Asia · Traditional

Chinese cuisine

Characterised by bold flavours, regional diversity, and rice.

Explore recipes Build a Chinese menu Wine pairings

Food history

Why Chinese cuisine is worth exploring

Chinese food tells the story of geography, trade, agriculture and family cooking. The cuisine has been shaped by the ingredients people could grow, preserve, carry and share, as well as by markets, festivals, migration and regional identity.

Why it is famous

Chinese cuisine is famous for dishes that feel strongly connected to place: everyday family recipes, celebration food, regional specialities and ingredients that give the cooking its recognisable character.

Regional food story

Chinese cuisine is not one single style. Treat the country page as a gateway into regional dishes, local ingredients, family recipes and occasion-led cooking.

How to cook it

Flavours, ingredients and menu ideas

Signature ingredients

Look for the ingredients that define Chinese cooking: staple grains or breads, seasonal vegetables, local herbs and spices, regional cheeses or dairy where relevant, preserved foods, seafood or meat traditions, and sweets linked to festivals or family gatherings.

Cooking style

The cooking style ranges from simple home dishes to more elaborate food for celebrations. Good Chinese recipes usually balance staple ingredients with texture, seasoning and a clear sense of occasion.

Build a menu

Build a Chinese menu by choosing a light starter, a signature main and a dessert that shows the country’s baking or sweet traditions. Add wine or drink pairings where the dish has enough richness, spice, acidity or sweetness to make the match useful.

Starters Mains Desserts

Cook by course

Chinese recipes

Start with a starter, choose a main, then finish with a dessert to build a complete country-inspired menu.

Starters

Chinese starters

Liangban Huanggua

Smashed cucumber salad with garlic, Chinkiang vinegar, sesame oil and chilli oil.

Starter 15 mins

Suan La Tang

Hot and sour soup with tofu, mushroom, bamboo shoot, vinegar, white pepper and egg ribbons.

Starter 50 mins

Sichuan Kou Shui Ji

Cold poached chicken in chilli oil, sesame, soy, vinegar and Sichuan pepper — literally mouth-watering c…

Starter 1 hr

Cong You Bing

Layered scallion pancakes, crisp outside and chewy within, brushed with oil and folded around spring oni…

Starter 1 hr 15 mins

Jiaozi

Northern Chinese boiled dumplings filled with pork, cabbage, ginger and garlic chives.

Starter 1 hr 45 mins

Xiao Long Bao

Shanghai soup dumplings with delicate wheat skins, seasoned pork and hot savoury broth sealed inside eac…

Starter 2 hr 35 mins

Liangpi

Cold Shaanxi wheat-starch noodles with chilli oil, vinegar, cucumber and springy gluten pieces.

Starter 3 hr 10 mins

Youtiao with Soy Milk

Crisp golden Chinese fried dough sticks served with warm fresh soy milk.

Starter 8 hr 20 mins

Main courses

Chinese main courses

Cantonese Steamed Fish

Whole steamed fish with ginger, spring onion, light soy and sizzling hot oil.

Main 32 mins

Ants Climbing a Tree

Glass noodles with minced pork in spicy fermented bean sauce, named for the pork clinging like ants to b…

Main 35 mins

Dry-Fried Green Beans

Sichuan gan bian green beans blistered in the wok with chilli, garlic, ya cai and minced pork.

Main 35 mins

Kung Pao Chicken

Authentic Gong Bao chicken with dried chillies, Sichuan pepper, peanuts and glossy sweet-sour savoury sa…

Main 35 mins

West Lake Vinegar Fish

Hangzhou freshwater fish with glossy sweet-sour black vinegar sauce.

Main 38 mins

Dan Dan Noodles

Sichuan street noodles with chilli oil, sesame paste, preserved mustard greens and minced pork.

Main 40 mins

Mapo Doufu

Sichuan tofu in a fiery sauce of doubanjiang, fermented black beans, minced meat and numbing pepper.

Main 40 mins

Yuxiang Qiezi

Fish-fragrant aubergine with garlic, ginger, pickled chilli, vinegar, soy and sugar — no fish required.

Main 40 mins

Claypot Rice with Lap Cheong

Cantonese claypot rice with lap cheong, soy dressing and a crisp golden rice crust.

Main 55 mins

Shuizhu Yu

Sichuan boiled fish in chilli-bean broth finished with hot oil, dried chillies and Sichuan pepper.

Main 55 mins

Twice-Cooked Pork

Pork belly first simmered, then sliced and stir-fried with leeks, doubanjiang and fermented beans.

Main 55 mins

Zhajiangmian

Northern wheat noodles topped with fermented soybean pork sauce and crisp vegetables.

Main 1 hr

Buddha’s Delight

Vegetarian lo han jai with tofu, mushrooms, bean curd sticks, lily buds and vegetables.

