Recipes

Our Best Chinese New Year Recipes

It’s no secret that Chinese food is some of the world’s finest, as well as one of the globe’s most popular international favourites. Ranging from the humble high street takeaway through to the most high-end gastronomic temples, London is fortunately home to plenty of outstanding Chinese cooking. So with the arrival impending arrival of Chinese New Year, we’ve compiled a selection of our best Chinese New Year recipes to try at home.

Best Chinese New Year Recipes

Jianbing, Chinese Tapas House

With the original recipe said to date back almost 2,000 years, to the Three Kingdoms period, jianbing is a Chinese breakfast staple. Literally meaning ‘fried pancake’, Chinese Tapas House’s jianbing recipe uses a blend of wheat and mung bean flour, topped with a selection of fillings including beaten eggs, fresh herbs, pickles, chilli, sweet and spicy sauces, and fried wonton skin.

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Jianbing

Course Breakfast, Snack
Cuisine Chinese
Keyword Jianbing, Pancakes
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 15 minutes
Servings 4 jianbing

Ingredients

  • 50 g flour
  • 50 g mung bean flour if there is no mung bean flour available, just increase the flour to 100g
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 Frankfurter sausages cut into chunks
  • Cooking oil
  • Sweet bean (Tianmian) sauce
  • Chilli sauce
  • 4 spring onions chopped

Instructions

  • Mix 180ml water with both flours to make the batter. Beat the two eggs together.
  • Add a little oil to the frying pan. Once hot, spread the pancake batter on the pan, add the eggs to the top of the pancake. Leave for 1 to 2 minutes in the frying pan.
  • Flip the pancake over. Drizzle over the sweet bean and chilli sauce, top with the chopped spring onions and Frankfurter sausages.
  • Roll it up and cut in the middle. Ready to eat.

Xiao Long Bao, Plum Valley

Shanghainese soup dumplings aren’t necessarily the simplest of dishes to make at home, but they’re some of the most rewarding and most transcendently delicious. This recipe from Plum Valley Head Chef A-Zhong fills the pleated dumplings with pork and crab meat: perfect for celebrating Chinese New Year.

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Xiao Long Bao

Pork and crabmeat soup dumplings .
Course Main Course
Cuisine Chinese
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 2 hours
Total Time 2 hours 30 minutes
Servings 40 dumplings

Ingredients

For the pastry

  • 250 g Medium strong flour
  • 130 g Water
  • 2 g Salt

For the meat filling

  • 250 g Minced pork minced
  • 50 g Crabmeat
  • 25 g Spring onion
  • 25 g Ginger
  • 2 g Salt
  • 3 g Chicken powder
  • 6 g Sugar
  • 5 g Soy sauce
  • 10 g Shaoxing cooking wine

For the soup jelly

  • 1 lb Pork ribs
  • 5 Spring onions
  • 2 Ginger thumb-sized pieces
  • 2 tbsp Shaoxing wine
  • 6 cups Water
  • 1 tsp Salt

Instructions

To make the pastry

  • Combine the pastry ingredients together, stirring in the water slowly and knead to form a dough. Roll out into a thin sausage and cut into small cubes, the size of a 50p piece. Then press each into a round, thin circle to use later. (Can use rolling pin).

To make the meat filling

  • Mix all the filling ingredients together ready to use later

To make the soup jelly

  • Place the pork ribs into a stock pot and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil. Cook for about 2 minutes or until foam begins to float to the top. Empty the content of the pot into a colander and rinse the bones thoroughly with cold water. Clean the pot thoroughly as well.
  • Return the cleaned pork ribs to the cleaned stock pot. Add spring onions, ginger, wine, and water. Bring the pot to a boil then reduce heat to a low simmer. Occasionally skim the surface of any foam that floats to the top to keep the stock clear. Simmer on low for about 1.5 hours or until liquid reduces to half.
  • Season with salt.
  • Strain liquid into a 13×9 inch baking dish and discard the solids. Cover with plastic and chill in fridge until set (at least two hours).
  • Once set, cut a crosshatch pattern into the jellied soup. 

