• Fyretigger on April 23, 2022

  I've started cooking from this book and J. Kenji Lopez-Alt's gas stove hack to give you a wok burner, from his YouTube channel totally works! At least on my 12 year old GE Adora gas range: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/JOoaKt4u-gk I'll admit it's a little scary to use at first, and you have to remember there's a blowtorch going on top of your stove when moving the pan off the flame, but it cooked great! I'm really enjoying this book. Like Food Lab, it stresses techniques over recipes, but is still generous in recipes. There is a lot "or whatever firm green vegetable you have lying around" and "or use whatever hot sauce you have in the fridge." A number of recipes include the Chinese American version and the traditional version (and JKLA has reverence for both styles). I'm essentially reading the technique and description portions of the book a cover-to-cover read, though I am glossing over areas I doubt I'll use (I can't see myself making congee).

• mjes on March 09, 2022

  It's finally arrived many months after I ordered it based on a food-segment interview on my favorite NPR station. There are many recipes I can hardly wait to try recipes such as stir-fried eggplant with sake and miso. I appreciate recipes that are quick and easy, especially for side dishes. It is preceded by two pages on garlic and how to prepare it for stir-fries with 9 photos. Yes, directions are that specific. Techniques in the title should be taken very literally. Another fascinating recipe is sanshoku don (three-color rice bowls) as a true make-ahead meal/snack. The toppings may be stored in the refrigerator and warmed solely from the hot rice under them. Then there are the classics - Pad Thai is one of several Thai-style recipes; Bi Bim Bap represents Korean recipes; Moo Shu Pork comes with the suggestion it is not a crime to use tortillas rather than making Mandarin pancakes. This is a book anyone with an interest in East and Southeast Asian food should at least look over.

Notes about Recipes in this book

• Chinese American kung pao chicken

  • patioweather on April 01, 2022

    This is the closest that I have ever gotten to Chinese restaurant food at home.

  • Fyretigger on April 24, 2022

    All the techniques worked great. It was tasty, but not the Kung Pao I love, not 'write home about'. I used chicken breast instead of thighs (defrosted the wrong package), and it turns out, Thick Soy Sauce and Dark Soy Sauce are not the same thing -- oops. So I will give it another try.

  • ashallen on October 16, 2022

    As promised in the recipe title, this is a take-out style dish - though very high quality and pleasant take-out! The chunks of pepper added a nice juiciness. We don't handle spicy-hot very well, so I used only 2 versus 8 dried chiles. I missed the stronger flavors of more traditional versions of this dish, so I'm looking forward to trying the Gong Bao Ji Ding recipe that the author has in this book.

  • anya_sf on July 24, 2024

    I used about 12 oz chicken breast, which I did not wash (Kenji does not explain the purpose of this step), which worked well and stayed juicy. With most of the seeds removed from the chiles, this wasn't spicy at all, so next time I'll leave some in. Cucumber worked well in place of zucchini. We enjoyed this quite a bit, but it only served 2 for dinner with rice (plus 1 small lunch).

  • Bumbledog on August 12, 2025

    This became an instant classic at my house - was exactly what you hope for when you think of kung pao chicken. Thanks, Kenji!

  • nancy_ykljtr on February 25, 2026

    Tender and flavorful chicken, saucy and delicious dish!

  • amy_m9e21f on April 12, 2026

    This is my go-to kung pao chicken recipe. I’ve always used chicken thighs instead of breasts for better flavor. Double the ginger.

  • nlehrer on April 29, 2026

    Used tofu instead of chicken

• Sichuan chicken with peanuts (Gong bao jiding)

  • Rachel_ on February 24, 2026

    Used ground chilis instead of dried and minced ginger.

• Chicken with basil, chiles, and fish sauce

  • IvyManning on April 20, 2022

    Though the velveting technique is nifty, the flavor of this dish is really bland. There's none of the hot-salry-sour-sweet flavor I love about Thai food. Author says to add fish sauce, Chile flakes, and sugar to taste, but then it really gets unbalanced. It could use some lime. Going back to my Thai teachers recipe for this dish.

  • Fyretigger on September 03, 2023

    As pictured, the dish includes what looks like Fresno chiles, while the recipe calls for red pepper flakes. I opted to use Fresno chiles and was happy with the results. Another note suggests it's missing lime juice, and it might benefit from that. If you have it, I would also use palm sugar in place of table sugar, though I didn't think to do that.

  • Rachel_ on March 22, 2026

    First time using fish sauce which had me nervous…but all the flavors seemed to even out okay. Getting enough basil was a pain, so not sure how often I’ll repeat

  • dana_92vbl0 on April 03, 2026

    I love this recipe and make it regularly. Can be super spicy if you want it to be. I also add green beans in for some extra veg!

  • melanie_1vlbrw on May 29, 2026

    This came out great! I added green beans for extra veg - cut them in thirds and added them in after adding the ginger and garlic, cooked them for a few minutes before adding the chicken back to the wok.

• Basic velveting

  • Fyretigger on May 12, 2022

    The velveting technique worked very well. It was a bit messy. In the future I would use a separate pan for the velveting, so I don't have to clean a hot wok before stir frying.

• Sweet and sour chicken

  • patioweather on June 03, 2024

    I thought it was bland but my family liked it. It makes a decent amount of sauce which not all stir fries do.

  • Bumbledog on August 14, 2025

    I found this was both not sweet enough and not sour enough for me. Oddly I found the uncooked sauce satisfying, but cooking it toned it down. I wonder if doubling the sugar and adding half the vinegar at the end might help. It did serve as an easy into to the velveting technique, which I thought turned out well enough.

  • Rachel_ on April 03, 2026

    Agree with the others that this was pretty bland. Sauce was also very runny. I had a really big can of pineapple so I wonder if the juice for the sauce threw things off

• Sweet and sour pork

  • ashallen on August 24, 2022

    This recipe definitely channeled memories of take-out sweet and sour for me with its straightforward sweetness. Unlike take-out sweet and sour, however, this recipe has a very nice, non-gloppy sauce (and lots of it). I like sweet flavors in general but ended up adding a bunch of additional salt and soy sauce to help balance out the sweetness. I'm not the world's biggest sweet and sour fan, however. My husband (who *is* a big fan) thought it was great. I couldn't get an 8-10 oz can of pineapple and used 155 g pineapple and 9 tbsp pineapple juice from a 14 oz can instead and that worked well. If you use a carbon steel wok, beware - I thought the seasoning on mine was pretty thick, but this dish was vinegary enough to chew into it!

  • ebalk02 on May 05, 2024

    This was fine, but not mind-blowing. The velveting technique is nice for smooth and tender meat. K liked this but i would probably prefer a sharper acidity and maybe some chilies for spice. Not sure I'll make this again. Might be a hit with kids?

• Velvet chicken with snap peas and lemon-ginger sauce

  • ccanderson210 on September 08, 2022

    Made with brocolli instead of snap peas. Was very tasty. It was very mild with pronounced notes of ginger and lemon. The chicken was moist and soft. The veg had bite and crunch.

  • ebalk02 on April 29, 2023

    Echoing the previous comment. Chicken and veg (I used asparagus) were perfectly cooked. It's a very gentle flavor. I ended up adding a bit of additional sesame oil at the end per my own taste.

• Pico's not-so-bland chicken

  • Sbilinski on June 22, 2023

    Really good and easy.

  • rionafaith on April 07, 2024

    Interestingly the photo in the book appears to have scallions mixed in but they're not mentioned in the ingredients list or instructions. They would be a nice addition though, as this is a very beige dish. It is a bit "bland" with very subtle flavors, but tasty! Kind of a comfort food dish. I don't think I've ever velveted chicken before but it worked great -- I'm not usually a big fan of breast meat but it was tender and juicy here.

  • cameron_9ui0sv on April 23, 2026

    The velveting technique was new to me and it worked great. This dish did turn out pretty blank, but per the story behind the recipe, that’s kinda the point. My biggest gripe was that there wasn’t much sauce at all. I would double the sauce next time. I did add scallions since they were in the photo even through they were not listed in the recipe.

  • cameron_9ui0sv on April 23, 2026

    The velveting technique was new to me and it worked great. This dish did turn out pretty bland, but per the story behind the recipe, that’s kinda the point. My biggest gripe was that there wasn’t much sauce at all. I would double the sauce next time. I did add scallions since they were in the photo even through they were not listed in the recipe.

