy sauce and shaoxing rice wine to help achieve the rich flavours that we all love this classic Chinese takeaway dish for.

Chicken chow mein

Pork dumplings

These pillowy pork and chive dumplings are ready in just 45 minutes, and best dunked in plenty of soy, vinegar and chilli.

A plate of dumplings with chopsticks

Crispy duck and peach pancakes

Tangy peach sauce makes a great, simple twist to classic crispy duck pancakes. It's so much more satisfying than calling a takeaway.

Crispy Duck Pancakes Recipe with Peach

Shanghai noodle soup

This traditional pork noodle soup recipes comes from Kei Lum Chan and Diora Fong Chan's cookbook China: The Cookbook. It might take a little while to make but this Chinese pork noodle broth, but the layers of flavours are worth the wait. Freeze any leftover broth to use later.

Chinese Noodle Soup Recipe

Pan fried soup dumplings (sheng jian bao)

Try our soup dumplings recipe. A pork filling is encased in a thin, chewy dough – crisp on the bottom, beautifully pleated at the top – and the first bite unleashes a torrent of heady, fragrant stock. The dumplings are served with chilli oil and black vinegar.

Chinese Soup Dumplings (Sheng Jian Bao)

Sichuan-style cabbage

This fancy cabbage side dish showcases the Sichuan love of dried chillies. It's great served alongside mapo tofu, cold sesame noodles, or dumplings in hot and sour broth.

Home-style cabbage

Crispy five-spice and sriracha pork belly

Check out this punchy, easy, crispy pork belly with Chinese five-spice. This flavoursome pork recipe is great with rice, noodles or bao buns.

Roast Pork Belly Recipe With Pork Belly Marinade

Kung pao caramel chicken

Using caramel in savoury cooking adds a smoky, sweet depth to marinades and braises, and brings an extra dimension to this Chinese classic.

Kung Pao Chicken Recipe with Caramel

Seared sesame tofu with noodle salad

A great vegetarian option. The sesame seeds and red chilli liven up this tofu dish.

Crispy Tofu Recipe With Noodle Salad

Pork and prawn dumplings

Small, delicious parcels of succulent meat and fish with a kick of chilli and ginger, pork and prawn dumplings are a dim sum favourite. Learn how to make them with step-by-step help from our test kitchen.

Pork and Prawn Dumplings Recipe

Shanghai fried beef noodles

Ready in just 30 minutes, our Shanghai-style fried beef noodles make a great, straightforward meal, with plenty of punchy flavour.

Shanghai Noodles Recipe with Fried beef

Slow-roast duck with sweet tamarind

This tender Chinese-style duck serves four and would make for a great centrepiece for a casual dinner party. Get everyone involved and carve this one on the table before you serve it up with basmati rice and pak choi.

Slow Roast Duck Recipe With Tamarind

Smacked cucumbers

By ‘smacking’ the cucumbers in this Sichuan side dish you create more rough surfaces – all the better for soaking up the zingy pickle.

Smacked cucumbers in a black bowl

Healthier sweet and sour chicken

Jazz up chicken breasts in this healthy version of a Cantonese classic recipe, sweet and sour chicken.

Healthy Sweet and Sour Chicken Recipe

Sticky Chinese-style ribs

These sticky Chinese-style pork ribs are really easy to make for a summer banquet. Serve with some rice and tuck in.

Chinese Ribs Recipe

Kung pao prawns

The Sichuan peppercorns and chilli flakes add some spice to the prawns while the cashew nuts add a crunchy texture to this stir-fry.

Kung Pao Shrimp Recipe

Twice-cooked Chinese-style pork

This delicious twice-cooked Chinese-style pork belly is really tender and packed with great flavours. Serve with green vegetables and steamed rice.

Twice-Cooked Chinese Pork Belly Recipe

Chinese-style purple sprouting broccoli with tofu

This Chinese-style purple sprouting broccoli with tofu recipe is easy, vegan and under 500 calories.

Chinese-style purple sprouting broccoli with tofu

Chinese red-braised chicken

This Chinese-inspired chicken dish is quick, easy and perfect for a midweek meal. It's called red-braised because of the colour that is infused by the spices.

Chinese Red-Braised Chicken Recipe

Crispy Chinese chicken

Check out this crispy Chinese-inspired chicken recipe with crunchy greens. This super easy meal for 3 is packed with punchy flavour and comes in at just over 400 calories.

Crispy Chinese Chicken Recipe

Chinese chicken wings

Check out these delicious Chinese-style chicken wings with punchy sanbei sauce. This recipe is easy to make and comes from new Taiwanese restaurant XU in London's Chinatown.

Chicken wings with sansei sauce, Xu restaurant

Chinese dry-fried green beans and minced shiitake

Chef Jeremy Pang has put a vegan twist on this classic Sichuanese dish, swapping pork mince for shiitake mushrooms.

A well-used wok filled with fried green beans and finely chopped and fried mushrooms in a deep red sauce

Chinese lobster noodles

Chef Jeremy Pang's lobster dish combines the meaty shellfish with stir-fried egg noodles and an umami oyster sauce.

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A brown plate topped with stir-fried noodles, cooked lobster and chopped spring onions

Chinese pan-fried soup dumpling bao

Set aside a weekend to make chef Jeremy Pang's sheng jian bao complete with a fluffy dough and juicy pork filling.

A black pan filled with nine crimped dumplings

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