If you come to our Chinese Food Film Festival you are going to learn a ton about Chinese food. In order to crystalize what you learn you should actually cook some Chinese food before hand. I’ve collected 4 recipes, that really helped me better understand Chinese flavors and cooking methods. If you want to learn to cook good Chinese food I recomend you start with these dishes.
Pork belly is an important cut of meet in Chinese food, it is also delicious, as it is estentially bacon. Hui Guo Rou or Twice Cooked Pork, is a good introduction to Doujianban, Pork Belly and Sichuan Peppercorns. Pork Belly can be bough at your local butcher, and Doujianban and Sichuan Peppercorns can be bought on Amazon.com.
http://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1794-twice-cooked-pork
This Chinese Chili is fushion dish, none the less it has a really authentic flavor. A great use of 5 spice and other chinese spices.
Americans who aren’t vegan or vegetarian tend to shy away from Tofu, this is a vegetarian dish, but can just as easily be made with ground pork instead of mushrooms. Although the mushroom broth and the umami Shitake mushrooms are a delicious addition to this classic chinese dish, Mapo Tofu.
http://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1017358-vegetarian-mapo-tofu
I made this cumin stir fry, with pork riblets instead of lamb to save a few dollars, it was still delicous! Be sure to watch the accompanying video, it is a wealth of information on Chinese spices and cooking techniques!
There you have it, 4 great dishes that will help you grow as a cook!
Confucius Institute, Idaho 