Chinese appetizers go way beyond your standard takeout egg rolls.
I have put together a massive list of 17 recipes that feature everything from fresh cucumber salads to fluffy steamed buns. You are going to love bringing these fun and flavorful starters right into your own kitchen.
1. Okra Salad with Black Vinegar
If you have never experienced okra before, you might want to try it fried first since its unique texture takes a little getting used to. Once you fall in love with it, this simple salad becomes a completely brilliant way to prepare it.
The absolute secret here is blanching the okra pieces for exactly one minute before submerging them in an ice bath to stop the cooking process. You can then serve the rich black vinegar mix as a dip alongside the okra topped with chopped peanuts and fresh chilis.
2. Cantonese Spring Rolls
It honestly baffles my mind that I do not make spring rolls more often.
You only need a selection of thinly sliced vegetables and maybe some pork to make these happen. Since you can buy the wrappers premade at the store, half the work is already done for you. I consider cabbage and carrots absolutely mandatory for the filling, but you can easily mix things up with shrimp or mushrooms.
Once you fry them to a beautiful crisp, these golden beauties will completely fly off the plate.
3. Scallion Pancakes
If you only try one single recipe from this entire list, I am strongly rooting for these scallion pancakes. They do require a tiny bit of extra love, but that intensely savory scallion flavor is absolutely worth the effort.
You will mold the dough into little balls before rolling them completely flat and then shaping them into tiny logs. Turning that log into a tight spiral before your final roll guarantees the flakiest layers you have ever tasted.
4. Chinese Style Potato Salad
It completely makes sense that a dish featuring potato, garlic, salt, and chili oil would taste this incredible. You might be a little shocked to discover that there is absolutely zero mayonnaise involved here. It relies entirely on a simple but punchy mix of potatoes tossed in a delightfully spicy chili infused oil.
Just make sure to cut your potatoes as evenly as possible so they cook uniformly without turning into mush.
5. Egg Rolls
You might wonder about the real difference between a spring roll and an egg roll. Spring rolls lean toward a thinner crispiness, while egg rolls boast a much thicker and crunchier exterior shell.
They both utilize very similar savory fillings like cabbage, carrots, and pork wrapped up in the exact same manner. Egg rolls are traditionally deep fried to achieve that blistered and bubbly texture we all crave so much.
6. PF Chang’s Chicken Lettuce Wraps
I completely adore these lettuce wraps because they deliver massive flavor while staying wonderfully light. This means I can comfortably enjoy my main course and dessert without feeling overly full.
You will notice the ingredient list looks a bit long, but you actually reuse many of these pantry staples across multiple dishes. Once you stock up on basics like sriracha, soy sauce, peanut oil, hoisin, and rice vinegar, you are totally set for weeks of cooking.
7. Vegetable Potstickers
Potstickers are incredibly similar to standard dumplings but feature a different cooking method. You steam and fry them simultaneously to achieve that deeply golden and crunchy bottom side.
These completely meatless potstickers make a totally flawless addition to any dinner spread. With the robust flavor of mushrooms and the refreshing crunch of water chestnuts, you will not miss the meat for a single second.
8. Chinese Cabbage Salad
I have absolutely always adored the texture and earthy flavor of cabbage in my kitchen. It is an incredibly budget friendly vegetable that easily stretches to feed a hungry crowd.
If you count yourself as a fan of coleslaw, you are going to fall head over heels for this vibrant salad. You get the most amazing textural contrast from chopped peanuts, toasted seeds, and crispy noodles tossed right in.
9. Soft Fluffy Chinese Steamed Buns Recipe
These light and fluffy steamed buns are ridiculously easy to recreate right in your own kitchen. You only need basic ingredients like flour, yeast, sugar, oil, salt, and milk to get started. The dough comes together extremely fast in a mixer and only needs to rest once until it doubles in size.
My best advice for a smooth finish is to leave the buns sitting in the steamer for a few minutes after turning off the heat so they can gently cool down without a sudden shock of cold air.
10. 5-Minute Zucchini Salad
This wonderfully simple dish shares a lot of the same minimalist vibes as the okra salad. By skipping an overwhelming list of extra ingredients, the zucchini gets a chance to completely shine on center stage.
You only need to boil the fresh zucchini for a few minutes until it softens beautifully. It then gets drenched in an incredible dressing alongside a heavy drizzle of hot chili oil for the perfect finishing kick.
11. Easy Chinese Cucumber Salad
Transforming the humble cucumber into a totally craveable side dish is basically a magical superpower. You will absolutely not believe how incredibly fast this entire recipe comes together. It utilizes all those familiar flavor powerhouses like rice vinegar, crushed garlic, and savory sesame oil.
You just mix up the dressing and pour it right over your crushed cucumbers exactly when you are ready to serve to keep them delightfully crunchy.
12. Chinese Zucchini Pancakes
I love serving these impossibly light pancakes for breakfast, as a quick snack, or as an inviting appetizer. They combine fresh zucchini with shallots and five spice before getting dunked into a wonderfully tangy dipping sauce.
Most recipes will force you to grate and aggressively drain the vegetable to avoid a soggy mess. This brilliant version skips the draining entirely and starts with an extra thick batter that naturally thins out perfectly as the zucchini releases its moisture.
13. Chinese Sliced Tofu Salad
This is definitely not your average bowl of greens topped with boring cubes of tofu. Sliced tofu is a remarkably dense ingredient cut from thin sheets that totally mimics the look of flat noodles.
You can easily track this unique ingredient down at your local Asian market. You literally just plunge it into boiling water for a few seconds and rinse it cold before tossing it with carrots, cucumbers, and a zippy dressing.
14. Crab Rangoon
This simple appetizer relies on a savory mix of crab meat, cream cheese, garlic, and Worcestershire sauce. You wrap that impossibly creamy filling inside a wonton wrapper and fry it until it turns perfectly golden.
I highly recommend mixing the cream cheese with the garlic and Worcestershire sauce until smooth before gently folding in the crab meat to keep it nice and chunky. I prefer picking up fresh crab meat from the deli, but cooked shrimp or imitation crab will work beautifully too.
15. Sticky Baked Chinese Chicken Wings
I used to struggle to get my homemade chicken wings to achieve that incredibly sticky finish you find at restaurants. I eventually realized it was entirely because I was too impatient to baste them properly.
These wings soak up a flavorful marinade before getting coated in the absolute perfect sticky glaze. They bring garlic, spice, and sweetness together into everything you could possibly want in a wing.
Just make sure to leave them in the oven for a solid 45 to 50 minutes and baste them at least twice for the ultimate glossy finish.
16. Gai Lan Recipe with Oyster Sauce (Chinese Broccoli)
Chinese broccoli is a beautiful leafy green vegetable that tastes like a hybrid of broccoli, Brussels sprouts, and cabbage. It looks quite a bit like broccoli rabe and carries a similarly pleasant bitter note.
You just need to trim the tough ends off the stalks and give the leaves a really thorough wash. I love frying it up in garlic and ginger infused oil before adding a splash of stock to let it steam until perfectly tender.
17. Wood Ear Mushroom Salad
Wood ear mushrooms bring a wonderfully unique and mild flavor to the table. You will typically find them sold dried, which means you need to soak and cook them thoroughly before eating.
These dark mushrooms look incredibly impressive when arranged on a platter with bright chilis. They make for an absolutely fantastic side dish that will grab everyone’s attention.