Who likes to spend a summer day cooking over a hot stove? Chinese summers can get hot, and in the south, humid too. With gardens producing fresh vegetables, rich with nutrients, cold dishes are popular in the warm season. So here is a roundup of our Chinese recipes for summer days.
Image credit:
Chen Jing for My Chinese Home Kitchen, 2022Image credit:
Chen Jing for My Chinese Home Kitchen, 2022Image credit:
Chen Jing for My Chinese Home Kitchen, 2022Chinese recipes for summer days
Most of these recipes use light soy sauce, sesame oil, or chili oil. You can purchase all of these, but you will find your best results with authentic Sichuan homemade Chili Oil (辣椒油, Pinyin: làjiāoyóu). It’s easy to make! For soy sauce, you can find some premium brands in better grocery stores, though we highly recommend the Zhongba brand (we do not receive any royalties or commissions for recommending products).
homemade chili oil
Image credit:
Glenn Emerson for My Chinese Home Kitchen, 2022Ground Chinese Chili Powder blend
Image Credit: Glenn Emerson for My Chinese Home Kitchen, 2022.Caiziyou (Roasted Rapeseed Oil)
Image Credit: Glenn Emerson for My Chinese Home Kitchen, 2022.Ingredients for Sichuan làjiāoyóu chili oil: roasted ground Chinese chilies, roasted rapeseed oil (caiziyou)
Chinese summer vegetable recipes
Celtuce (Chinese Lettuce) can be hard to find unless you live near an Asian grocery, or grow your own, but most of these Chinese summer recipes are variations on staples like green peppers and potatoes. For alkali noodles, in a pinch, you can use a packet of ramen noodles, or you can order Jianshui Wenzhou Mian (Alkali Wheat Noodles) from the Mala Market.
Most of these recipes will require you to boil noodles or blanch vegetables, but that is the only cooking required. They can be prepared quickly, and set in the refrigerator ahead of your gathering.
Chinese Lettuce Salad
A nutritious dish featuring crispy, shredded Chinese lettuce
If you can use a knife, you can make this dish. Seriously, just slice the cucumbers, marinate with a little salt, chop the garlic and mix with a bit of sugar and sesame oil. Then mix with the cucumbers. Probably our easiest recipe, and no cooking required.
This is the simplest tofu recipe we have. You do need to blanch the tofu, but otherwise no cooking is required. (Note: you will want to make the Chili Oil in advance if you are making your own.)
Chinese people always like to eat cold dishes with beer. Eating cold edamame and drinking a large glass of cold beer is a delightful way to beat the summer heat. July is the season for edamame. In the vegetable market, we find almost every vendor is selling edamame.
Any dish with meat will require some cooking, but these only require minimal cooking. Usually blanching, such as for the tofu, or simmering pork or chicken until it is tender. You can do this with a saucepan over low heat, and set a timer. Minimal stove times is required. The chicken feet recipe does take some work to prepare, but the rest are fairly quick and simple to make.
Cold Shredded Chicken Salad
This spicy chicken salad gets its special flavor from the sauce: seasoned with Chinese Chili Powder, powdered Sichuan peppercorn, and Chili Oil.
This easy to prepare dish is a garlic lover’s boon, it’s full of garlic flavor. The sauce is a mix of garlic, sesame oil, sugar, light soy sauce, and Chili Oil. Simmer the pork until tender, cool, slice, and drizzle with the sauce, and it's ready to serve. We get a lot of requests from friends for this dish!
We Chinese use the whole chicken in the kitchen. This dish is very popular in China, it is a favorite of all ages, and it's a good source of collagen. It's a delicious snack, like Buffalo-style Chicken Wings. You will want to prepare this dish beforehand, and let it refrigerate for a few hours or overnight before serving.
My niece likes to eat pudding. She hopes that I can try to make pudding so that she can eat pudding at any time. So, I summarized this family version of the pudding recipe. If your family also has children who like pudding you can make this simple Chinese Mango Pudding yourself.
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Chen Jing
I was born in Guangxi. As long as I remember, I have liked cooking.
When I was a child, my dream was to become a gourmet and travel the world to taste the food of various countries. My ambition is to become a chef. The kitchen is my partner. There are many kinds of Chinese cuisine, there are 8 kinds, reflecting the richness and diversity of Chinese geography and history. I am very happy to share with you Chinese cuisine and cultural traditions.