Main 1 hr 15 mins

Biang Biang Noodles

Wide hand-pulled Shaanxi belt noodles with chilli oil, vinegar, garlic and greens.

Main 1 hr 20 mins

Hainanese Chicken Rice

Poached chicken with fragrant chicken-fat rice, chilli sauce, ginger sauce and clear broth.

Main 1 hr 30 mins

Lions Head Meatballs

Large tender Jiangsu pork meatballs braised with napa cabbage in savoury broth.

Main 1 hr 50 mins

Chairman Mao Red-Braised Pork

Hunan-style red-braised pork belly with chilli, soy, sugar and Shaoxing wine.

Main 2 hr

Hong Shao Rou

Red-braised pork belly slowly cooked with soy sauce, Shaoxing wine, rock sugar and aromatics.

Main 2 hr

Dongpo Rou

Hangzhou pork belly braised slowly with Shaoxing wine, soy sauce, ginger, spring onion and sugar.

Main 3 hr 25 mins

Beggar’s Chicken

Whole stuffed chicken wrapped and baked until aromatic, tender and theatrical.

Main 4 hr 30 mins

Eight Treasure Duck

Shanghai-style duck stuffed with glutinous rice, mushrooms, chestnuts, lotus seeds and cured meat.

Main 4 hr 30 mins

Char Siu

Cantonese barbecued pork with a glossy red honey-soy glaze.

Main 4 hr 35 mins

Lanzhou Beef Noodle Soup

Clear beef broth with hand-pulled wheat noodles, radish, chilli oil, coriander and tender beef.

Main 7 hr

Peking Duck

Beijing roast duck with lacquered crisp skin, thin pancakes, cucumber, spring onion and sweet bean sauce.

Main 25 hr 30 mins

Desserts

Chinese desserts

Douhua with Ginger Syrup

Silky tofu pudding served warm with fragrant ginger brown-sugar syrup.

Dessert 40 mins

Mango Pomelo Sago

Hong Kong dessert-shop classic with mango puree, sago pearls, pomelo and coconut milk.

Dessert 40 mins

Tangyuan

Glutinous rice balls filled with black sesame paste and served in sweet ginger syrup.

Dessert 1 hr

Red Bean Soup

Sweet red bean soup with tangerine peel, rock sugar and soft comforting texture.

Dessert 1 hr 45 mins

Nian Gao

Sticky rice cake sweetened with brown sugar, steamed for Lunar New Year and sliced to pan-fry.

Dessert 1 hr 50 mins

Wife Cake

Flaky Cantonese pastry filled with sweet winter melon, sesame and glutinous rice flour.

Dessert 1 hr 55 mins

Eight Treasure Rice Pudding

Festive glutinous rice pudding filled with red bean paste, dried fruit, nuts and seeds.

Dessert 2 hr

Mooncakes

Traditional Mid-Autumn mooncakes with tender pastry and lotus seed or red bean filling.

Dessert 2 hr 25 mins

Wine and drink pairings

What to drink with Chinese food

When pairing wine with Chinese food, match the structure of the dish first: fresh whites for seafood and herbs, medium reds for tomato, spice or roast meat, sparkling wines for fried or salty starters, and sweet or fortified wines for desserts.

Red

Rioja / Tempranillo

Spanish red with red fruit, vanilla, leather and spice. Good with garlic chicken, lamb, roast meat, paprika and grilled…

Grape: Tempranillo, Garnacha, Graciano Region: Rioja, Ribera del Duero, Navarra

Red

Syrah / Shiraz

Peppery, dark-fruited red with savoury spice and medium-to-firm tannins. Great with grilled meat, pepper, smoke, sausag…

Grape: Syrah, Shiraz Region: Northern Rhône, Barossa, South Africa

White

Albariño / Vinho Verde

Fresh coastal white wine with citrus, peach, sea-spray minerality and bright acidity. Excellent with seafood, salt cod…

Grape: Albariño, Alvarinho, Loureiro, Arinto Region: Rías Baixas, Minho, Vinho Verde

White

Pinot Grigio / Pinot Gris

Clean, easy-drinking white with pear, apple and citrus. Good for light starters, mild fish, salads and simple vegetable…

Grape: Pinot Grigio, Pinot Gris Region: Veneto, Friuli, Alsace, Oregon

White

Sauvignon Blanc

Zesty white wine with lemon, gooseberry, grass and herb notes. It refreshes green vegetables, goat cheese, seafood and…

Grape: Sauvignon Blanc Region: Loire, Marlborough, Bordeaux, Chile

Sparkling

Moscato d'Asti

Lightly sparkling sweet Piedmontese wine with grape, peach and orange blossom.

Grape: Moscato Bianco Region: Piedmont

Sparkling

Sparkling Brut

Dry sparkling wine with crisp acidity and bubbles that lift pastry, salt, fried dishes and starters.

Grape: Sparkling Brut Region: Australia, New Zealand, France, Italy, Spain, Germany