• Shredded chicken with pickled chiles and carrots

  • Fyretigger on April 25, 2022

    Good flavor but pretty hot (I used 3 Thai bird chiles in the 1-6 recommendation). You need a generous amount of rice to go with. Be aware that when you add the sauce, the capsaicins aerosolize. My range hood wasn't powerful enough to carry it away and I got a bit of a throatful.

• Stir-fried kimchi pork

  • Emily Hope on March 31, 2022

    This was reasonably good, though not as well-liked as the Chungking pork stir-fry. To be fair, I used white Kimchi (cooking for spice - averse family members), which I'm sure made a difference. Super easy to put together. Served with rice and stir-fried cabbage.

• Better-than-my-mom's Chungking pork

  • Emily Hope on March 31, 2022

    This was a huge hit with my family, especially R. Made as written, using pork tenderloin we had in the freezer. Slicing, washing, and marinating the pork took the most time, and everything else was a snap. Will definitely repeat. Served with rice and stir-fried bok choy.

  • hirsheys on April 01, 2022

    Very good - was super impressed by the professional wok hei type flavor that I got using Kenji’s method. The only change I’d make next time would be to cook the cabbage longer - 2 minutes didn’t get it “translucent” and I would have liked it a bit more silky. Very quick recipe, too, especially now that I know how to make it!

  • Skamper on April 28, 2022

    I'd hoped for more flavor from this. The pork marinated all day in the refrigerator.

  • PanNan on May 20, 2022

    Good. The pork was very tender. I cooked the cabbage a few minutes longer to cook the stems a bit more and that worked out well. Overall, I thought the sauce needed something. Perhaps a touch of vinegar or wine to brighten the flavor.

  • ebalk02 on March 06, 2024

    Pork was indeed tender, but I thought this was pretty underwhelming in the flavor department. Ended up adding some chili oil for interest.

  • anna_ctsxgu on May 03, 2026

    Lacking flavour. After cooking researched the recipe and found it should not contain hoisin but sweet bean/wheat paste and broadbean chilli paste so will use these next time

• Sichuan double-cooked pork belly

  • OrchidO on May 23, 2024

    This was easy and delicious

• Muu shu (moo shi) mushrooms

  • Fyretigger on May 15, 2022

    Restaurant taste. Julienning pork is challenging and mine was about twice the size it should have been. Recipe calls for too much white pepper for my taste.

• Moo shu pork

  • ebalk02 on May 02, 2022

    Pretty solid. I liked the texture of the different mushrooms in the mix.

• Thai-style stir-fried ground pork with basil (Pad bai horapa or pad ka-prao)

  • Ishie1013 on August 16, 2022

    OMG this was simply amazing without a lot of ingredients. I ground the pork myself since the market was out and then used the crispy egg recipe along with some chili crisp to top it, delicious. And came together quickly.

  • Stephenn31 on October 13, 2022

    Made with cabbage I had in the fridge instead of the green beans and it turned out well. I added heat after with sambal olek

  • twoyolks on December 17, 2022

    This was pretty squarely in the pretty good category. There felt like an ingredient, like lime juice, was missing in the finished dish.

  • ebalk02 on August 25, 2023

    A pretty good rendition, and nice with some lime and nam prik pla.

  • Fyretigger on August 31, 2025

    I had a larger amount of meat than called for and I made the mistake of not increasing the seasonings in kind. I was able to correct this after cooking by adding more oyster sauce. The basil flavor intensified in the leftovers, which I enjoyed.

  • jess_6pw7pb on March 08, 2026

    Added a splash of lime juice and topped with chili crunch/sesame seeds

  • nicco_5akp7q on April 21, 2026

    I make this at least once a week for my girlfriend and I. She requests it more often than that. The Thai basil is the only part I never really have on hand so I have to remember to pick up some with each pound of pork I get. Otherwise it’s super easy to make and soooo comforting. My only note, is to do one pound of pork at a time (depending on how big your wok is). Adding too much pork and overcrowding your pan makes things take so long. Rookie mistake, I know, but I enjoy it so much I end up making a ton at a time lol.

• Beef with broccoli

  • FriedDumpling on April 02, 2022

    This was so seemingly simple, yet absolutely delicious. Once the broccoli was blanched, prep went very quickly, so it’s good to make sure rice and side dishes are ready by the time you start stir frying. I used Rib-eye, because I had some already, and used half the amount of beef with a full amount of broccoli and sauce. Because I used a more tender meat than specified, it was cut a little thicker, cross grain.

  • lkgrover on September 02, 2022

    Agreed that this was delicious, equal to Chinese restaurant quality. I used beef skirt steak.

  • Cookie24 on November 08, 2022

    The headnote for this recipe says the flavors of garlic, ginger and scallions are prominent. Interestingly, there are no scallions listed in the ingredients or in the directions. Additionally, the directions say to cook until the "chicken" is cooked through (recipe is Beef Broccoli). Putting aside the editing errors, this recipe is easy and delicious. I used rib eye (what I had on hand) and added leeks (needed to use); served with steamed Jasmine rice. Everyone loved it.

  • aileent1 on November 11, 2022

    Wonderful. One of the first recipes I made after I got my high-powered outdoor wok burner and it didn't disappoint!

  • aileent1 on November 11, 2022

    Forgot to add that I used extra broccoli and felt like it needed it.

  • imaluckyducky on February 10, 2023

    4.5 stars. Sauce was very good, should have doubled the amount of broccoli. Used filets cut cross-grain with great success. Picky 7yo ate it, will definitely make again!

  • bernalgirl on October 01, 2023

    04/25 update Doubled the sauce recipe to go w 1.5 meat, double the broccolini, whole package of oval rice cakes. Par boil the rice cakes (three portions), wok the meat and the broccoli in two portions each, start adding altogether as the rice cakes come out of the par boil. Add chili flakes for heat. 1/2025 update: This is also outstanding with chopped cabbage, in which case the sauce proportion is fine and you could increase the volume of veg by 1/2. This is a remarkably good and easy dish, even following the very specific instructions. I doubled the sauce and would do so again. This is going into the regular rotation.

  • rmardel on October 03, 2023

    This is a very good version of this dish. Note that I added a generous amount of scallions, as mentioned in the head-note even though they are not listed in the actual recipe. This will go in regular rotation. Extra sauce is a plus here, and I am happy with equal weights of beef and broccoli, although the dish also works well with the proportions listed.

  • Ishie1013 on January 31, 2024

    Some errors in the intro but made a pretty tasty broccoli beef that stands up to takeout and is healthier and cheaper. Used some freezer burned bottom round and it still tasted good after slapping it around with corn starch.

  • Pandan on July 09, 2024

    Turned out quite nice. I used tenderstem broccoli and only needed a little bit of the slurry. I needed to cook both the beef and vegetables longer as my electrical burner doesn’t get that hot.

  • shawsc on July 18, 2025

    I used flank steak, added some red bell peppers and stir fried on my outdoor wok stand on a hot day. Super delish!

  • Stephenn31 on October 19, 2025

    A good version of the Chinese american classic. I added extra broccoli, and accidentally added a bit too much slurry so it was thick. But still tasty.

  • Astrid5555 on December 02, 2025

    Good version of a classic. Used flank steak and added more broccoli. A family winner!

  • RaucusBacchus on February 02, 2026

    Very good. A very flavorful dish. The recipe needed a proofreader 'cuz it calls for chicken? and "a splash"?!. The way the recipe is written requires a careful read-through or two given the back and forth activities.

  • natasha_rsa4gj on May 17, 2026

    To sweet will not email it again

• Ginger beef (with or without snow peas)

  • rmardel on October 03, 2023

    This was very good, and I would recommend it to those who like a saucy dish. I however prefer the dry-fry version by Grace Young in Stir-Frying to the Sky's Edge

• Shredded beef with hot peppers and chiles

  • rmardel on October 03, 2023

    This was fabulous, perhaps the beef with chiles of my dreams! I didn't shred the beef, an oversight, but it was still delicious, a symphony of flavors. The combination of a variety of fresh chiles, pickled chiles, and dried is genius and there is ample room to play around with the specific varieties of peppers to suit individual tastes. This is definitely going in regular rotation.

