Has anyone ever found a recipe like the ones you find in Chinese restaurants?

I adore Chinese, especially the local take-out place. Their food is out of this world.



However, I have never found a recipe that has made anything like the stuff in the restaurant. I've made some decent tasting stirfries before, but they still are nothing like the food in the local take out place.



It seems the recipes online use soy sauce, garlic, ginger, sugar to make the sauces, but it doesn't taste anything like what they're using in the restaurants.



Anyone have any tips?Has anyone ever found a recipe like the ones you find in Chinese restaurants?
Here are some great recipes:



General Tso's Chicken

Yields: 8 servings



1/2 cup cornstarch

1/4 cup water

1 teaspoon ground ginger, or 戮 teaspoon minced fresh ginger

1 teaspoon minced garlic

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup soy sauce

2 cups large chicken broth

1/4 cup white vinegar

1/4 cup dry sherry or white wine, cut into chunks

3 pounds boneless chicken breasts or thighs

2 eggs, beaten

1 cup cornstarch

2 cups sliced green onions

2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons small dried hot peppers, (optional)

2 tablespoons cooking oil



For Sauce:



Place the first nine ingredients above in a jar and shake well to dissolve the cornstarch. For Meat: Place chicken and egg in zipper baggie and shake to coat chicken evenly.



Add cornstarch and mix until chicken is evenly covered. Deep fry chicken at 350掳F until crispy. Drain. Heat oil in a skillet. Add onions and peppers and stir fry about 30 seconds.



Add sauce mixture. Cook and stir until thick. Add chicken and cook just long enough to heat through.



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Kung Pao Chicken

Yields: 8 Servings



1/2 cup water

1 teaspoon salt

1 egg, use half

1/2 cup cornstarch

1/4 cup vegetable oil

2 pounds uncooked chicken breast, diced into 1/2 inch pieces, rinsed and drained (beef, shrimp or scallops can be substituted)

1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon vegetable oil, divided use

2-1/2 pounds whole dried hot chili peppers, (should be smaller than 3 inch; if longer, cut in half)

2 teaspoon cooking wine

1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon Lee Kum Kee soy sauce

2/3 cup water

1 tablespoon water, mixed with cornstarch

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1/2 cup diced green onions, (dice only the white part of the onion into 1/2 inch pieces)

2 teaspoon ground ginger

2 teaspoon ground garlic

2 teaspoon crushed red chili peppers

2 teaspoon sesame oil

1/4 pound dry roasted peanuts



Mix first 4 ingredients well, to make marinade. Add the chicken and thoroughly coat, refrigerate at least one hour. 2. Combine wine, soy sauce and water and set aside. 3. Heat a clean wok on high heat for 10 seconds. Add vegetable oil and heat well. 4.



Add the marinated chicken to the wok. Stir quickly, separate the meat and cook for 60 seconds.



Remove the chicken, drain well. 5. Add the chili peppers to the wok. Stir fry until they become a darker color. If the wok becomes too dry, add 1 tablespoon vegetable oil. 6. Add the green onions, ginger, garlic and crushed red chili pepper to the wok. Stir for 5 seconds. 7.



Return the cooked and drained chicken to the wok; stir soy sauce/wine mixture and add to wok; stir until sauce boils, then add cornstarch mix to thicken. 8. Add the sesame oil and peanuts.



Stir and fold until the ingredients are thoroughly mixed.



From: Panda Express



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Fried Rice (Hibachi Style Fried Rice)

Yield: 2 陆 cups (serves 2)



Make at home, restaurant style fried rice. My daughter loves the fried rice you can get at expensive Japanese Hibachi style restaurants. I make this all the time for her and she loves it. I usually make it without the peas and carrots.



2 cups cooked rice, cooled

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

陆 cup onion, chopped

录 cup peas and carrots, frozen

1 egg

2 tablespoons margarine

2 tablespoons soy sauce



I use the boiling bags of rice, it's very easy and just the right amount.



Saut茅 onion, peas and carrots in olive oil.



Move vegetables to side of pan and lightly scramble the egg. Add rice and margarine and saut茅 for 5 minutes. Add soy sauce and cook for 1 minute.



Serve hot.
Some of it is the technique. I too had problems making food like the Asian restaurants. I found a cookbook that explained how to cook the aromatics (onion, chiles, garlic, ginger) in the oil first before adding the meat. Then add the vegetables and add a small amount of your sauce at the end. It does taste more authentic that way - especially if you use a very hot wok and lots of garlic! One thing to consider though is that many Asaian restaurants use MSG. Makes food taste better but isn't necessarily better for you. I like the fresh flavors better myself.Has anyone ever found a recipe like the ones you find in Chinese restaurants?
Toasted Sesame Oil... that's what you're missing for sure. Drizzle it over whatever you've made at the very end (try not to cook it too long, it tends to burn). That's the missing flavor.
If you want to learn the authentic chinese recipes, you must go to the website built up by authentic chinese people. I have found one:

http://homechineserecipes.com this site is so cool and it's so easy to follow because every recipe consist of many cooking pics. :)Has anyone ever found a recipe like the ones you find in Chinese restaurants?
One of most important thing I learned from Simple Ming, is that the pot had to be hot. Most of the home stove has not enough BTU, the heating is not high enough. For stir fry, u need at least 1200 bMANYtu.Next is what ingredient to put in first, u put in ginger , onion , garlic, soy sauce, sugar etc, let it cook for 30 second,so the flavor is out then put in ur meat or vegetables. Do not dump everything in all at once. I hope it help u.