Food

Feasting is super-important to the Chinese community, it’s the ultimate opportunity for family and friends to join together as one and celebrate. Whether it’s a baby’s one-month party, a wedding or a birthday, an elaborate feast is prepared consisting of as many as twelve courses, each dish with its own special significance.

The menu is run like a theatrical performance, climaxing in an all-singing, all-dancing finale. This sea bass dish will often be served as the final course. Effortlessly visual, it will arrive at the table dressed immaculately, then will be filleted right before your eyes. The perfect ending to a beautiful edible performance.

SERVES 4
For the pickled ginger
6cm piece of fresh ginger, peeled and very finely sliced
2 teaspoons rice vinegar
For the fish
1 x 1kg whole sea bass, gutted, scaled and cleaned
Salt and ground white pepper
1 tablespoon Shaoxing rice wine or dry sherry
1 tablespoon light soy sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil
3cm piece of fresh ginger,
peeled and cut into matchsticks
2 spring onions, cut into matchsticks
½ a medium tomato, peeled, deseeded and diced
For the chilli oil
5 tablespoons groundnut oil
1 fresh red chilli, finely sliced

PREPARATION TIME 10 MINUTES. COOKING TIME 25-30 MINUTES.

1. To make the pickled ginger, mix together the ginger and rice vinegar and leave to stand while you prepare the fish.

2. Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/gas 6. Line a baking tray with a sheet of tin foil, and place a sheet of baking paper over the tin foil. Place the sea bass in the centre.

3. To prepare the fish, make 3 or 4 slits along the flesh at right angles to the spine, cutting until you almost hit the bone. Season with salt and pepper. Drizzle over the Shaoxing rice wine, soy sauce
and sesame oil. Scatter the ginger and spring onions over the top. Gather the foil and paper up at the edges into a package and seal well, then put the baking tray into the preheated oven
and roast for 15–20 minutes, or until the fish is cooked through and flakes away easily from the bone.

4. To make the chilli oil, place the oil and chilli into a wok over a medium heat to infuse.

5. Remove the cooked fish from the oven. Carefully open the package and baste the fish with the liquid in the package. Place the fish on a serving plate.

6. Drain the pickled ginger from the vinegar, return to the bowl and add a little of the cooking juices from the fish. Stir in the tomato and season if necessary, then spoon over the fish. Pour over the hot chilli oil to serve.

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I cannot remember a single childhood meal that didn’t revolve around sharing with my family – not just the food that Mum and Dad had prepared and placed at the centre of the table but also the stories from our day, gossip about the family and, of course, the love we had for one another.

Sharing and giving is truly what Chinese food is about and this recipe demonstrates that perfectly. An enormous plate of stir-fried garlicky chicken, steaming hot and full of simple flavours, waiting to be wrapped adoringly into crispy lettuce leaves and then either passed to one another or unashamedly devoured until the entire plateful has vanished. Forget diamonds and fast cars, this is what life is about – giving, sharing and enjoying with the ones we care about most.

SERVES 4
2 tablespoons groundnut oil
3cm piece of fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
4 cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped
500g chicken breast or boneless thigh meat, minced or finely chopped
¼ of a red pepper, deseeded and finely chopped
6 water chestnuts, drained and chopped
100g tinned bamboo shoots, drained and chopped
8 tinned straw mushrooms, drained and chopped
1 tablespoon Shaoxing rice wine or dry sherry
1 tablespoon light soy sauce
2 teaspoons dark soy sauce
1 tablespoon fish sauce
Salt and ground white pepper
1 tablespoon cashew nuts, finely chopped
To serve
2–3 baby gem lettuces, leaves separated
2 tomatoes, deseeded and finely diced
½ a cucumber, finely diced
Sesame oil, to taste

PREPARATION TIME 10 MINUTES. COOKING TIME 10 MINUTES.

1. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a wok over a medium heat. Once hot, add the ginger and garlic and fry until softened. Add the chicken and stir-fry over a medium heat until browned slightly and cooked through. Remove the chicken and set to one side.

2. Clean out the wok, then place back on the heat, adding the rest of the oil. Add the red pepper, cook for 30 seconds, then stir in the water chestnuts, bamboo shoots and straw mushrooms, and cook for 30 seconds more. Add the chicken back into the wok.

3. Add the Shaoxing rice wine, soy sauce, fish sauce and a little salt and pepper. Mix well and cook for a minute or two until the chicken has absorbed the flavours of the sauce and the sauce
has reduced a little. Add the cashew nuts and mix well.

4. To serve, fill the lettuce leaves with a little of the chicken mixture and place them on a serving plate. Scatter over the diced tomato and cucumber and add a few drops of sesame oil. Serve immediately.

> Find out all about the show on my Channel 4 website

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There might seem to be a lot of cutting and chopping in this recipe, but once all your prep work is done, this dish will come together very quickly. I love the prep stage of any dish – it’s the behind-the-scenes work that makes for a great cooking performance and is very satisfying.

