10 Favorite Chinese Recipes for Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is less than 2 weeks away! If you're hosting a Thanksgiving dinner this year, I hope you're well on your way with the menu and getting the house all decked out and ready for the holiday season! I'm finalizing the menu while freaking out about how to comfortablely fit 6 people in our kitchen/living room/dining room - oh joy! NY-size apartments! But hey, it's all good. Can't wait to enjoy the day with my family! If you've landed on this post, you're either doing some finishing touches to your menu or you're looking for something non-traditional to add to the feast. You're at the right place, my friend! Take a look at these 10 Chinese recipes for Thanksgiving!

10 Favorite Chinese Recipes for Thanksgiving

1. This Sichuan Dry Fried Green Beans by The Woks of Life is a super simple and authentic dish that's packed with flavor!

2. A picture is worth a thousand words. You NEED to look at Appetite For China's Chinese Pork Ribs with Plum Preserves.

3. Maggie behinds Omnivore's Cookbook cranks out tons of authentic Chinese dishes, and this Stir-Fried Snow Peas and Water Chestnuts is one of them!

4. Rasa Malaysia is like an Asian food bible with over 800 recipes. 800! If you're not familiar with Bee's recipes, you've seriously been missing out! I love how this Happy Family has a little bit of everything in it. Happy dish for a happy Thanksgiving!

5. Garlic, check! Eggplant, check! My Chinese Eggplant with Spicy Garlic Sauce!

6. This Dry-fried Cauliflower, by China Sichuan Food, looks absolutely gorgeous (and spicy)!

7. I'm drooling over this Garlic Ginger Shrimp Stir-fry by Steamy Kitchen.

8. Sometimes I think Steph over at I am a Food Blog is not human. She's BRILLANT! Crispy Sriracha Honey Lime Tofu? I can almost taste the action-packed flavors!

9. HOLY BELLY!!! If this Cantonese Style Roast Pork Belly, by Lady and Pups, isn't reminding me of the delicious Hong Kong, I don't know what is!

10. As always Maryanne's photos make me want to eat my screen, including this Sesame Almond Noodles, just by looking at her perfect food photography!

Have a happy, merry, stuffed and drunken Thanksgiving everyone! (Insert glasses clinking toast sound here :D)

Extra: Thanksgiving Dinner 2012

After weeks of preparation, I had successfully hosted a Thanksgiving dinner party! That should go on my resume as a skill. Even though it was a lot of work, I really did enjoy every bit of it – from picking table cloths to hunting for the perfect recipes. The food was absolutely delicious and it was an perfect evening to spend with family and friends.

We had a snack table set up shortly after breakfast with cheese and crackers, cured meats from Little Italy, olives, and grapes. And then, of course, there was the booze (a lot of it). Our friend Ian brought over a great bottle of bourbon – brewed right here in Brooklyn – called Widow Jane. He also brought another malt scotch whisky called Ardbeg from the Isle of Islay in Scotland. On the table, there was also this really good hard cider that Adam bought from the Fort Greene market called Bad Seed, which is a local cider from the Hudson Valley. And then... there was the Hennessy.

While Adam mastered the turkey I was busy cooking all the trimmings. Our 10 pound turkey ended up taking a little longer than we thought but that was a-okay because it gave us more time to enjoy watching football. Check out the fancy little menu and the amazing line-up :) Also check out these recipes you can try to make next year – Italian Sausage Stuffing, Green Beans and Walnuts with Lemon Vinaigrette, Corn Bread Pudding, Sweet-and-Tart Cranberry Sauce.

So happy that we got to finish off our meal with a Chocolate Bourbon Pecan Pie from Baked in Brooklyn, and the famous (blueberry) crumb cake from Carlo's Bakery in Hoboken, thanks to Ian and Petra!

Corn Bread Pudding

Here is a side dish to die for – Corn Bread Pudding. It's so good, I could eat it everyday. It's super easy to make, share, pack, and re-heat. The recipe is also very versatile – try throwing in some jalapeño or pepperoni. Be adventurous!

Check out my other favorite Thanksgiving recipes:

Corn Bread Pudding

Servings: 8

You'll need:

  • 1 16oz sour cream
  • 4 eggs
  • 2 cans of cream corn
  • 2 cans of regular corn, drained
  • 2 boxes of Jiffy corn muffin mix
  • 1 stick unsalted butter, melted
  • 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Approach:

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
  2. Start with sour cream, beat in eggs, then add the cream corn and regular corn.
  3. Mix in the Jiffy corn muffin mix.
  4. Pour mixture into a 9x13 baking dish.
  5. Pour melted butter on top of the mixture, and bake for 1 hour.
  6. Spread some shredded cheddar cheese on top and bake for another 10 minutes for the cheese to melt.

Green Beans and Walnuts with Lemon Vinaigrette

This green beans recipe blew everyone away on Thanksgiving! It's refreshing and the lemon vinaigrette made the dish light among other heavier traditional dishes.

Check out my other favorite Thanksgiving recipes:

Green Beans and Walnuts with Lemon Vinaigrette

Servings: 8

You'll need:

  • 1 lemon
  • 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
  • 1/3 cup olive oil
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 1/2 pounds green beans, trimmed
  • 2/3 cup walnuts, toasted, coarsely chopped

Approach:

  1. Remove peel from lemon with vegetable peeler and cut into very fine strips.
  2. Cut lemon in half. Squeeze enough juice to measure 2 tablespoons; transfer to small bowl. Whisk in mustard, then oil. Season with salt and pepper.
  3. Cook green beans in pot of boiling salted water until crisp-tender, 5 to 6 minutes. Drain; pat dry. Combine beans, walnuts, and lemon peel strands in large bowl. Add dressing; toss to coat. Season salad to taste with salt and pepper and serve.

This recipe is adopted from Bon Appetit.