• Thai-style beef with basil and fish sauce

  • lkgrover on June 19, 2023

    Good Thai beef stir-fry with aromatic vegetables & Thai basil.

• Pepper steak

  • lkgrover on June 01, 2022

    Excellent stir-fry. His velveting technique (for meat) is simple but makes a huge impact.

  • PanNan on June 23, 2022

    Absolutely delicious! I added about 1 1/2 tsp of seeded, very thinly sliced, hot red Asian long pepper which I happened to have on hand. It wasn’t too hot, but had a nice kick. The flavor of this dish was spot on and the meat was very tender. My husband and I agreed that it was the best pepper steak we’ve ever tasted anywhere. A keeper for sure.

  • kkmatti on February 02, 2025

    Good, but a little bland. The beef was very good, I used chuck roast for this as it was much cheaper than flank or skirt steak. Next time I would add a spicy pepper.

• Cumin lamb

  • ebalk02 on February 27, 2023

    Lamb was really tender and flavorful. Didn't get the crust (maybe too much oil) but was still delicious. Added a pinch of sugar toward the end to temper the spice. Would make again - preferably with fresher sichuan peppercorns for maximum tingle. Served with rice and blanched gai lan. Edit - Made this again with less oil and definitely liked it better. Did the extra pinch of sugar again which I still recommend. Also used better sichuan peppercorns and it was amazing.

  • matthew596003 on March 30, 2026

    This took much longer than the advertised 20 minutes but it was fairly straight forward and absolutely delicious.

• Smoky bok choy with garlic sauce

  • Emily Hope on March 31, 2022

    This was fine, not great -- more proof perhaps that bok choy is just not our favorite vegetable. I'm not crazy about the flavor of white pepper, which comes through in such a simple preparation. Caveat that I didn't use a flame to get the "wok hei" effect as suggested.

  • Feelingsamtastic on July 08, 2024

    Made with broccolini cut into 2" sections. Cooked using the torch + wok. Even the kids really liked it!

  • Pandan on April 19, 2024

    It was my first recipe from this book and also using my blowtorch. I should definitely get a bigger one, since it took several minutes to get the effect with my little creme brûlée torch. I really liked the taste and do think it added something special

  • joeljkp on May 16, 2026

    Simple side dish for stalky or leafy vegetables. Turned out decently, though I skipped the blowtorch step, so missed the "smoky" part of the name. This seems like a good go-to preparation for a veggie side.

  • lkgrover on September 05, 2025

    Easy vegetarian & vegan stir-fry; good side dish for an Asian meal. I used baby bok choy but did not use a blowtorch.

• Stir-fried napa cabbage with vinegar and chiles

  • Emily Hope on March 31, 2022

    Made this with plain old green cabbage and it was delicious -- cabbage really seems to benefit from a stir-fry preparation. Super simple to put together.

  • ebalk02 on October 18, 2022

    Really simple and delicious. Will make again. Definitely worth doing in an actual wok for the high heat.

  • bernalgirl on June 16, 2025

    The black vinegar perfectly complements the Napa cabbage, this is so easy, and perfect alongside a richer dish — I served it with red-braised pork belly.

  • Stephenn31 on October 19, 2025

    Very flavourful and a nice touch of heat. Let the cabbage char and gain natural sweetness.

  • Feelingsamtastic on July 08, 2024

    Just a touch of heat. Quick and delicious side dish

• Rice cakes with pork, shrimp, pine nuts, and vegetables

  • wcassity on April 10, 2022

    Not our favorite; didn’t quite come together. Too oily; didn’t love the rice cakes.

  • bernalgirl on September 07, 2023

    I had the leftovers for breakfast and hope there’s still enough for lunch tomorrow. Following Kenji’s directions - if not the ingredients— to the letter, the rice cakes soften and crisp beautifully. I used a few cups of vegetables had cut to the appropriate dimensions for slaw: Napa Cabbage, carrots, radish, and celery. I didn’t have shrimp and I impulsively added a tablespoon of oyster sauce. I look forward to making this one again, with the shrimp for flavor and texture dimension

  • mlonigan on August 03, 2025

    I used pork belly instead of ground pork, and only had 8oz of rice cakes, but thought it came out delicious. Rich but comforting. The shiitakes kind of get lost in the shuffle, so I'd probably omit them or use creminis.

• Easy pork fried rice with corn and shishito peppers

  • wcassity on April 10, 2022

    Delicious! Great technique and great mix of flavors and textures.

  • eclairea on July 26, 2025

    Great way to use summer market produce: fresh corn, shishitos, scallions! Simple, tasty, came together quickly.

• Stir-fried fish with ginger and scallions

  • jenburkholder on April 11, 2022

    This was fine, but we won’t repeat it. The seasonings are simple and it’s fast to make, but we weren’t sold on the flavor or texture of stir-fried fish.

• Dan dan noodles

  • Emily Hope on April 21, 2022

    These noodles were delicious -- perfect combo of savory and spicy. Easy to put together, too, though I cheated by using Fly By Jing chili oil. I upped the pork to 12 ounces, and made half the sauce without chili oil for A and the kiddos. R proclaimed it better than my lasagna -- high praise. Served with stir-fried cabbage, onion, and bell peppers.

  • Stephenn31 on October 27, 2025

    This was excellent. Just the right amount of heat, and very delicious. I didn't have the Chinese preserved mustard, so I used the suggested hack of chopped capers (and pickled shitake mushrooms). I would definitely make this again!

  • nicco_5akp7q on April 21, 2026

    I put off making this for a while because of the amount of ingredients and abnormal process kinda of deterred me, especially after a long work day where all I wanted to do was make something I knew. I wish I’d made this sooner. It’s real easy once you know what the steps are. I was still too lazy to track down pickled mustard root so I omitted it. It was fantastic still without it, but I can understand wanting a bit of a pungent pickle flavor. I may experiment with pickled ginger next time for that since it’s easier for me to find. Overall, 10/10. It leaves room to change it how you want and since you leave each part separate, you’re able to add more sauce for people who want it, or leave out some for people who want less. Will be making this more often.

  • darius_ntfzj2 on May 26, 2026

    Deliciously spicy and numbing. I recommend leaving the chili oil separate from the rest of the sauce and allowing each person to mix it within their bowls to adjust the heat level.

• Soy-glazed mushrooms

  • Fyretigger on April 23, 2022

    Accidentally doubled the sesame oil, but it didn't seem to detract from the results, it didn't jump out at you.

  • bernalgirl on March 01, 2026

    I made this with maitake mushrooms as that’s my teen’s gateway mushroom but this would be delicious with shiitakes as written.

  • LittlePanFriedBun on February 01, 2026

    I used baby shiitake mushrooms for this recipe! Love these mushrooms & now make weekly.

  • jenburkholder on November 02, 2025

    This was good and easy, though maybe should have cut my shiitakes smaller as they burned a little before cooking through.

• How to cook rice without a rice cooker or pressure cooker

  • Fyretigger on April 24, 2022

    So I used a rice cooker (Tiger), but JKLA's water:rice ratios, cooking basmati rice. Cooking 2 'cups' of rice, using JKLA's ratio, the pot ended up at the 3 cup line for white rice, where I normally would have filled to the 2 cup line. But the race came out perfect -- better than using the rice cooker levels. I'm printing out his chart and pasting it inside the cupboard door.

• Oyakodon

  • ebalk02 on April 27, 2022

    A very warm, comforting and easy to execute dish. Instructions switch from pan to pot midway through the recipe but I doubt it matters.

  • bernalgirl on May 30, 2025

    This version is brother and sweeter than my usual recipe — we enjoyed the broth and the sugar is easy to reduce. I served it with udon noodles based on the other items on our weekly menu, and I was the only one who missed the rice.

• Sichuan-style cold noodles

  • Skamper on April 27, 2022

    A pretty easy, flavorful weeknight dish. I used the air drying method rather than rinsing. I used only 1 tsp of Sichuan peppercorns and a pinch of crushed red pepper because we are wimps. Also subbed a heaping teaspoon of splenda for the granulated sugar. next time I'll try adding the sesame paste, and maybe some chopped spinach.

