A Must-read For Kitchen Novices! 8 Easy-to-use Home-cooked Dishes With Zero Failure

For many novices who have just entered the kitchen, making a "hard dish" with color and flavor always seems to be separated by a layer of veil. Don’t worry, today’s zero-failure guide brings you 8 home-cooked dishes with common ingredients, simple steps, and amazing taste. From quick stir-fries to nourishing soups, precise heat levels and exclusive tips are all ready. Even if you are cooking for the first time, you can easily control it and gain a full sense of accomplishment.

1. The sweetness of black bean sauce: Stir-fried beef with bitter melon

The key point of this dish is how to perfectly combine the fragrance of bitter melon with the tenderness of beef. As long as you master two pre-processing skills, you can easily remove the bitterness, leaving only the sweet fragrance.

First, prepare the ingredients. A bitter melon of appropriate weight needs to be carefully processed. Two hundred grams of beef slices of specific quality also need to be properly prepared. One spoon of minced garlic and half a spoon of tempeh (this is an optional ingredient). Everything is ready.

The marinating steps to make the beef tender and smooth are as follows: First, add a spoonful of well-measured light soy sauce to the vessel containing the beef slices, then add a spoonful of accurately measured cooking wine, then add a teaspoon of accurately measured starch, and then mix evenly with your hands until the surface of the beef slices becomes sticky. After the mixing is completed, add half a spoonful of carefully measured oil to lock in the moisture in the meat slices. After completing this series of operations, let it sit and marinate for fifteen minutes.

Detailed steps :

To remove the bitter taste from bitter melon, first cut it in half along the center line, and then use an iron spoon to carefully scrape off the white pulp on the inside. You must know that this is the source of the bitter taste. When cutting, cut into flat and thin slices. After cutting, add half the amount of half a bowl of salt and knead it evenly with your hands. Let it drain for ten minutes, then squeeze out the excess water and keep it for later use.

For the beef slices, pour cold oil into a hot pan. After the oil temperature reaches 50% hot, put it into the pan and quickly stir-fry it until it is in a seven-mature state and changes color. Then, immediately scoop it out. This series of operations is how to stir-fry beef.

Leave the base oil in the pot, sauté the minced garlic and black bean until fragrant, add the bitter melon slices and stir-fry vigorously over high heat until the edges are slightly translucent.

4. Pour the beef back into the pot, pour a spoonful of oyster sauce along the edge of the pot, add a little hot water, and stir-fry quickly until the beef is evenly distributed. Once the smell is stimulated, turn off the heat immediately, and then take out the fried meat from the pot.

2. Spicy and addictive: Family version of Maoxuewang

If you want to replicate the rich flavor of the restaurant at home, the key lies in the "frying the base ingredients" and the "step-by-step blanching" method, so that each bite of the ingredients can fully absorb the filling soup.

Ingredients preparation: 200 grams of duck blood cut into slices, 150 grams of tripe cut into strips, 100 grams of soybean sprouts, 50 grams of luncheon meat cut into thin slices, two tablespoons of hot pot base, one tablespoon of Sichuan peppercorns, and an appropriate amount of ginger slices and garlic cloves.

Detailed steps :

When pre-cooking the ingredients, the water in the pot should be in a boiling state. Duck blood and tripe should be quickly blanched to remove the fishy smell. Bean sprouts should also be blanched until they are raw, then taken out and drained for subsequent use and set aside.

Heat the pot, add a small amount of oil, heat until the pot is hot, add dried ginger, garlic and Sichuan peppercorns to sauté, place the hot pot base ingredients, and stir-fry over low heat to stir out the red fat. Pour in enough boiling water to reduce to low heat and simmer for five minutes to allow the flavors of the soup base to blend with each other.

Step 3: Boil step by step. First put the bean sprouts and lunch meat and cook for 2 minutes. Finally, add the duck blood and tripe and cook for 3 to 5 minutes until cooked. Pay attention to the time to keep the tripe crispy and tender.

Carry out the fourth step, take it out of the pot and put it into a bowl, then sprinkle with chopped green onion and peppercorns, and then pour a spoonful of scalding hot oil, which can stimulate all the aroma in an instant.

3. The King of Kuaishou: Stir-fried Beef with Coriander

There is a quick dish that can make people enjoy the meal perfectly. From the beginning of marinating to the final serving, it only takes a few minutes, and the heat must be controlled well. In this way, the beef will be tender and smooth, and the coriander will exude a fragrant fragrance.

Ingredients preparation : 200 grams of beef, 1 handful of coriander, minced garlic, appropriate amount of millet.

Detailed steps :

When making marinated beef, first cut the beef into thin slices, then add a spoonful of light soy sauce, then a spoonful of oyster sauce, then add a little sugar, then add a spoonful of starch to mix well, and finally add a spoonful of cooking oil and marinate for fifteen minutes.

2. Prepare ingredients : wash and cut coriander into sections, cut spicy millet into rings and set aside.

3. Stir-fry until fragrant : Heat the pot, pour in cold oil, add minced garlic and millet and stir-fry until fragrant, then pour in the marinated beef, stir-fry quickly over high heat until the beef completely changes color and is fully cooked.

4. Steps to take out the pot : Before turning off the heat, sprinkle the coriander segments in, use the remaining temperature to quickly stir-fry a few times, and then you can put it on the plate.

4. Original flavor: steamed chicken wings with mushrooms

Choose a healthy and fume-free way, use mushroom water as a natural "broth", the steamed chicken wings will be smooth and tender, and the mushrooms will be extremely delicious.

