Notes about Recipes in this book

• XFF chili oil (秘制辣椒油)

  • Anthonygrob on January 16, 2022

    So delicious and so spicy. I've made "chile oil" before without any recipe as I never understood what could be so complicated. This one was a bit fussy (still easy), but it all paid off.

  • tmitra on February 03, 2022

    If you, like me, are terrified of the idea of pouring 4 cups of 450 degree oil and your resources allow, note that XFF sells the chili oil they use in their restaurants: https://www.xianfoods.com/shop/sampler-of-5-xff-chili-oil-packs-7dyd9-7fy6s

  • jenburkholder on February 22, 2026

    Aromatic and hot. Probably not my very favorite chili oil I’ve made but still delicious.

  • dprostrollo on February 23, 2026

    Quartered the recipe, was delicious.

• XFF noodle sauce (秘制调面汁)

  • EmilyR on April 13, 2021

    This is dead simple to make and adds the authentic flavor that is just like in the restaurant. For what it's worth, I'm not typically a fan of star anise or fennel, however I used them and now I'm pleased that I have a recipe where I can use these rather than being neglected in my spice drawer.

  • MarieMacCheese on April 28, 2024

    I’ve served the hot oil noodles this sauce is the base for about 10 times. It’s dead simple and absolutely delicious. I’ve given this as a gift it’s so good.

  • Stephenn31 on October 13, 2024

    Excellent. I’ve made with the whole spices and again with a Chinese five spice blend which is easier and gives a very similar flavour. A simple saucy addition

  • Apollonia on October 13, 2024

    Browsing EYB tonight I saw Stephenn31's comment and knew this would be for dinner. Delicious in the hot oil seared biang biang noodles and I'm sure everything else I will try with it. I used vegetarian oyster sauce.

• Daily bread (馍)

  • ChickenAndRice on December 04, 2021

    I have made this three times so far, and here is what I have learned. 1. Add 6g of salt. The recipe has no seasoning, and without the salt it's a bit bland even when paired with a filling. 2. Don't bother with the slow addition of the water. Tip the water in all at once, otherwise you end up overworking the dough just to get it mixed in. 3. 1 minute per side is not long enough. Be prepared to flip them multiple times before they're properly cooked and nicely browned. They take 6 minutes minimum from my experience. 4. Rest the dough for longer. 30 mins in the first rest, 20 mins in the second. 5. Up the amount of yeast and baking powder. 6. (UK only) Use plain flour. Strong plain flour is too tough. I think this is a really satisfying bread to make, and the fact that the whole thing comes together in under 2 hours means it's very accessible. I would describe the result as a slightly more dense and chewy naan bread, with a lot of potential applications. Requires practice to get right.

• Hand-ripped noodles (Biang-biang)

  • tmitra on February 03, 2022

    I have no experience making noodles and limited experience with dough in general, but these turned out well! I used them to make the hot oil-seared biang-biang noodles, and now that I know they work, I look forward to combining them with the main dishes in the book. I was skeptical in the "making the dough" phase, but when I took them back out for the "pull and cook the noodles" phase, they were easy to work with. Next time, "after the final rest," I'll just aim for more of a log than a rectangle.

• Hot oil-seared biang-biang noodles (油泼辣子面)

  • tmitra on February 03, 2022

    This was a good trial run with the biang-biang noodles. As I haven't yet found Tianjin chiles for the red chili powder, I used cayenne. I reduced it by half, and we wouldn't have wanted it any spicier.

  • CheesyKranskyLove on October 04, 2022

    I never thought I would be able to make noodle myself but this is so worth it. The dough is very easy to work with and even though I wasn't able to pull them thinly the end result was still very delicious. The noodle sauce and cabbage/celery are so good, and definitely use the full amount of oil.

  • MarieMacCheese on April 28, 2024

    I love this dish. It’s perhaps my husbands favourite dish. I have served it at parties so often people think of this as “my dish”. Don’t skip the celery!