• Tofu lettuce cups with pine nuts and hoisin sauce (San choi bao)

  • luluinphilly on April 30, 2022

    This is admittedly a lot of chopping and dicing, but the reward is a little bit PFChangs and a little bit gourmet with the addition of pine nuts. Our ice berg lettuce was riddled with worms, so we used tortillas and it became a sort of burrito/moo shu mashup.

  • dany_du23o5 on January 18, 2026

    Took longer than anticipated but really tasty. I would make it spicier than suggested next time, for my taste.

• Miso-glazed broiled black cod

  • JoanN on May 03, 2022

    Made the rice bowl with this and liked it a great deal. Can also do it with salmon, but the black cod was really special. I marinated the fish for maybe three hours; would marinate a little longer if I had the time but three hours was still excellent. He accompanies the rice bowl with sliced cucumber, pickled ginger, scallions grilled along with the fish, and sesame seeds. Next time I'd either dress or quick pickle the cucumber; it could have used some oomph. And I'd drizzle some of the leftover marinade over the rice before serving. It was so good, no reason not to get more of that flavor throughout the dish.

  • SheilaS on September 21, 2023

    I like this a lot. Marinating the fish overnight is a nice little gift to your future self as it makes for such a quick and delicious dinner the next day. When I put the rice to cook, I slice the cucumbers and toss them with the pickled ginger and a bit of vinegar from the jar of ginger or extra rice vinegar, pop them back into the fridge and by the time everything is ready, they're lightly pickled. The green parts of the scallions got reduced to ash after 10 min of broil time so I put the white parts in at the beginning and add the green ends at the 5 minute mark.

  • bernalgirl on September 12, 2025

    A classic recipe I’ve been making for two decades, and it does not disappoint, especially with fresh black cod. Best if marinated for at least 6 hours.

  • patioweather on March 27, 2023

    With a fat mahi mahi, it took longer than 10 minutes but was delicious.

• Brined shrimp for stir-fries

  • mlbatt on May 24, 2022

    This brine turns even imported frozen Costco shrimp into something quite special. Great texture, even when slightly overcooked (used the shrimp in a Rick Bayless rice recipe that uses a rice cooker). I've got the formula saved on my fridge, because I now use it every time I cook shrimp!

  • VegasCook37 on April 12, 2026

    A simple easy step to make the best of your shrimp. And for once with Kenji it’s only one dish??

• Sichuan hot and numbing chile oil (Málà)

  • aileent1 on June 03, 2022

    This was quite a bit more work than other chili oils I've made, but well worth it! I've been putting it on everything. I used a mixture of facing heaven chilis, lantern chilis, guajillos, and New Mexican red dried chilis plus a mixture of gochugaru and ground facing heaven chilis to finish. Those are chilis I had on hand. Spectacular flavor!

• Home-style tomato and scrambled eggs

  • ashallen on July 29, 2022

    Good comfort-food type dish. Seasoning well after cooking helped the otherwise mild flavors come alive. Worked fine with so-so tomatoes - I'll look forward to trying it again with really good ones. I didn't have the optional fish sauce on hand, but I think it'd be great for adding another flavor layer. Making a half-recipe worked fine. Recipe suggests serving with plain white rice, but I enjoyed eating it with a spicy, tomato-y fried rice - the mild eggs balanced out the spicy rice really nicely.

  • joeljkp on March 28, 2026

    Comfort food, loved by all. Used Au Lac vegan fish sauce. I used cherry tomatoes instead of chopped roma - if you do this, make sure to halve or quarter the tomatoes before adding them to the wok. If you don't (and I didn't), the tomatoes won't immediately burst and won't create a sauce.

  • rmardel on October 03, 2023

    Delicious, savory, and complex yet also comforting, these eggs are fabulous, and they are simple enough I can imagine eating them almost any time. I made this with fresh garden tomatoes but the technique would work well with so-so tomatoes also. The flavor is satisfying both to those of us who like a more savory breakfast (me) as well as those who want soft, relatively bland, comfort food in the morning (most of my family). Don't let the list of ingredients put you off; this is a fast and delicious meal for any time of day, whenever you need something satisfying in a hurry. Also good with a sprinkling of chiles or herbs on top.

  • JuneHawk on August 15, 2024

    Not bad, but pretty bland and boring.

• San Francisco-style Vietnamese American garlic noodles

  • anya_sf on July 30, 2022

    Easy to scale down for 1 serving. I added shrimp (peeled) with the garlic, cooking the mixture a little longer, making sure not to brown the garlic, and also added cooked broccoli florets at the end. Delicious, quick, and easy, and the flavor was spot on.

  • lkgrover on August 06, 2022

    Good recipe for a quick meal with only pantry ingredients (if your pantry is typically well stocked with Asian sauces).

  • bernalgirl on December 09, 2023

    Spot-on flavors as noted, and the instructions result in a lovely emulsified sauce where other attempts have been gloppy. Exactly like the restaurant garlic noodles. I used fresh noodles which made this even quicker to prepare.

  • emiliang on February 02, 2023

    Quick, delicious, and comforting. I added some chopped baby bok choy when I heated up the noodles in boiling water (I used fresh/cooked Thai noodles rather than spaghetti. Much faster!)

  • twoyolks on January 08, 2026

    This was good but not great. It really needs more to it than just the noodles: some protein and vegetables. Otherwise it's just too simple.

• Sesame chicken noodles my way (or your way)

  • anya_sf on August 01, 2022

    Baking soda really does improve the texture of the noodles (I used linguine). Made with leftover roasted chicken, double the cucumber, plus a julienned carrot, this was quick, easy, and really good.

  • Skamper on October 20, 2023

    This was on the edge of being too much work for me on a weeknight. My instincts told me 2 quarts of water was too much to poach one boneless skinless breast, and by the time the water boiled the chicken was overcooked. I'll use my usual method next time. The noodles and sauce were very good. Next time I'd use a bit less than a full pound of spaghetti so it's a little saucier; just personal preference. This recipe would also accommodate the addition of other vegetables, perhaps blanched.

  • kkmatti on March 08, 2025

    Chicken turned out perfectly. I think this would be a perfect summer dish. Maybe for a picnic? Ramen might work well as a substitute for the spaghetti. Used smooth peanut butter rather than the chunky. It needed a little more spice, so we added sriracha to the top. I agree with the other review that I wouldn't cook up so many noodles next time. I think 1/2 or 3/4 lb dried noodles would be plenty.

• Basic vegetable and egg fried rice

  • ashallen on August 07, 2022

    Really nicely balanced fried rice. Good ratio of rice to "other stuff" - not overloaded but not too spare, either. Recipe calls for a fair amount of oil but it wasn't heavy or greasy and had a nice light texture. Comforting flavors. I accidentally folded the egg on itself while trying to flip it (so slippery!), but final texture was still great. My husband prefers onion to be very well cooked so I cooked the carrots and onions longer than called for in recipe.

  • Astrid5555 on September 24, 2022

    Works like a charm every time, perfect fried rice recipe!

  • Cookie24 on November 08, 2022

    I added chicken (using Basic Stir-Fy Marinade for any Meat recipe - page 50) to this rice dish, I also substituted shallot for the onion. Next time, I will reduce the oil slightly because it really wasn't necessary. This rice was easy to make and the flavor was perfect.

  • Pandan on April 20, 2024

    First time I made proper fried rice while stir frying everything in batches. I used some leftover cold basmati rice and rice pilaf with nori, cooked chicken thighs and also some mushrooms besides the other ingredients mentioned. Tasted great with some Momofuku chili crisp on top. Will definitely do my fried rice like this from now on.

  • vegabond2016 on May 28, 2024

    I added ground pork and used less eggs than the recipe calls for. Served with a healthy drizzle of siracha on top. Quick, easy, and tasty!

  • et12 on February 11, 2023

    An excellent recipe with good guidance. Really good comfort food. I agree with other comments that amount of oil seems high but it didn’t taste heavy.

  • joeljkp on May 05, 2026

    This is a great fried rice tutorial with a template recipe as an example. We made it as-written, subbing snow peas for frozen English peas. Turned out great - I'm excited to build this into the regular rotation.

• Kung pao shrimp

  • Ishie1013 on August 17, 2022

    This trick with pre chilling the shrimp with baking soda really made them pop. This came together quickly and was delightfully flavorful. I used rice vinegar, regular soy sauce, but did have the rice wine. Great weeknight meal.