Relevant preparations for ingredients: There are exactly eight chicken wings, no more and no less, and they need to be chopped into halves respectively; six dried shiitake mushrooms that have been soaked in warm water are needed, and the water used for soaking should be reserved for later use; and ten grams of ginger and minced garlic, each weighed accurately; a piece of green onion must also be prepared.

The ratio of the marinade is: one tablespoon of oyster sauce, one tablespoon of light soy sauce, one tablespoon of cooking wine, one-quarter of a teaspoon of white pepper, one-half teaspoon of sugar, one small spoon of starch, and one small spoon of sesame oil.

Detailed steps :

1. Perform a double marinating operation. First, put the chicken wings with ginger, garlic, scallions and all seasonings (except starch and sesame oil) and marinate for 15 minutes. Then add starch and marinate evenly to lock in moisture. Finally, pour sesame oil to add fragrance.

Spread the soaked shiitake mushroom slices and place them on the bottom of a deep plate, then place the chicken wings on top and fill the gaps in the chicken wings with shiitake mushrooms.

To inject the essence, slowly pour 80 ml of the remaining water after soaking the mushrooms along the edge of the plate containing the ingredients. Be careful not to wash away the seasonings applied to the chicken wings.

4. Perform the steaming operation in the pot: when the water reaches boiling state, put it into the pot and steam over medium heat for 18 minutes (if a bamboo cage is used, this time needs to be extended to 22 minutes). After it's out of the pot, sprinkle with chopped green onion and a few wolfberry berries as a garnish.

5. Nutritional complementation: roasted tofu with duck blood

An extremely mild dish that can supplement iron and calcium, it is a perfect combination of duck blood and tofu. It has a very smooth texture and a rich aroma of sauce.

Things to prepare: a piece of duck blood, a box of food called lactone tofu, a spoonful of something called bean paste, minced ginger and minced garlic, spicy millet, and chopped green onions.

Detailed steps :

In the pretreatment stage, cut the duck blood into pieces, prepare cold water for the pot, add a little salt and cooking wine, blanch the water, and remove the duck blood after boiling.

2. Fry the red oil : Heat the pot, pour in the oil and stir-fry the onion, ginger, garlic and millet until fragrant. Then add the bean paste and keep stirring over low heat to stir-fry the red oil.

3. Carry out the stew operation: Pour a bowl of boiling water into the pot and let it boil. Slowly and steadily slide the duck blood and tofu cubes (lactone tofu does not need to be blanched) into the pot. After boiling occurs again, pour water starch into the pot to thicken the soup.

4. Take out of the pot : Wait for the soup to thicken and evenly cover the ingredients. In this case, sprinkle a handful of chopped green onions and then take out the pot.

6. Strengthen the spleen and remove dampness: Chicken Soup with Yam and Gorgon Fruit

A bowl of home-cooked soup that is warm and moist, with gorgon seeds and poria cocos added to it. It not only tastes very delicious, but also has nutritional benefits such as strengthening the spleen and removing dampness.

There are three hundred grams of chicken that need to be prepared, one yam, twenty grams of gorgon seeds, ten grams of poria, and three slices of ginger.

Detailed steps :

1. Soaking : Soak gorgon seeds and poria cocos in water for 30 minutes in advance.

2. When blanching , put the chicken into cold water, then put it in the pot, add ginger slices, bring to a boil, then skim off the foam, and finally remove and rinse.

Three periods, the emphasis is on slow stewing. Place the chicken, gorgon seeds and poria cocos in a stew pot, add enough water, first bring it to a boil over high heat, and then reduce to low heat to simmer for 1 to 1.5 hours.

First, remove the skin of the yam and cut it into chunks. Then, place the cut yam into the soup and continue stewing for thirty to forty minutes until the yam becomes soft and rotten. Finally, add salt to adjust the taste, and that's it.

7. Moisturizing and beautifying: Kiwi and Tremella Soup

The dessert after the meal is refreshing and sweet. The white fungus is soft and waxy, and the kiwi fruit has a sweet and sour taste and is rich in vitamin C and gum.

Ingredients preparation : 2 kiwis, 1 white fungus, appropriate amount of rock sugar.

Detailed steps :

The first step is to stew the white fungus. You need to tear the soaked white fungus into small florets and put it into a pot. Then, you need to have enough water. Then, first boil the water over high heat and then turn to low heat to stew. The duration of this stew is thirty to forty minutes, until the white fungus becomes gelatinous and feels soft and waxy when chewed.

Step 2: When seasoning, peel off the skin of the kiwi and cut it into pieces, then place it in the pot with the rock sugar, and then continue to cook for 5 to 10 minutes until the rock sugar is completely melted before turning off the heat.

8. Low-fat and healthy: Pan-fried chicken breast

Who said that fat-reducing meals must be unpalatable? By simply marinating it and having enough patience to complete the pan-frying operation, you can finally get a piece of chicken breast that is crispy on the outside, tender on the inside, and juicy and juicy.

Ingredients preparation : 1 piece of chicken breast, salt, black pepper, light soy sauce, olive oil.

Detailed steps :

Wash the chicken breasts, then gently pat them with the back of a knife to loosen them. Then add salt, black pepper and light soy sauce and spread evenly, then marinate for 30 minutes.

When frying, pour a few olives into the pan. When the oil is hot, add the chicken breasts. Maintain medium-low heat and fry slowly until golden brown on one side, then turn over until both sides are golden brown and the inside is cooked before taking out and slicing.