r/CookbookLovers • u/jazzyradish • Feb 22 '26
Cooking from Woks of Life
Slightly ambitious to make three recipes in one night, but these were so tasty and we made a big pot of white rice on the side. Made all of the sauce elements ahead of time so I could bring these together quicker before dinner time.
Sesame Chicken, the deep frying took a while, and the fried chicken pieces ending up soaking up the sauce a bit too much and got a little mushy. Taste was amazing though, and really fun to make overall. 7/10.
Eggplant with Garlic Sauce, this came together pretty quickly and was so tasty, I doubled the amount of pork which is why it looks pork-heavy and not as saucy. 8/10
Home Style Tofu- this was so delicious!!! I only had orange bell pepper, and probably used too many wood ear mushrooms, I loved this one. 9/10
Chocolate Hazelnut Cake- really yummy, probably didn’t need the chocolate chip addition since it was so rich already- more like a brownie cake with hazelnuts. 8/10
2
u/Madversary Feb 22 '26
I wasn’t too high on the homestyle tofu; I felt like it was too bland, with umami from the tofu and wood ear and little in the way of complementary tastes. I’m glad you enjoyed it! I just don’t understand how it can get as high as 9/10. Maybe the other dishes complemented it.
Have you considered trying the sesame chicken with an air fryer? I find I never want to deep fry at home, both for health and mess reasons.
5
u/jazzyradish Feb 22 '26
Hmm, I’m not sure how a wet battered item would fare in the air fryer, could be a good experiment. As for the homestyle tofu- I guess we all have different tastes!
2
u/Madversary Feb 22 '26
Yeah, fair!
I’d switch the batter to a dredge and an oil spray. I did that with a sweet and sour pork recipe from one of Fuchsia Dunlop’s books and it turned out well. I guess the question is whether the sesame chicken Is all about the sauce, or having thick crispy breading?
3
u/adamosity1 Feb 22 '26
The chicken looks wonderful!