Chinese Hash (What to Do with Chinese Food Leftovers?)
A creative way to prepare Chinese Takeout Leftovers.
Everyone, almost, enjoys Chinese takeout food. For one thing, Chinese restaurants were delivering their food before pizza ever thought of doing it—and decades before Door Dash. But there are always leftovers, aren’t there? And they’re never quite as good warmed up in the oven or zapped in a microwave the second time around. So, I got creative a few decades ago with this recipe for what I used to call Chinese Goulash, but that was really a culinary faux pas and it didn’t sound very appetizing. Closer to the truth is the word “hash” a French word meaning “to chop.” There isn’t much to chop, actually, this is just a way to heat up and fortify the flavors of a variety of leftover Chinese food, and if anything, it’s really a kind of fried rice because rice is usually the most of what I have left. You can use almost any Chinese dish you might have left over: General Tso’s Chicken, Moo Goo Gai Pan, Sesame Beef, Moo Shu Pork, Mongolian Beef, Lo Mein, and of course all the little boxes of steamed rice they give you with your meal.
Obviously, use your common sense. Some things don’t work for this dish, like leftover Chinese Barbecued Spare Ribs or Egg Rolls. But any wok-made dish with meat, vegetables or noodles, as well as steamed and fried rice can go into this one-pot dish for a second Chinese dinner that will taste like a whole new meal.
Chinese Hash (What to Do With Chinese Food Leftovers?)
A creative way to prepare Chinese takeout food leftovers.
Ingredients
- Leftover Chinese food wok-prepared dishes with meat, vegetables and/or noodles, fried rice and steamed rice.
- 3-4 tbsp olive oil
- 1-2 tbsp garlic powder
- 1-2 tbsp sweet paprika
- 1-2 tbsp powdered mustard (like, Coleman's)
- 3-4 tbsp reduced sodium soy sauce (like, Kikkoman)
- 3-4 tbsp teriyaki sauce (like, Kikkoman)
- 3-4 tbsp Worcestershire sauce (like, Lea & Perrins)
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a large pot or Dutch oven until hot.
- Add all of the Chinese leftover ingredients together. Cut large chunks of chicken or beef to bite sizes if needed.
- Stir continuously until the mixture warms and loosens up.
- Add all the ingredients. Add more or less depending on the volume of leftovers you have to taste.
- Continue heating until piping hot.
- Serve in soup bowls with chopsticks.