To assemble the dumplings

  • Mix the meat filling with the diced soup jelly in the proportion of 1:1.
  • Place the filling in the middle of the round pastry and fold (this is the hardest part, a good xiao long bao should have between 16 and 20 folds).
  • Place in a basket and steam your xiao long bao for 4 and a half minutes.

Steamed Chicken & Chive Dumplings, Royal China

Royal China’s steamed chicken and chive dumplings are also filled with prawns, Chinese garlic chives, dried shrimp and ginger. The recipe serves four, but it’s worth scaling up to make a larger batch which can be frozen and quickly steamed as and when needed.

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Steamed Chicken and Chive Dumplings

These chicken and chive dumplings from the chefs at Royal China are huge on flavour
Course Side Dish
Cuisine Chinese
Keyword Chicken
Servings 4
Author Jon Hatchman

Ingredients

For the filling

  • 300 g Chicken ground
  • 200 g Fresh prawns (shrimps) shelled
  • ½ bunch Chinese garlic chives finely chopped
  • 1 clove Garlic crushed
  • 1 tbsp Chinese Shao Shing wine
  • 1 tbsp Light soy sauce
  • ½ tsp Ginger freshly grated
  • ½ tsp Dried shrimp ground
  • Sugar a pinch
  • tsp Sesame oil
  • 1 tsp Cornflour
  • 1 tsp Salt
  •  ½  tsp White pepper ground

For the dumplings

  • Whole chives
  • 4 Shu-mei wrappers (Wonton Skin)

Instructions

  • Whip all of the filling ingredients by hand, until they are fully combined and hold together.
  • Place a dollop of the filling in the centre of each wrapper and bring up the corners to form a little “money bag.” Leave the top open so that you can see some of the filling.
  • Blanch the whole chives in very hot water tap water. Then tie a chive around the neck of each dumpling so that it looks like it is wearing a little green belt.
  • Steam the dumplings in an oiled bamboo steamer for 15 minutes, in a steaming wok.
  • Serve hot with sweet chilli sauce.

Jiaozi, Dumpling’s Legend

Also known as pot sticker dumplings, jiaozi are considered lucky as they resemble boat-shaped Chinese ingots. This recipe from Dumpling’s Legend produces around 60-70 dumplings but can be scaled down accordingly, providing the filling is kept to around 25 grams per dumpling (approximately a spoonful).

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Jiaozi (pan-fried pot sticker dumplings)

Cuisine Chinese
Keyword Dim Sum, Dumplings, Jiaozi
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Inactive 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 40 minutes
Servings 70 dumplings

Equipment

  • Clean cloth for straining

Ingredients

  • 1 kg mixture of minced pork and pork belly finely chopped
  • 400 g Chinese cabbage finely chopped
  • 100 g carrots finely chopped
  • 150 g water chestnuts finely chopped
  • 50 g bamboo shoots finely chopped
  • 30 g chive shoots finely chopped
  • 2 tsp salt
  • 6 tsp sugar
  • 4 tsp corn powder
  • 1 tsp chicken stock powder
  • 1 tsp Chinese Shao Hsing white wine
  • 1 tsp oyster sauce
  • 1 tsp white pepper
  • 2 tsp sesame seed oil
  • 100 ml chicken stock
  • 2 tbsp cooking oil
  • 70 white round dumpling wrappers available in East Asian stores in Chinatown, London
  • Soy sauce
  • Rice wine vinegar
  • Red chilli finely chopped

