I crave Chinese food errday

Sadly, I'm not so much of a cook with Chinese food. It's hard to find an good recipes because most of them are either written completely in Chinese, which I can barely read, or in English but not very authentic. My mom cooks intuitively and it tastes incredible whereas when I try to do that, it fails miserably.

I made two dishes: twice-cooked pork (hui guo rou) and west lake beef soup (xi hu niu rou geng). I did use English recipes, but just to get the gist of it. I made no measurements and skipped/substituted ingredient if I didn't have it on hand.

Twice-cooked pork: Boil sliced pork belly in water for 30+ minutes, then drain. Stir fry with onions, garlic, ginger, peppers, and green onions, using soy sauce, sugar, lao gan ma, and water for the sauce. 

West lake beef soup: Brown ground beef marinated in soy sauce, sesame oil, water, and cornstarch. Add chicken stock and some cornstarch dissolved in water to thicken. Stir in beaten egg white and green onions to garnish.

The twice-cooked pork was surprisingly delicious. The pork could be more tender, so I'll boil it in water longer next time. I brought it to work for lunch for two consecutive days.

The soup... not so much :(