  • BayAreaKitchenDabbler on January 10, 2023

    This was excellent. Added ~1 lb veggies and doubled amt of sauce and garlic & ginger.

• Bacon and egg fried rice

  • ashallen on August 26, 2022

    This fried rice has delicious bacon-y flavor, but it's very rich - the rice grains glisten! For that reason, I liked this best as an accompaniment to less-rich foods versus the main dish. I wandered into the recipe without thinking very precisely about how much fat would render from the bacon, all of which the recipe has you retain while also calling for vegetable oil for pre-bacon rendering steps. The next time I make this, I'll change the cooking order, rendering the bacon first, and see if that allows me to skip adding the vegetable oil.

  • JuneHawk on January 20, 2023

    Very good, but a bit on the greasy side. I would add less oil upfront to cook the egg. Also, the recipe says it serves 2 but it does not as a main dish.

  • lkgrover on January 03, 2026

    Good breakfast fried rice. Based on the comments of previous EYB members, I cooked the bacon separately. Used 1 tablespoon oil to cook the remaining ingredients. This kept the eggs a bright yellow color, and the result was not greasy.

  • cheekyjen on April 23, 2025

    I grew up eating and making fried rice so I completely glazed over how much oil or rice to initially use. I do 1 swirl of oil around my wok before frying the egg which works out to 1 tablespoon maybe. This is how my grandma did it. I used 4 cups of leftover rice because that was what was in the fridge and did not break it up as stated. Cooked it for 2 extra minutes because it still looked wet. All other ratios were the same and I did not find it to be oily or heavy. There’s a comment about potentially cooking the egg in the bacon grease which will work but will discolor the bright yellow of the egg so not as visually appealing.

• Thai-style stir-fried Chinese broccoli with oyster sauce and bacon (Pad khana bacon krop)

  • twoyolks on December 17, 2022

    I made this with bacon and the smokiness of the bacon added a weird flavor note to the broccoli.

  • bernalgirl on August 29, 2024

    A super-easy, fast and satisfying dish I’d like this with steamed rice and a fried egg

• Egg fried rice with "the mix"

  • sbrooksh on December 29, 2022

    Very good, though double the sauces

  • amy_kr61bp on April 17, 2026

    Great base. The timing is very quick once you get to the final stage, so have all the mise en place done. Sauce seemed light, but with all the flavors, I wouldn’t make adjustments other than adding a little MSG as an umami boost. Cha siu pork (https://thewoksoflife.com/chinese-bbq-pork-cha-siu/) is a fantastic protein! Deliberately undercooked the rice by ~10% so it’d finish in the wok, and that was a good call. Torching the rice in the wok with my blowtorch adding a nice nutty flavor.

• Cantonese pepper and salty shrimp

  • JoanN on May 14, 2022

    This was a fussier recipe than any I’ve made before but it was worth every bit of effort. The salt and pepper blend looks like dirt resulting in a not-very-photogenic finished dish, but when it tastes this good, who cares? I debated whether or not to serve it on rice, but I had some left over in the fridge so went with it. Glad I did. It was a way to scarf down all the aromatics. I started out eating the shells, but they weren’t quite as crispy as I would have liked. Ended up just sucking off most of the spices then peeling and eating the shrimp. Delicious.

  • bernalgirl on October 02, 2025

    This recipe requires a number of steps but none are difficult and the resulting dish is worth it. I decided not to deep fry the shrimp at the end, so they were delicious but no crispy shells.

• Pork and shrimp dumplings

  • JoanN on December 25, 2022

    I made these with a package of frozen "Mix" that had been left over after making it for the Egg Fried Rice. Cooked them potsticker style and served them as an appetizer for Christmas Eve. Very pleased with the result.

• Hot and sour chile sauce for wontons, noodles, or dumplings

  • JoanN on February 10, 2024

    Great dipping sauce for dumplings.

  • Fyretigger on July 19, 2022

    Very good. And this recreates for me the Flaming Red Won Tons that PF Chang's used to serve

• Vietnamese fish braised in fish sauce caramel

  • JoanN on March 09, 2024

    This was simply outstanding. I made it with cod and am now eager to try it with some of the other types of fillets suggested. The sauce is practically addictive. Must be served with rice to soak it up.

• Sichuan-style fish-fragrant eggplant

  • IvyManning on October 21, 2024

    Note to self, stick with fuschia dunlops recipe, it tastes much better.

  • bernalgirl on September 07, 2023

    The recipe yields wonderfully charred eggplant in an addictive sauce. I added bakes tofu in tiny dice in place of the pork and was pleased with the umami flavors and textures.

  • h0lly on April 12, 2025

    I make this one on repeat. My entire family loves it. We eat leftovers on top of a Finn Crisp cracker covered in cream cheese.

• Hot and numbing spice blend

  • SheilaS on September 04, 2023

    My first-printing copy of this book omits the 2 Tablespoons of toasted sesame seeds from the ingredient list, though the recipe does specify when to add them.

• Stir-fried new potatoes with hot and numbing spices

  • SheilaS on September 04, 2023

    I found this to be pleasantly spicy and just a little numbing. My first-printing copy of the book omitted the 2 Tablespoons of toasted sesame seeds from the list of ingredients.

• Pad Thai

  • SheilaS on June 27, 2024

    This is practically a thesis on Pad Thai: its origins, a deep dive into all the ingredients & an easy to follow recipe that nicely details how to group ingredients for smooth addition to the wok. I made this with all optional ingredients and found it was too much “stuff” and overwhelmed the noodles. The shrimp paste in soybean oil and sweet preserved radish added a lot of salt. Too salty for me.

  • Stephenn31 on March 14, 2025

    I must have miss measured the sauce components because I had to take out some liquid. Make sure not to soak the rice stick longer than 20 min even if it doesn’t feel completely soft because it will soak up sauce. Otherwise a good version of the classic

  • patioweather on August 18, 2024

    This might become my go-to pad thai recipe. My partner loved it, and with the items assembled ahead of time it was fast and easy. He suggests a wide slew of items you can add to it, but you can pick and choose which you want to include.

• Mussels and rice noodles in green curry broth

  • SheilaS on February 03, 2024

    I've made this a couple of times now and it's super easy (if you've got green curry paste on hand) and very delicious.

• Pad see ew with chicken

  • Emily Hope on April 12, 2022

    Did a head-to-head comparison with the recipe from Night + Market and found that the Night + Market sauce was better (maybe it's the Thai seasoning sauce?), but preferred the technique here, which stir-fries the greens and noodles separately and combines them at the end. This left the noodles more intact. This one also has garlic, which I'd probably include again. Subbed in fried tofu for the chicken. Still didn't get the greatest wok hei (maybe I'll try putting the wok on my grill), but otherwise this compares pretty favorably to most takeout versions we can get, and is pretty easy to put together. Getting fresh, refrigerated rice noodles to be pliable again is the only fiddly part.

  • Stephenn31 on May 19, 2024

    Very good as written. I added a splash of fish sauce here and there while cooking. I prefer a good pad se ew over a pad thai

• Basic congee

  • abrownb1 on March 28, 2024

    Good basic recipe for congee. Ratios for short grain were spot on and finished in about an hour on the stove.

• Crab fried rice

  • bernalgirl on January 02, 2025

    This is exactly what I expected. I used canned crab and followed the recipe, increasing the fish sauce. Delicious.

• Miso-glazed broiled salmon

  • bernalgirl on February 04, 2024

    I rarely broil fish and this was so easy, the salmon filets were perfectly cooked in 5 minutes and wonderfully flavored after a 4- hour marinade. The charred scallions were a great touch.

  • margaret_0g88g5 on May 13, 2026

    Ok sauce Great sides and serve with coconut cilantro rice wonderful with Tickle Your Palate Exquisite Habanero Sauce

• Kimchi and Spam fried rice

  • bernalgirl on March 14, 2026

    So good — great flavor and texture. I add egg at the end as my teen likes it that way, and the adults have it with a fried egg on top.

  • manderbeast on January 18, 2026

    Used day old brown rice and jalapeño SPAM. Had a leftover baby bok choy that needed to be used, so I chopped it up and added it in to cook with the cilantro. No extra salt needed.