Instructions

  • Put the finely chopped cabbage, bamboo shoots, carrots, water chestnuts and chives into a thin white clean cloth and squeeze out all of the excess water. In a large mixing bowl, mix the squeezed finely chopped vegetables with the minced pork meat and chopped pork belly. Season well and mix thoroughly. Leave for an hour in the fridge before use.
  • Get a dumpling wrapper (method below or store bought) and fill the middle with a spoonful of the filling (around 25g per dumpling), leaving space around the outside of the wrapper so the filling does not fall out.
  • Now, the Jiaozi fold. Hold the dumpling gently using your two fingers and a thumb, then applying the pressure of the fingers, fold them in half to close. Use your left hand finger to push the skin closed against the thumb around the edge.
  • Then, form a pleat in the centre of the dumpling wrapper. One side at a time, form pleats moving into the centre. Make sure that the pleats are pressed together tight all around to make sure there is no leaking of the filling and the dumpling is completely closed. Keep your hands a little wet, so they do not stick.
  • Heat a large pan with 3 tablespoons of oil. Place the dumplings with the folding facing up. Ensure each dumpling is sitting separately on the pan and not stacked.
  • Turn the heat up for one minute to crisp one side, then drain the oil and add the chicken stock so the dumplings are submerged in the stock. Turn the heat to simmer for 4 minutes.
  • Using tongs, take the dumplings out onto a plate. Drain the pan and add the oil back in and fry the folded side for 1 minute again.
  • Ready to serve – serve with a soy sauce or vinegar dipping sauce and some freshly chopped red chilli.

Steamed Chicken Dumplings, Rasa Sayang

In celebration of Chinese New Year, Cheong Wong, head chef at Rasa Sayang in London’s Chinatown has shared a simple chicken dumplings recipe. These parcels are stuffed with chopped chicken thighs and various other ingredients readily available in the UK, served with a dipping sauce of Chinese black vinegar and ginger. The Chinese also believe a positive correlation between dumplings eaten during New Year celebrations and money earned in the New Year exists; and who are we to argue? This recipe yields approximately 30 chicken dumplings.

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Chinese chicken dumplings

These parcels are stuffed with chopped chicken thighs and various other ingredients readily available in the UK, served with a dipping sauce of Chinese black vinegar and ginger. 
Course Entrée
Cuisine Chinese
Keyword Chicken, Fast Food
Servings 4
Author Rasa Sayang

Ingredients

For the dumplings

  • 4 Chicken thighs (approximately 600g), finely chopped or minced
  • 3 Water chestnuts finely chopped
  • 3 Spring onions stalks, finely chopped
  • 3 tbsp Light soy sauce
  • 1 tsp Dark soy sauce
  • 2 tsp Sesame oil
  • ¼ tsp Five spice
  • ¼ tsp White pepper
  • 1 tbsp Shao xing wine optional (available from Chinese supermarkets)
  • 1 tbsp Corn starch
  • Wonton skins pack of 30 (available from Chinese supermarkets)
  • Salt  to taste
  • Spring onion to serve

For the sauce

  • 10 tbsp Chinese black vinegar
  • Ginger a nub, very thinly sliced

Instructions

  • Mix the chopped chicken, water chestnuts and spring onions. Add the light and dark soy sauce and 1 tsp salt, as well as the sesame oil, five spice, white pepper, shao xing wine and corn starch.
  • Put the mixture to one side and leave to marinate for 1-2 hours.
  • Place a teaspoon of the filling in the middle of each of the wonton skins, then brush warm water around the edge of the skin and fold over the top of the filling. It’s very important there’s no air inside. Press the edges together and crimp, much like a Cornish pasty.
  • When they are all ready, bring a pan of water to the boil and gently place them in for 7-8 minutes. They’re ready when they float to the surface. Use a strainer to remove.
  • To make a traditional dipping sauce, mix the Chinese black vinegar with some thinly cut ginger.
  • Garnish with chopped spring onion.

Smoked Eel Egg Drop Soup, Bun House

A classic Cantonese recipe utilising leftover ingredients, egg drop soup is also known as “egg flower” soup in Chinese, said to bring luck as the flower blooms and blossoms. In celebration of Chinese New Year, Cantonese-style steamed bun specialist Bun House has shared a smoked eel egg drop soup recipe.