  • Apollonia on October 13, 2024

    I made this with storebought wheat noodles, and it was still an absolute banger. I stayed my hand with the chilies, and wished I hadn't, but otherwise no notes. Definitely don't skip the celery as others have said and use the oil --- I almost always cut it when I cook out of personal preference, but in Chinese food generally and dishes like this especially, you really need it. I will be making again.

  • dany_du23o5 on January 19, 2026

    I misread part of the noodle preparation so they are a much thicker than I intended, still delicious.

• Hot-and-sour soup (酸辣汤)

  • meggan on March 07, 2021

    I used fresh shiitake and put in a few more mushrooms than called for. I thought it needed a little more sour so we put in a squeeze of lime but then it was as good as any restaurant hot and sour.

• Brussels sprouts with shrimp sauce (虾米炒孢子甘蓝)

  • Stephenn31 on October 18, 2025

    A nice change for brussel sprouts. Don’t cook on too high heat to start - my sprouts weren’t cooked through when browned so I added a lid to the wok when I added the shrimp and liquid to try to cook them though a bit more.

• Five-flavor beef shank (五香牛腱)

  • meginyeg on March 28, 2023

    The recipe only calls for cooking the shank for 50 mins but that's not enough timd.. It so tough it's almost inedible. The flavours are good though. Might try again with a different cut of beef.

• Pork zha jiang (炸酱)

  • EmilyR on April 13, 2021

    I made this using ground chicken, though I'm sure it's even better with ground pork belly. Excellent flavor and comparable to what they have at the restaurant.

• Zha jiang noodles with wasabi (芥末炸酱面)

  • EmilyR on April 13, 2021

    Though I used store bought noodles for the sake of time, I really enjoyed the layers of flavor - again comparable to the restaurant.

  • Stephenn31 on June 22, 2024

    Pretty easy if you use store bought noodles. Definitely add the XFF sauce at the end - a number of other recipes add similar flavourings to the meat as it’s cooking

• Spicy and sour carrot salad (凉拌胡罗卜丝)

  • Stephenn31 on October 13, 2024

    Cut the carrots very fine as they end up raw even though the aromatics cook up in the oil

  • Apollonia on October 13, 2024

    Was inspired by seeing a note on this earlier today. This works up quickly with a julienne peeler. Not the best vegetable side in the genre I've had, but we enjoyed it a lot with our dinner.

  • abengal on February 21, 2026

    Not good at julienning so grated the carrots instead. Pretty sure that the carrots are supposed to stay raw and the oil is only there to release the aromatics. We all liked it, although one guest found it too chilli hot, but it is always difficult to get it right for everyone. Used our own chillies. Note to self, can prepare it all ahead of time except for pouring the boiling oil on and tossing. UPDATE made it again and again all the guests liked it. Have bought a julienne peeler which made it much easier to prepare. Didn’t make the garlic purée, just chopped up the garlic finely and estimated the peppercorns, next time I will weigh them after they are counted out.

• Spicy Asian cucumber salad (凉拌小黄瓜)

  • christineakiyoshi on March 28, 2021

    Delicious and simple. Love it!

  • EmilyR on February 18, 2022

    Another excellent and easy recipe from this book.

  • Stephenn31 on October 13, 2024

    An excellent version of this. Doesn’t require salting and draining like other versions do which makes this faster. The cucumbers are still crunchy and flavourful April 2026: nice and garlicky. Still a favourite version

• Lamb dumpling filling (羊肉饺子馅)

  • Jardimc on January 10, 2021

    Excellent flavour, but a bit too salty. I would recommend using half the salt in the recipe, as the chili oil recommended for dipping is adequately salty. I would definitely make this again.

  • IvyManning on June 07, 2021

    Nice twist to the usual pork dumplings. I am going to add garlic next time.

  • kitchen_chick on May 07, 2024

    This also makes a nice, easy stir-fry dish to serve over rice. I did not salt the veggies. I did use a bit less salt in the meat (and didn't add the salt that would have been used for the veggies), and I added some five spice powder to punch up the flavor a bit.

• Pot stickers (煎饺)

  • tmitra on February 12, 2022

    This didn't work for me. I filled store-bought skins with the lamb dumpling filling and froze them before starting. Almost all of them broke as I tried to keep them from sticking in the last stage. So, maybe the homemade skins have different properties, but I would've been disappointed if I'd taken the time to make them for this.