  • katie_uspqdv on February 16, 2026

    Will be my go to for kimchi spam fried rice

  • ccanderson210 on January 03, 2023

    This was amazing. It was really full of flavor and umami. I highly recommend including the optional crispy fried egg.

  • Stephenn31 on February 10, 2023

    Delicious and just what I wanted! My kimchi didn’t have much juice so I added extra fish sauce at the end for funk and salt, and I didn’t have a fresh red chili so I added gochujang instead

  • anya_sf on January 16, 2025

    This recipe differs slightly from the one posted on Serious Eats in that the rice is cooked in one batch. Per our preference, I increased the rice to 450 g, and the larger amount still worked fine with these instructions. I did not have enough kimchi, so added some chopped fresh cabbage. The dish was less spicy of course, but still super flavorful, just needed a little extra seasoning.

• Málà salt and pepper chicken wings

  • bernalgirl on December 09, 2023

    My family announced that we never need to order these from a restaurant again. This recipe produces outstanding wings, full of flavor and texture and the tenderness you expect from perfectly fried food. This isn’t an everyday recipe but I’ll definitely make these again. I used rice flour because I was out of potato starch, fried in batches in about one quart of oil, and garnished with scallions and chopped jalapeños like our favorite Sichuan restaurant does

• Easy tortilla "jian bing"

  • bernalgirl on September 12, 2023

    A quick and tasty snack or breakfast. I combined bean sauce and hoisin as I didn’t want a sweet profile, and the result is very savory with just a slight hint of sweet.

• Spicy Korean rice cake stew with kimchi (Gungmul tteokbokki)

  • bernalgirl on September 28, 2023

    Edited 12/3024: I now regularly make this with cut up chicken thighs and the addition of red bell pepper, carrots and bok choy, doubling or tripling the meat for the 1.5 lb. bag of tteok — a great one-pot meal. Sep-2023: This was a slam-dunk with my family — they loved the chewy rice cakes and spicy savory sweet sauce. I wanted a one-wok meal so I added blanched cut up romano beans and carrots, which worked well. It was on the table in ~30 minutes from entering the kitchen. My 10 yo had the leftovers for breakfast.

• Fragrant scallion-ginger oil

  • bernalgirl on October 01, 2023

    I love virtually every version of this condiment, which is outstanding with poached chicken and rice cooked with chicken stock in the manner of Hainanese chicken rice.

• Perfectly poached chicken breasts

  • bernalgirl on October 01, 2023

    Great technique resulting in flavorful chicken breasts with firm, not flabby, skin.

  • Fyretigger on July 18, 2022

    Poaching method is easy and works great. And the method is relatively forgiving. I was afraid the flame was too low (after decreasing it and letting it rest a bit) and I increased it and it went back up to a full simmer. The chicken still came out very juicy and tender with ice bath shocking.

• Sichuan smashed cucumber salad

  • bernalgirl on January 25, 2025

    An easy and fantastic salad: crunchy, cool, and refreshing with deep flavorless that get into all those nooks and crannies.

  • Saltbun on October 15, 2023

    Super easy to throw together, we make it often as a side

  • jenburkholder on June 09, 2022

    Very tasty and fresh cucumber salad. Well-balanced. Had with ma po tofu.

  • rionafaith on April 07, 2024

    Easy and tasty but I might prefer Fuchsia Dunlop's version? May need to compare them side by side. I used only 1T of chile oil and it was enough.

• California-style orange chicken

  • bernalgirl on May 29, 2025

    Omit orange zest, halve sugar, and cook in batches. So good!!

• Chow mein with beef and peppers

  • bernalgirl on June 19, 2025

    I made this with leftover grilled flank steak, increasing the sauce to serve on a somen noodle pillow. I also added leftover grilled asparagus. I love his technique for softening the beef but this was so good my tween had seconds and ate the rest for breakfast.

• Korean soft tofu and kimchi soup (Kimchi soondubu jjigae)

  • bernalgirl on September 05, 2025

    I love this recipe, I’ve made it with cubed tofu when I don’t have soft tofu and it’s still my dream meal when I have a head cold. I add slivered carrots, all the gochujang, and half the gochugaru.

  • Logan92995 on January 06, 2023

    Smells delicious. Unfortunately, while the soup was good, it was lacking a little bit of flavor. Possibly needed a bit more salt or shoyu. Also spicy but not unbearably so

• Shrimp-stuffed chiles in black bean sauce

  • ebalk02 on April 29, 2024

    Really delicious and would totally make again. Did the paste entirely in the food processor. Quite a few steps but most can be done and assembled ahead which is nice.

• Fish-stuffed chiles in black bean sauce

  • boberonicus on November 22, 2025

    Required 4 batches in wok (recipe says two batches). Tasty sauce. Recipe is a lot of work. I've never processed fish in a blender before. Was unable to find dried fermented black beans at 99 Ranch, so used a wet black bean sauce, which was nice.

• Tofu and peas with lobster sauce

  • joeljkp on March 28, 2026

    Omitted the shrimp shells to keep it vegan, which I think is an error in the recipe. Followed the recipe as-written using white beech mushrooms. This ends up ok, but the texture is very loose, almost soupy, and the color is pretty monochrome over white rice. I imagine the shrimp variety has more variety of texture.

• Spring vegetables with olives and Sichuan peppercorns

  • joeljkp on May 16, 2026

    Wow! This is an extremely flavorful way to use asparagus and peas in spring. We found it quite spicy, and the sichuan peppercorns really popped out. I swapped the amount of frozen peas and sugar snap peas, since those are the ratios I had on hand. All else by the recipe. I'd make again, but maybe go light on the dried peppers and sichuan peppercorns.

• Sichuan-style blistered green beans

  • Stephenn31 on October 19, 2025

    Made with the recommended green Sichuan peppercorns, which were delicious. Green and fragrant. I didn't add the optional/traditional ground pork.

• Chinese broccoli with oyster sauce

  • lkgrover on May 22, 2024

    Good Chinese broccoli (gai lan) recipe, although more complicated than other versions of this side dish. The optional fried onions are recommended.

  • joeljkp on April 14, 2026

    Tried this with the suggested broccolini. I'm not sure how Chinese broccoli compares, but after more time than suggested, the stalks were still quite firm. Next time I'll find the Chinese variety or boil for a few minutes more. Flavor is great, though.

• Tamago-kake-gohan

  • joeljkp on April 06, 2026

    The book has a great love letter to this simple rice & egg dish. I tried it with coddled eggs since I don't have pasteurized and am a little suspicious of raw eggs. It's an easy breakfast if you have leftover rice on-hand, so I'll keep it around for that. The flavor comes from the toppings, so it's easy enough to customize to your taste.

  • lkgrover on December 09, 2024

    I heated my leftover rice in a little oil before mixing it with the eggs. (The recipe was unclear on this step.) Also added a little shichimi togarashi spice blend, and the optional nori & mirin. Served for a delicious & easy breakfast.

• Gyudon

  • shep0012 on December 23, 2025

    This is one of our go-to recipes. My only ad Vice is to check the tenderness of the onions before you add the beef. Once the beef is in you’re pretty limited in cook time and the onions might not be done by the time the beef is.

• Katsudon

  • joeljkp on April 06, 2026

    This is a fun dish! Essentially fried chicken patty cooked in egg and broth, served over rice; it makes for an easy and comforting dinner if you have some frozen breaded chicken patties (or vegan alternative, which is what we used). Not strongly flavored by itself, so a good base for whatever sauces you have on hand.

• Broiled miso eggplant

  • peaceoutdesign on April 17, 2025

    I used smaller Italian eggplants and let them sit with a bit of salt first. The recipe came out creamy and delicious.

• Bibimbap

  • joeljkp on April 21, 2026

    Used this recipe to make homemade bibimbap for the first time, after loving it at restaurants many times. It turned out great, and wasn't as difficult or time-consuming as it looks at first glance (all those steps!). I served with the crispy rice, which was an easy extra step. Used scrambled eggs instead of fried.

• Bibimbap sauce

  • joeljkp on April 21, 2026

    Made this as part of the accompanying bibimbap recipe. Tastes great as a topping!

• Thai-style jok with pork meatballs

  • Blitzkolsch on January 24, 2026

    This recipe is absolutely delicious. Well worth the time and effort.