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Smoked eel egg drop soup

A classic Cantonese recipe, garnished with smoked eel and Youtiao (fried Chinese doughnut).
Course Soup
Cuisine Chinese
Keyword Chinese New Year, Egg Drop Soup, Soup
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 2 hours 10 minutes
Total Time 2 hours 25 minutes
Servings 8
Author Z He, founder of Bun House

Ingredients

  • 6 St Ewe rich yolk eggs
  • 90 g cornflour
  • 10 ml sesame oil
  • 10 g white pepper
  • 12 g Salt
  • 40 g wood ear fungus
  • 40 g white fungus or snow fungus
  • 15 g dried shrimp

For the chicken stock

  • 2.8 l cold water
  • 1 kg chicken bones/ carcass
  • 1 knob fresh ginger sliced
  • 3 Szechuan peppercorns
  • 2 star anise

To garnish

  • 50 g Smoked eel
  • 50 g Fried Chinese doughnut “Youtiao”
  • 1 bunch spring onion, green parts only very finely sliced

Instructions

  • Begin by making the chicken stock. Place chicken bones or carcass on a roasting tray and bake in the oven at 200C/Gas 6 until browned. Transfer all ingredients into a heavy bottom pot and fill with cold water. Bring it up to heat and simmer until stock is reduced by half. Then pass through a fine mesh sieve and allow to cool. Separate fat that rises to the top and discard.
  • Next start by rehydrating both dried mushrooms in boiling water for 20 minutes. Once done, squeeze and drain them. Roughly chop both and set aside.
  • Place your chicken stock back on the heat. While it is warming, create a cornflour slurry by whisking cornflour with 150ml of water. Then slowly incorporate the cornflour into the warm stock string constantly. Over a minute or so it will start to thicken. Once done, add hydrated mushrooms, sesame oil, dried shrimp, white pepper and salt.
  • Crack your eggs and whisk thoroughly with the 30ml of water, this helps bring the egg together and helps with pouring.
  • Get your mixture into something that is easy to pour. Once ready, begin to stir the soup in a circular motion to create a vortex and in a steady stream add the egg. As you do so you will begin to see ribbons of egg appear. Be careful not have the soup on too hot as the egg can quickly overcook.
  • Garnish with slices of crumbled eel and fried donut slice and a sprinkling of freshly sliced spring onion.

Char Siu Sugar Skin Iberico Pork, Wun’s Tea Room

One of Wun’s Tea Room’s most popular dishes, this elevated take on classic char siu pork uses Iberico pork belly gilded with a thick strip of nutty fat, for which it’s prized, also cloaked with a marinade of homemade char siu sauce, soy sauce, sugar and honey. It’s then finished with a ‘dust’ of sugar, salt, 13 spice, ginger, and chicken powder.

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Wun’s Tea Room’s Char Siu Sugar Skin Iberico Pork

An elevated version of classic char siu pork, served at Wun’s Tea Room in Soho.
Course Main Course
Cuisine Cantonese, Chinese
Keyword Char Siu Pork, Chinese New Year, Iberico Pork, Pork
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Marinating time 2 hours
Total Time 3 hours 5 minutes
Servings 4
Author Z He, Founder of Wun’s Tea Room

Ingredients

  • 1 kg Iberico pork belly skinless and boneless

For the char siu sauce

  • 75 g nam yu red fermented tofu
  • 100 ml hoi sin sauce
  • 100 ml fermented bean sauce
  • 100 g sugar
  • 60 ml 0yster sauce

For the marinade

  • 50 g sugar
  • 10 g salt
  • 400 ml soy sauce
  • 200-250 ml char siu sauce
  • 50 ml honey

For the sugar skin dust

  • 100 g sugar
  • 10 g salt
  • 10 g chicken powder
  • 10 g 13 spice
  • 5 g sand ginger powder

Instructions

  • To make the char siu sauce, combine all ingredients and mix well. (Char siu sauce can be pre-made and stored in jars for future marinades. To make a smaller batch simply reduce the ingredients in ratio.)
  • Cut pork belly into approx. 6x 2 inch long thick strips
  • Combine all marinade ingredients (except the honey) and mix well.
  • Add pork into sauce and marinade for at least 2 hours or overnight for a better result.
  • Preheat the oven to 230C/ Fan 210C/ Gas 7.
  • Mix all sugar skin dust ingredients together and set aside.
  • Place pork on a rack and roast for 23 minutes.
  • Take the rack out of the oven and flip the pork. Brush honey on all surfaces of the pork and return to the oven. Roast for another 20 minutes or until edges are lightly charred with a shiny and lightly golden finish.
  • Set aside to cool.
  • Before serving, coat the cooled pork strips with sugar dust. Put back into the oven for 2 minutes or until the sugar dust melts with a slight char on the edges.
  • Let the pork cool slightly until the sugar crisps up then serve.