• Eggs and tomatoes (西红柿炒鸡蛋)

  • alysekstokes on August 11, 2025

    This is the best version of this classic Chinese comfort food I've made. Cooking the eggs and tomatoes separately and combining at the end yields a rich and sweet sauce with fluffy eggs instead of the watery, curdled mix that often results with other recipes.

• Tiger vegetables salad (老虎菜)

  • EmilyR on April 13, 2021

    This was always one of my favorite dishes at the restaurant and each time I visited I wanted to figure out what was in it and what made it some interesting. Definitely make an effort to source the Chinese celery, but it is so flavorful. I'd cut a touch of sugar in the dressing, but my kids helped make that and may have been a little heavy handed.

  • Stephenn31 on April 11, 2026

    I made with a sweet red pepper instead of a hot one. A great crunchy salad with lots of flavour

• Spicy and tingly beef (麻辣牛肉臊子)

  • Stephenn31 on October 13, 2024

    Delicious. Definitely serve with bok choy and other sides. Deep flavour and a nice heat. I served with noodles and extra chili oil. Made with ground beef instead of diced but it worked really well

• Stewed pork (腊汁猪肉)

  • maryhodgeisme on March 25, 2023

    great recipe. adapted for a dinner party with a mix of pork belly and pork butt.

  • Stephenn31 on February 26, 2025

    Really tasty. The broth from the pork stew was great to slurp with noodles. April 2026: I made this again and it was excellent as written. This time I boiled the wheat noodles on the broth, and slurped the broth with the noodles and veggies

  • jenburkholder on February 22, 2026

    Deeply flavorful and tender pork. Ate with handmade noodles and blanched Napa cabbage.

• Spicy cumin lamb (孜然炒羊肉)

  • ChickenAndRice on December 06, 2021

    I guess I got something wrong, because the cornflour and the oil that the recipe tells you to coat the lamb in turned into a sauce/paste and I wasn't able to brown the lamb at all. The result was still decent, but it certainly wasn't what I/this recipe was going for. I will try it again, but I don't see how combining oil and cornflour can result in anything other than the paste I experienced. I don't understand why you wouldn't instead just fry the meat in the oil. I'll try the recipe again making extra sure to follow it to a tee, but if I get a paste again I'll probably just fry the lamb straight up instead. Edit: I looked up a video of it, and it does seem kinda saucy, so maybe I wasn't too off base here. More incentive to try it again, maybe dial back the cornflour though.

• Mt. Qi pork (岐山臊子)

  • Stephenn31 on October 18, 2025

    Turned out well. Would need to eat with something else and not just on its own. Nice vinegar sauce, but needs other dishes to balance out

  • dany_du23o5 on January 19, 2026

    I dream about this.

• Stewed oxtail (腊汁牛尾)

  • abengal on June 14, 2021

    Made with osso buco instead of oxtail but still good. Note to self: 30 minutes pressure cooker for 1 kg meat, don’t double the water, try 5 cups next time. Did not have the licorice root so left it out. Did not have white cardamom pods, only green so used 6 green for a double recipe. Surprisingly not too sweet despite the sugar.

• Spicy cumin chicken skewers (孜然烤鸡肉串)

  • MarieMacCheese on April 28, 2024

    One of my son’s favourite recipes. We make these enough I batch the spices and then it’s super easy.

• Spicy steamed potato hash (洋芋叉叉)

  • abengal on June 14, 2021

    Being tired, did this as mashed potatoes with the spices and then the sauce on top. Did not strain the sauce as the red was very pretty. Would make again. Went well with the stewed oxtail which was made with osso buco due to a mistake when shopping.

• Spinach cakes (菜疙瘩)

  • tmitra on February 03, 2022

    As you'd guess, the spinach cakes are bland (perfect for my one-year-old!), but the sauce is really interesting. As I haven't yet found Tianjin chiles for the red chili powder, I used cayenne and reduced the amount; I might try it full strength next time.