• Nam pla prik

  • ebalk02 on August 25, 2023

    SALTY. But then again it's just flavored fish sauce. A nice condiment to be used sparingly.

• Congee with wilted lettuce and mushrooms

  • Pandan on May 23, 2024

    This was really nice and easy to prepare. I used Thai jasmine rice and had to use more than 5 cups of water for the right consistency. I cooked the rice with a vegetable stock cube and some ginger, garlic and star anise which I took out after cooking. Otherwise I didn’t change anything. Tasted nice with fried onions on top.

• Congee with pumpkin and pine nuts

  • lettucehead73 on January 27, 2026

    List of ingredients list cooking liquid twice

• Blistered green bean fried rice

  • ebalk02 on August 13, 2023

    Delicious and simple. Added some shrimp for extra protein. Would make again.

• Nasi goreng: the funkiest of fried rices

  • ebalk02 on February 24, 2023

    I thought this was pretty great. K felt it could have been funkier. Will maybe try a bit more shrimp paste next time.

• Umami oil ("XO pepperoni sauce")

  • Fyretigger on March 15, 2026

    So the flavor of this develops with time. It’s even better after about a month of storage. And I discovered some interesting uses… A tablespoon added to stock turns any steamed dumpling into soup… Paired with cream cheese on toast is sinfully good; there’s the germ of a restaurant worthy dish there, maybe topped with a seared scallop?

  • Fyretigger on February 15, 2026

    I second the opinion that this is a winner. It’s a little more of a western flavor profile than traditional XO. I was a little short on the gochugaru, so I added a 1/2 tsp of szechuan red pepper. I already had mixed dried mushrooms, I used those rather than buying specific. It ended up making about 2 1/2 cups.

  • eclairea on January 02, 2026

    This is the best. I made it a couple of months ago and I still have a bit left. Perfect for those meals when I’m too lazy to figure out what to cook and I can just boil some knife-cut noodles, toss it in with this sauce and whatever greens I have on hand. Weeknight secret weapon!

• Shanghai-style scallion oil

  • eclairea on February 06, 2025

    My preferred recipe for scallion oil, especially delicious when used for the scallion oil noodles on the next page!

  • LittlePanFriedBun on January 31, 2026

    I posted a photo of the scallion oil and the noodle recipe on the next page. The only thing I would change with the noodle recipe is to reduce the scallion oil by half. It was VERY oily. Less is more here. As for the noodles, I used Tasty Plus Foods Taiwanese Thin Noodles.

  • Thegirlwho on March 08, 2026

    9/10

• Shanghai-style sesame noodles (Ma jiang miàn)

  • Bumbledog on August 12, 2025

    Thought this would be a slam dunk based on the flavors. I thought it was good but it had a gritty texture from the sesame that my husband couldn't stand - one of the few things he couldn't get more than a bite or two of.

  • lean1 on June 03, 2023

    Made exactly as written with sesame paste. Wonderful flavors melded together. I will use this on cucumber salad, tomatoes and pasta salads.

• Noodles with Thai basil and peanut pesto

  • jemse on January 17, 2023

    I wanted to like this more than I did. It was okay, but seemed unbalanced--I got mostly fish sauce, garlic and chilies. Not herby or gingery enough. I may try it again with several tweaks.

• Vietnamese shrimp and rice noodle salad with citrus and herbs (Bun tron tom)

  • Stephenn31 on November 12, 2023

    I didn't make with the citrus. But it was a delicious alternative to the usual grilled pork noodle bowl.

• Vietnamese pickled carrot and daikon (Do chua)

  • Stephenn31 on November 12, 2023

    Really easy, and turned out excellent even after a few hours of marinating.

• Nuoc cham

  • Stephenn31 on November 12, 2023

    Easy to make, and didn't require heating as some do. Nice, balanced flavour

• Chinese American stir-fried lo mein with shiitake, chives, and charred cabbage

  • LifeofPie on April 25, 2023

    A little to saucy for me, so I would hold back on using the entire bowl of sauce until I have tasted first. I thought that I had lo mein noodles but had to sub spaghetti with baking soda as directed in another part of the book. That wok got ripping hot so turn on the hood fan and open a window. That said, it turned out well.

  • bernalgirl on December 12, 2025

    I followed his instructions and got great wok hei without the final blowtorch step. Definitely worth repeating!

  • imaluckyducky on December 09, 2024

    4.5 stars I doubled the amount of veg and doubled the sauce and used dried udon noodles. The sauce is perfect without me tinkering with it and it cooked down very nicely in the wok. As far as stir frying goes, minimal prep and bowl usage IF you ignore Kenji laying everything on different sheet pans to blowtorch later: only requiring a bowl to put the cooked cabbage and mushrooms in , a lil bowl for sauce, and the noodles which hang out in the colander. I skipped the blow torching with no ill effect. Knocked off a bit of a star because of what I consider to be extra steps. This will be a new go-to for a noodle side

• Chinese-style lo mein with oyster sauce, lettuce, and butter

  • lkgrover on April 15, 2023

    Quick Chinese noodle recipe. I substituted spinach for lettuce (and chopped it so I could have some greens in every bite).

• Japanese fried noodles (Yakisoba)

  • patioweather on August 30, 2022

    I liked this more than other recipes I have tried. The sauce is more like a tonkatsu and most other recipes seem to be primarily soy sauce. I put all the optional toppings. I didn't include pork belly or any other protein but used bacon fat as my grease.

  • Stephenn31 on February 22, 2025

    Very tasty. Could easily adapt the veg. A bit too much noodles for the veg/sauce ratio (and I used less than the recipe called for). I didn’t add the extra sugar to the tonkatsu sauce and it didn’t seem to lack sweetness

• Cantonese superior soy sauce noodles (with bean sprouts and scallions)

  • Stephenn31 on April 05, 2023

    Really easy and turned out well! I only had Chinese wheat noodles on hand and they worked well (I was not going out in an ice storm just for different noodles!) - I would have left them in the wok a bit longer to fry up more in the first solo flip. Added some egg before the noddles and veg went back in for protein

  • LittlePanFriedBun on January 31, 2026

    The only change I made is adding 340 grams (12 oz) thinly sliced boneless skinless chicken thighs. I marinate the chicken thighs in a combination of potato starch, oyster sauce, and shaoxing wine for at least 30 minutes prior.

• Beef chow fun on a home burner (the torch method)

  • Stephenn31 on January 28, 2023

    Delicious - I made on a gas’s burner with wok instead of blow torch but delicious and the beef was really tender

• Kimchi or sauerkraut buchimgae (Korean-style pancakes)

  • jfroydr on April 19, 2022

    Very good and easy to make :)

  • Chefjames1 on February 05, 2026

    Great. Used brown rice flour to make them gluten free.

• Pancake dipping sauce

  • eclairea on January 02, 2026

    Perfect, simple, flavourful dipping sauce.

• Chinese-style scallion pancakes

  • eclairea on January 02, 2026

    These are VERY GOOD, but you have to be patient! I’ve doubled this recipe because a lot of labour goes into making it, so I figured I may as well prep a bunch and freeze them for when the craving strikes! Future Me was happy with that choice.

• Fried broccoli with honey and balsamic vinegar

  • lkgrover on April 13, 2022

    Good broccoli side dish; not as sweet as I expected. I cooked the broccoli for the suggested time, and added the shallots & pine nuts for the last 60 seconds (to avoid burning them).

• Sweet and spicy Korean chile sauce

  • spacebaby on April 11, 2025

    This sauce is awesome! I cooked it in a saucepan until bubbly to dissolve the sugar and cook the garlic... I'm not sure why that wasn't a step in the directions. I didn't need to add water and served it on chicken drumsticks. This could be slathered on anything, it's really tasty!

• Homemade tonkatsu sauce

  • Pandan on August 27, 2024

    Didn’t have time to make a more complicated one. This version is super easy and tasted good with fried chicken and rice

• General Tso's chicken

  • brenda_bv2nm8 on February 21, 2026

    Excellent sauce

• Orange peel beef, by way of Sichuan and Old New York

  • amy_m9e21f on April 12, 2026

    I’ve made this several times, and was able to speed up the process by treating the beef like old school shake n bake fried chicken. Put the cornstarch mix in a large plastic bag, add portions of the sliced beef, and shake it hard. Much easier, faster and cleaner. Recommend making extra sauce. It’s delicious, and there wasn’t enough to fully coat the beef. (Maybe that’s just me… but I wanted more…) Found the peel on Amazon. It definitely makes the recipe.