Steamed Dover Sole & Pickled Chilli, MiMi Mei Fair

In celebration of Chinese New Year, Peter Ho, Executive Chef at MiMi Mei Fair, has shared a steamed Dover sole recipe. The fish is steamed then teamed with pickled chillies and a sauce comprising fish sauce, Maggi, light and dark soy, rock sugar, chicken powder, and coriander.

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Steamed dover sole with pickled chillies

A steamed Dover sole recipe from MiMi Mei Fair.
Course Main Course
Cuisine Chinese
Keyword Chinese New Year, Dover Sole, Fish, Sole
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Servings 2
Author Peter Ho, Executive Chef at MiMi Mei Fair

Ingredients

For the pickled chillies

  • 300 g fresh red chillies
  • 30 g sea salt
  • 50 g fermented glutinous rice mi po po
  • 10 g sesame oil
  • 15 g sugar
  • 15 g bouillon
  • 20 g garlic chopped
  • 20 g ginger chopped

For the sauce

  • 16 ml fish sauce
  • 20 ml Maggi sauce
  • 32 g rock sugar
  • 60 ml light soy sauce
  • 8 ml dark soy sauce
  • 5 g chicken powder
  • 8 g fresh coriander

For the fish

  • 500 g whole Dover sole
  • 30 g spring onion chopped
  • 20 g coriander roughly chopped
  • 5 ml vegetable oil
  • Cornflour enough to coat the fish

Instructions

  • To make the pickled red chillies, slice the chillies in half, remove the seeds and discard them.
  • Put the chilli halves into an airtight container, mixed with the sea salt. Leave at room temperature where it will begin to release a liquid.
  • Mix up the ingredients in the container every day for 21+ days, until the pickles are fully submerged. This leaves you with around 150g of pickled chillies.
  • When you would like to prepare the chutney, finely chop the pickled chillies and add all of the remaining ingredients. Once mixed, keep refrigerated and use it within 30 days.
  • To prepare the fish, mix all of the sauce ingredients together with 480ml water and steam the mixture for 30 minutes.
  • Sprinkle cornflour over the whole fish, ensuring that it is evenly coated.
  • Place the fish onto a plate and spread the pickled chili over it.
  • Steam the fish for 8 minutes. Once steamed, pour away the liquid
  • Heat the vegetable oil in a pan.
  • While the oil is heating up, place the fish on your serving dish and pour the steamed sauce over the top, then sprinkle with your spring onion.
  • Pour a little of the hot oil on the spring onion and then add the coriander and serve.

Yu Xiang Aubergine, Mao Chow Express

A Sichuan-inspired dish, this yu xiang aubergine is vegan and boldly flavoured, influenced by takeaways. Soft roasted aubergine is paired with a take on yu xiang sauce with grilled chillies featuring alongside ingredients such as doubanjiang, salted red chilli, garlic, and spring onion, topped with fried and crushed peanuts.

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Mao Chow Express’ Yu Xiang Aubergine

A vegan, takeaway inspired dish from Mao Chow Express.
Course Main Course, Starter
Cuisine Sichuan
Keyword Aubergine, Vegan, Vegetarian, Yu Xiang
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Total Time 55 minutes
Servings 2
Author Mao Chow Express

Ingredients

  • 1 large aubergine

For the sauce

  • 1 long turkish green chilli or mild Polish long green chilli
  • 1 ½ tbsp rapeseed oil
  • ½ small garlic clove
  • 1 spring onion whites only (keep the greens)
  • 1 level tsp 5-spice
  • 1 tbsp doubanjiang gently heaped
  • 1 ½ tbsp chopped salted red chilli
  • 1 tsp light soy sauce
  • 1 tbsp sugar
  • 1 thumb ginger for 1 tbsp peeled and chopped

For the topping

  • 2 tbsp peanuts fried and crushed
  • Reserved spring onion greens thinly sliced
  • 1 tbsp chinkiang vinegar

