A check-in needs a cooked plate
Members press “I cooked this” on the recipe they made. One check-in per member, per recipe, per month.
Ranked by cook check-ins · updated 3 November 2026
Top Chinese recipes
this month.
Not what a food editor thinks you should cook. What thousands of home cooks actually made, counted one check-in at a time.
12,871 cook check-ins this month20 tested recipes in the running
The number counts members who pressed “I cooked this” this month — one per person, per dish. Circle homework posts do not add to it.
- 01
Glossy, sweet, savoury and just enough tingle. Your takeout favourite, made in one wok.
25 min Easy1,284cooks this month - 02
Cold rice, hot wok, three minutes. The fastest dinner in the book, and the best use of a leftover bowl.
15 min Easy1,191cooks this month - 03
Silky tofu in a deep, humming chilli sauce. Big Sichuan flavour without the hard-to-find prep.
20 min Easy1,067cooks this month - 04
Golden bottoms, juicy centres and pleats that do not need to be perfect. Make a batch together.
45 min Weekend946cooks this month - 05
The first dish most Chinese children learn: soft curds, jammy tomato, ten minutes, two ingredients.
15 min Easy903cooks this month - 06
Silky custard under a spoonful of soy and sesame oil. One bowl, one steamer, no technique.
20 min Easy812cooks this month - 07
Hunan’s weeknight staple: thin pork, long green chillies and a sauce that begs for rice.
20 min Easy734cooks this month - 08
The side that goes with everything. Blanched, then flashed in a hot wok with a lot of garlic.
12 min Easy651cooks this month - 09
Sweet, savoury belly pork cooked until it gives way under a spoon. Better reheated the next day.
1 h 30 Weekend588cooks this month - 10
Cucumber smashed with the flat of a knife, dressed with garlic, vinegar and chilli oil. Ready before the rice is.
10 min Easy542cooks this month - 11
Grated daikon folded through eggs and fried until the edges crisp. Sweet, juicy and on the table in fifteen minutes.
15 min Easy508cooks this month - 12
Cabbage torn by hand and blistered in a very hot wok with dried chilli and vinegar. A ten-minute side.
15 min Easy497cooks this month - 13
A sweet-sour tomato broth you can drink, built for dipping. Put the pot in the middle and let everyone cook their own.
30 min Easy468cooks this month - 14
A whole fish steamed with ginger and spring onion, finished with sizzling oil. The dish a Chinese family serves guests.
25 min Easy456cooks this month - 15
Firm tofu hollowed out, packed with pork, pan-fried until the base is golden, then simmered in a glossy sauce.
40 min Easy445cooks this month - 16
Liver, heart and lean pork in a clear peppery broth. Everything is sliced thin and cooked in under three minutes — this is a soup you assemble, not one you simmer.
15 min Easy412cooks this month - 17
A slab of pork belly steamed over sweet-savoury preserved mustard greens until it gives way under a spoon. The Hakka banquet dish.
1 h 45 Weekend388cooks this month - 18
Duck chopped small and braised hard and fast with ginger and star anise. Twenty minutes, one pot, a lacquered skin and a lot of rice.
20 min Easy356cooks this month - 19
Crisp, hollow and faintly chewy — the breakfast you cannot buy on a Sunday morning outside Asia. Overnight dough, ten minutes of frying.
2 h 30 Weekend322cooks this month - 20
A whole chicken rubbed with salt and Shaoxing, wrapped and baked until the skin tightens and the meat stays juicy. The Hakka celebration bird.
1 h 10 Weekend301cooks this month
1,284 check-ins were logged for the top dish alone. Open a recipe, cook it, and press “I cooked this” to add yours.
How this list is made
One number,
one rule.
The ranking is sorted by verified member check-ins for the current calendar month. Nothing else — no sponsorship, no editor’s favourite, no paid placement.
How our recipes are testedCounts reset monthly
Every month starts at the same base, so a new recipe can climb on its own merit.
Homework is separate
Posting a photo in the Circle does not inflate this board. It feeds the craft board instead.
Prototype note: the starting counts are editorial seed data. Check-ins made on this device are added on top in real time; with a backend this becomes a live member count.
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