Easy Chinese Food at Home
It now cost the average family of 4 about $40 – $50 to enjoy a nice evening out at a restaurant. Save almost 75% of that money and make the night memorable by having a restaurant night at home.
Get the family involved in planning the menu, preparing the food, cleaning and decorating the house. Children enjoy making decorations and pretend menus. Break out the good china and put a table cloth and candles on the table or take the meal to the living room and pop in a Netflix movie. Whatever the family likes, just make it special and fun. This could be something to look forward to each week. The money saved will go a long way and the memories made are priceless.
Our family loves Chinese food. That’s are special treat. Over the last few years, I’ve come up with a few unique strategies so that we can enjoy family favorites right from home.
Tempura Batter
Ever wonder how the local favorite Chinese restaurant cooks up that light and crispy golden battered chicken, shrimp and pork? It’s really not that difficult.
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup flour
- 1/2 cup cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 egg
- 2/3 cup ice water
- Oil for deep frying
Directions:
- Sift together the dry ingredients and set aside.
- In a medium bowl, beat the egg slightly and mix with the ice water.
- Stir in the dry ingredients. Stir only until mixed; mixture will be slightly lumpy.
Dip shrimp, chunky-cut chicken and vegetables, etc. into the batter and deep fry in hot oil until golden brown. Drain on paper towels.
Sweet & Sour Sauce and Dipping Sauces
The easiest way to give the family their favorite sauce is to buy from the source. Most restaurants will gladly sell a quart of sweet & sour sauce for a few dollars.
However, here’s an easy recipes worth trying at home.
Simple Sweet & Sour Sauce Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup ketchup
- 1/2 cup white vinegar
- 1/2 cup sugar
Combine all ingredients and heat until hot and the sugar has dissolved. Serve warm or at room temperature. This sauce may be prepared a few days in advance and warmed before serving. Makes 1 1/2 cups.
The average cost of an egg roll at the restaurant is a $1 each. The local grocery store, super market or wholesale club sales a box of frozen egg rolls for about $.50 an egg roll.
Don’t forgo the fortune cookie experience. Fortune cookies are fun. Again, like the sweet & sour sauce, most local restaurants will also sell a few fortune cookies for a minimum cost.
It’s also easy to make fortune cookies. When making your own, it’s easy to personalize the fortune and add embellishment. Try dipping a one corner of a fortune cookie in white or dark chocolate. It’s fantastic!
One More Idea
Let’s say you’ve got a busy day ahead, but you’re planning on having Sweet & Sour for chicken. I’ll go by our favorite Chinese restaurant at lunch, ( when the prices are cheaper), and I’ll pick up a quart of sweet and sour sauce for $2 and one buffet to go full of nothing but tempura chicken for $7. In fact, the owner even throws in 7 fortune cookies for free. He knows what I’m doing!
We add to that our own rice, fruit, vegetables and jello for a total cost of about $12. That’s a Chinese dinner for less than $2 a person, and we eat good!
So, there you have it. Try it and let me know how it worked out. It’s a lot of fun. In fact, as a busy mom, I prefer Chinese food night at home. Here, I can sit back, relax and enjoy, (the kids wash the dishes.)
Haven’t gone all out with decorations, but we do enjoy making our own fried rice and egg rolls. A Vietnamese friend showed me how she makes both dishes, and now we prefer them to those found in restaurants. Easy, fun yumminess at home is a true treat. Thank you for the batter recipe. Looking forward to trying it, hopefully soon.
Molly says:”You’re welcome Rebecca. It’s my pleasure. I would love to see your recipes for friend rice and egg rolls. Would you be willing to share with us? Thank you!”
Hi Molly,
In Australia the “average” chinese meal of fried rice, a soft drink per person (lets face it we all really want a second as the food is salty), 4 dishes to share among 5 people, and fried ice cream or lychee and ice cream for desert would be a minimum of $85 for a small local shop. (2 x $10 dishes, 2 x $15 dishes, $10 for special fired rice, and $3 per drink plus desert)
we can’t do it. that’s our food budget for a family of 5 without meat or milk and bread.
I make a lot from scratch, so, thanks for these.
Molly says:” Laila, thank you for commenting. I’ve never traveled abroad. My goodness, those seem like high prices, but then again, I was thinking I bet you don’t have all-you-eat-buffets like we have here in the States/ What you are talking about is a traditional Chinese restaurant. I had forgotten about those and yes, they can be pricey! At a buffet, a person can eat all they want for a lump sum of usually $7 for lunch and $10 for dinner per person. However, even that is too much for frugal moms. Let’s just keep cooking at home!:)”
Laila, I was thinking the same thing! Chinese for 4 in Canada would be more than $40! I make fried rice and sweet and sour at home quite often but I’ve never done tempura, will have to give that a try!
Molly says:” Alexis, let me know how it works out for you.”