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 170C. Roast the aubergine for 22 mins, then turn over, and roast for another 22 mins.
  • Burn the chilli directly over a gas flame, or lay directly on the glass of a ceramic hob, turning every 1-2 minutes until blackened all over. Set aside to cool while you measure out the sauce ingredients – as with most stir-frying, it’s important to have all the ingredients ready to go before cooking.
  • Finely chop the burnt chilli, crush or mince the garlic, thinly slice the spring onion whites, and peel and finely chop the ginger. Notice how the ginger has stringy fibres running along its length – try to slice across those to avoid strings in the finished dish.
  • On a medium heat, fry the garlic and white spring onion, until softening and smelling delicious.
  • Add the 5-spice, disperse in the oil, and then add the doubanjiang. Turn up the heat to medium-high and fry the doubanjiang for around 1 minute – some caramelisation on the bottom is good, but be careful not to burn it.
  • Add the pickled chilli, sugar and light soy sauce, and mix everything together well.
  • Add the ginger, so that it cooks through by the time the sugar has dissolved – we don’t want to cook it for too long.
  • Remove from the heat, and check seasoning – it should be rich and a little sweet.
  • Slice the cooled aubergine in half longways, and slather on the sauce. Sprinkle with crushed peanuts, spring onion greens, chinkiang vinegar, and enjoy.
Photo: Joe Howard

Sticky Sesame Vegetables, Fatt Pundit

Crunchy, savoury, sweet, and generously spiced, Fatt Pundit’s Indo-Chinese sticky sesame vegetables comprise carrot, cabbage, green beans, and onions, pressed into patties, cloaked with a simple batter, and deep fried before being cut into smaller pieces and fried again. The fried vegetables are then finished with a sauce of Acacia honey (or agave nectar to make the dish vegan), dark soy sauce, tomato ketchup, and chilli.

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Sticky Sesame Vegetables

A crunchy, savoury, sweet, and generously spiced vegetarian dish from Fatt Pundit.
Course Appetizer, Side Dish, Snack
Cuisine Hakka, Indo Chinese
Keyword Vegetables, Vegetarian
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Servings 5
Author Fatt Pundit

Ingredients

  • 100 g carrot cut into thin strips
  • 200 g cabbage cut into thin strips
  • 100 g green beans
  • 100 g onions thinly sliced
  • Oil for deep frying

For the batter

  • 5 tbsp cornflour/corn starch
  • 5 tbsp refined flour
  • Salt to taste

For the sauce

  • 4-5 cloves garlic chopped
  • 5-6 whole dried red chillies
  • 50 g spring onions chopped
  • 2 green chillies finely chopped
  • 2 tbsp tomato ketchup
  • 1 tbsp dark soy sauce
  • 1 tbsp acacia honey alternatively substitute agave nectar to make the dish vegan
  • Salt to taste
  • Toasted sesame seeds to garnish

Instructions

  • Mix the cornflour, refined flour and salt in a bowl with enough water to make a thick batter. Add the vegetables and mix so that all the vegetables are well coated. Make palm sized flattened cakes of the battered vegetables.
  • Heat enough oil in a wok and deep fry the vegetable cakes in batches for 1 – 2 minutes, just until they begin to change colour. Drain on absorbent paper and set aside.
  • Once the cakes are fried, cut them into bite size pieces and deep fry again until they are golden brown and crispy.
  • For the sauce, heat two tablespoons of oil in a pan or wok until smoking hot. Add the dried red chillies to get the smoking flavour in the pan/wok, then add garlic, green chilli and sauté until brown in colour.
  • Add the ketchup, soy sauce, honey, spring onions and salt, then sauté́ for 30 seconds or so. Add all the fried vegetables and mix well until the vegetables are coated with the sauce.
  • Sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds and serve hot.

Related: The best street food & take away in Chinatown London

Jon Hatchman

Jonathan is Food Editor for The London Economic. Jonathan has run and contributed towards a number of blogs, and has written features for publications such as Eater London, The Guardian, i News, The Independent, GQ, Time Out London and more.

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