Spicy recipes.

A curated slice of the archive — every recipe filed under spicy.

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Hunan farmhouse stir-fry with pork belly, scrambled eggs, green peppers, and red chili

Nº 01

Stir-fry 17 min

Hunan Farmhouse Stir-Fry (Nong Jia Yi Wan Xiang)

A savory Hunan home-style stir-fry of rendered pork belly, tender scrambled eggs, crisp green peppers, and a fragrant touch of doubanjiang. It is bold, deeply satisfying, and ready in about 17 minutes.

Xinjiang big plate chicken with browned chicken, potatoes, dried chilies, scallions, and colorful peppers in a glossy sauce

Nº 02

Chicken 60 min

Xinjiang Big Plate Chicken (Da Pan Ji)

A bold Xinjiang chicken stew with caramel-browned chicken, tender potatoes, dried chilies, warm spices, and colorful peppers. The glossy savory sauce is spicy, gently sweet, and especially good with hand-pulled wide noodles.

A plate of Hunan-style hand-torn cabbage stir-fried with pork belly and chilies

Nº 03

Stir-fry 20 min

Hand-Torn Cabbage Stir-Fry (Shou Si Bao Cai)

A spicy, tangy Hunan-style cabbage stir-fry with crisp-tender torn cabbage and fragrant pork belly. The key is high heat, quick cooking, and returning the cabbage to the wok only at the end.

A pot of bubbling red Chongqing hot pot with beef tallow base

Nº 04

Hot-pot 60 min

Beef Tallow Hot Pot Base (Chongqing Style)

Make your own Chongqing hot pot base from scratch — beef tallow, dried chilies, Sichuan peppercorns, and about a dozen spices. Yes, it's a project. But the result is miles ahead of store-bought.

A plate of Kung Pao Chicken with diced chicken, peanuts, and red chili peppers

Nº 05

Chicken 30 min

Kung Pao Chicken (Gong Bao Ji Ding)

The real Sichuan version — chicken, peanuts, dried chilies, and Sichuan peppercorns in a tangy-sweet sauce. Spicy, numbing, and addictive. Not the takeout version.