  • bwhip on May 31, 2022

    Very tasty, not too difficult. I couldn’t find Chen Pi, so used mandarin peels instead. I think it needs about double the amount of sauce. Speaking of the sauce, it seemed odd that the recipe never said to remove aromatics like the cinnamon stick, star anise, chiles, peel, etc. I removed them just before adding the beef.

• Simple panfried tofu with soy-garlic dipping sauce

  • patioweather on August 25, 2022

    Very simple tofu preparation (as promised!) The sauce wasn't my favorite, so we topped with chili crisp instead.

• Korean-style spicy braised tofu (Bubu jorim)

  • jenburkholder on February 12, 2026

    Very good, like all versions of this dish I have tried! This one is more soy-forward, thus a bit saltier and umami. Great work lunch with white rice and other banchan.

• Crispy fried tofu with broccoli and garlic sauce

  • meggan on January 06, 2026

    A lot of steps for something that was kind of meh.

• Basic dashi

  • anya_sf on July 03, 2025

    Very good and easy. I soaked the kombu a few hours, but Kenji says you can skip that for a super quick dashi.

• Simmered daikon radish (Daikon no nimono)

  • jenburkholder on March 30, 2022

    Pleasant daikon recipe. The chunks suggested are too big, though - cut smaller. Took much longer to cook and still wasn’t as tender as it should have been.

• Simmered kabocha squash (Kabocha no nimono)

  • LittlePanFriedBun on January 31, 2026

    I used Chaganju Dashi Stock Packets for this. I simmered 3 minutes per package instructions and then added kabocha and gently simmered until barely cooked through. Added some fresh wood ear mushrooms at the end to simmer for 2 minutes or so.

• Japanese beef and potato stew (Nikujaga)

  • jenburkholder on March 30, 2022

    Enjoyable. Although it’s probably supposed to be like this, it did skew a bit sweet for our tastes. Used slightly more meat.

• Ajitsuke tamago

  • patioweather on April 30, 2023

    Made perfect eggs, with a gooey yolk. I marinated only 3-4 hours, and they were fine.

• Korean rice cake curry stew

  • Hana.Sundet on September 27, 2024

    Should have tracked down the specific curry powder asked for, because the flavor balance felt off, even the salt. Fun to try, but I'll give some other dishes a spin with my remaining sliced rice cakes.

• Egg drop soup

  • pattyatbryce on September 28, 2023

    Very nice and super easy using his cheat broth listed in the notes. I reduced the corn starch a bit and liked it more.

  • nichole_iweeta on May 30, 2026

    I can’t believe how fast and easy this recipe is, considering how much better it is than any egg drop soup I’ve had in a restaurant. An absolute 10/10. Used chicken Better Than Bouillon paste and added peas at the end of cooking.

• Sichuan-style hot and sour wontons (Suanla chaoshou)

  • Fyretigger on June 02, 2022

    I’m really looking forward to trying this. This dish looks like it was probably the inspiration for the ‘Flaming Red WonTons’ that used be available at PF Changs, which I miss.

• Poached chicken and cabbage salad with cashews and miso dressing

  • ebalk02 on November 08, 2022

    Easy to put together, light and healthy, but the flavor just wasn't hitting. Improved with a sprinkle of sugar and a drizzle of sesame oil. Not sure I'll make this one again.

• Red curry paste

  • boberonicus on April 22, 2024

    A solid recipe, but impossible to make as written. First, it's unlikely that your mortar can fit all of this stuff unless it's say, a restaurant sized molcajete. Secondly, I work out, but pounding fibrous galangal root is just not going to yield a smooth paste anytime this year. I resorted to using a food processor, which (as Kenji has discussed) is not as tasty. But it did the job.

• Red curry with mushrooms, pumpkin, and tofu

  • ccanderson210 on November 04, 2022

    Very tasty with a fun mix of textures. We used pre-made jarred curry paste. It was not very spicy

  • LittlePanFriedBun on January 31, 2026

    Be really careful not to overcook the pumpkin. The first time I made this I had it on a medium/high heat and the pumpkin started to break down resulting in a really thick sauce. Now when I make it I simmer it on low covered with a lid. I only cook the pumpkin until I can barely pierce it with a fork, and then I turn the heat off. The squash still slowly cooked while the curry cooled down and the result was perfect. Other changes: I added 2 more tbsp fish sauce and ~20 grams more curry paste. I used: Three Crabs Fish Sauce by Viet Huong Mae-Ploy Red Curry Paste Mae-Ploy Boxed Coconut Milk (not the can) Fresh wood ear mushrooms for crunch instead of shiitake! If you can’t find them fresh, you can buy them dry & rehydrate them before putting in the curry.

  • emiliang on December 17, 2023

    Absolutely delicious. Very nicely balanced Thai flavors. I, too, used the jarred curry paste, with great results.

• Thai-style tofu with green beans and red curry paste (Pad prik king)

  • jenburkholder on June 03, 2022

    Very good, great example of this stir-fry. Used homemade curry paste (the recipe in this book) and that was delicious, but it would probably also be good with store-bought. Will make again.

• Green curry paste

  • paulabee on June 22, 2025

    excellent. made as written, using Kenji's suggestion to substitute miso for shrimp paste to keep it vegetarian. The section of the book on making curry paste is super helpful--I used the hybrid method and got everything as mashed as possible in the mortar & pestle (mine is small so I had to do this in batches), and then finished in the food processor.

• Northern Thai-style curry chicken and noodle soup (Khao soi)

  • katiesue28 on September 02, 2022

    Absolutely delicious and deceptively easy. I used a chicken breast that I shredded after cooking in the curry. Be careful about the chilies; I used the dried thai chilies I had on hand (not the mild ones listed in the recipe), and even after lowering the quantity by a bit, the result was still very spicy!

• 20-minute chicken red curry noodle soup

  • spvla on February 12, 2026

    Great weeknight meal! Made it with rice noodles and added baby spinach. Delicious.

  • Pandan on April 24, 2024

    Super fast and easy, but still really good with fresh coriander and mint. I added some broccoli and used more chicken breast

• Mapo tofu

  • Josefa_Mark on August 05, 2022

    Delicious and not difficult.

  • paulabee on March 07, 2025

    excellent. super easy and quick once you have your mise en place. I used impossible beef rather than pork for a vegetarian version and it came out well.

• My mom's Japanese-style mapo tofu

  • jenburkholder on December 31, 2022

    Good, in a soft, sweet way. Calling it mapo tofu is probably a little misleading - there’s no chiles or peppercorns to be found - but it was still enjoyable. Subbed Impossible for ground beef.

• Water-boiled beef

  • Fyretigger on June 04, 2022

    This recipe references Fuchsia Dunlop's as inspiration, but hers appears with a different enough name that it took some searching to find. It is this: Boiled beef slices in a fiery sauce (Shui zhu niu rou)

• Red braised pork belly (Hong shao rou)

  • Silver.bird22 on November 16, 2025

    Very good. Strain and skim fat from sauce before reducing; there will still be plenty of fat left. Add in whatever stirfry veggies are on hand (peppers!).

• Cucumber and dill salad with yogurt and chile oil

  • briesposito on January 21, 2023

    This felt a bit heavy to me. Next time I’d probably use half the olive oil (if any at all) and double the vinegar.

  • Skamper on April 28, 2022

    An easy and tasty side dish.

• Sweet and spicy miso dip

  • lean1 on March 30, 2022

    Quick and easy dip that tastes wonderful. Making it is a snap. I can use this on everything!

• Mixed greens with savory sesame-ginger vinaigrette

  • Kinhawaii on February 28, 2023

    Delicious on vegetables. Used white miso which was on hand. Will definitely make again. Added more sugar because we prefer it a little less salty & more sweet.

• Japanese side salad with carrot and ginger dressing

  • Baxter850 on June 05, 2022

    Nailed the Japanese/sushi restaurant salad dressing. Good but not my favorite ginger dressing.

• Pickled chiles

  • Skamper on November 05, 2022

    I made this with jalapenos and have found they're great in any number of things. I chopped the chilis to fit more easily in the container.