SERVES 4
200g dried thin egg noodles
1 tablespoon groundnut oil
400g pork fillet or tenderloin, cut into strips
a 2cm piece of fresh ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
1 tablespoon shrimp paste
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon fish sauce
3 tablespoons water
salt and ground white pepper
1 carrot, peeled and cut into matchsticks
2 spring onions, shredded
1 teaspoon sesame oil

PREPARATION TIME 10 MINUTES. COOKING TIME 10 MINUTES

1. Cook the noodles according to the packet instructions, then cool and set aside.

2. Heat the oil in a wok over a medium-high heat. Add the strips of pork and stir-fry for approximately 1 minute on each side, until the pork takes on some colour and is sealed but not quite cooked through. Remove from the wok, and set aside.

3. Turn the heat up to high. Add the ginger and garlic and stir fry
for 20 seconds until softened a little. Add the ground dried shrimp and continue to stir-fry until aromatic. Add the soy sauce, fish sauce and the water and cook for 10 seconds.

4. Check the noodles. Once softened, but retaining a slight bite, drain. Add the noodles and the pork strips to the wok, tossing them well through the wok for 1 minute to warm and coat in the sauce. Season with salt and pepper if needed.

5. Remove to a serving plate and garnish with the raw carrot and spring onions. Sprinkle over a couple of drops of sesame oil and serve.

> Find out all about the show on my Channel 4 website

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Forget the multi-dish platters, considered assortments or the requirement to share . . . sometimes all you want is a one-pot meal. Over hundreds of years, the Chinese have developed the art of noodle-making. Whether it’s thin al dente wonton noodles, thick and starchy ho fun or carefully hand-crafted dragon noodles, there seems to be a noodle for every mood and occasion.

This dish is beautifully fragrant with five-spice and, considering the amount of flavour, healthy beyond belief. Surely nothing that tastes this good can be so healthy! Prepare, cook, devour – it’s that simple.

SERVES 2
2 tablespoons groundnut oil
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and bruised
2cm piece of fresh ginger, peeled and sliced
3 spring onions, trimmed, halved and bruised
250g stewing beef, preferably flank or shin, cut into 3cm cubes
1 star anise
½ teaspoon Chinese five-spice powder
½ a cinnamon stick
1 litre beef stock
3–4 tablespoons Shaoxing rice wine or dry sherry
2 tablespoons light soy sauce
2 teaspoons fish sauce
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
200g precooked ho fun noodles
4 leaves of Chinese cabbage, shredded
1 spring onion, finely sliced

PREPARATION TIME 10 MINUTES. COOKING TIME 1-2 HOURS

1. Heat the oil in a saucepan over a high heat. When hot, add the ginger, garlic, halved spring onions and the beef and fry until the meat is golden on all sides.

2. Add the star anise, five-spice powder, cinnamon and beef stock, and bring to a simmer. Add the Shaoxing rice wine, taste and season with salt and pepper if necessary. Simmer for 1–2 hours, until the meat is tender. Top up the liquid level with water if needed.

3. Once the beef is tender, strain the liquid into a clean pan. Discard the whole spices and the chunks of ginger and garlic and put the meat to one side. Heat the liquid through, adding the soy sauce, fish sauce and oyster sauce when the stock is hot. Taste and add more water if the flavour is too intense.

4. Bring a pan of water to the boil and blanch the noodles for 2–3 minutes, stirring to separate and soften, then strain. Divide the noodles between the serving bowls and add the cabbage to
each bowl.

5. Divide the beef between the bowls and pour over the hot soup. Sprinkle over the sliced spring onions and serve.

> Find out all about the show on my Channel 4 website

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Food has always been at the heart of my family, whether we were cooking it and eating it ourselves, or whether we were dishing-up for our customers in the restaurant. I have to say that my dad is the best Chinese chef in the entire world and this soy chicken recipe of his is based on a traditional old-school, Hong Kong–Chinese dish. His version is much quicker to make; it’s a little more Westernized and easy to knock up in a domestic kitchen. It goes amazingly with Spicy Cucumber and Spring Onion Salad.

SERVES 4
3 tablespoons groundnut oil
6 chicken thighs, on the bone, skin removed
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely sliced
a 2cm piece of fresh ginger, peeled and finely sliced
3 spring onions: 2 finely sliced into rounds, 1 sliced into long diagonal pieces
6 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon honey
5 tablespoons light soy sauce
½ a fresh red chilli, finely sliced

PREPARATION TIME 5 MINUTES. COOKING TIME 15-20 MINUTES.

1. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a large wok over a high heat. When hot, add the chicken thighs and brown them all over. This willtake approximately 4–5 minutes. Once browned, remove andset aside.

2. Reduce the heat to medium and add the remaining oil. Oncewarmed through, add the garlic, ginger and the 2 finely slicedspring onions. Fry for 2–3 minutes, until just softening. Put thechicken back into the wok and toss to incorporate with the restof the ingredients.

3. Pour in the water, honey and soy sauce. Increase the heat andbring to the boil. Once boiling, put a lid on the wok (if you don’thave a lid big enough, cover it with foil) and cook for 5 minutes.

4. Remove the lid and turn the chicken thighs. They should benicely caramelized in the reduced liquid by now. Continue tocook for another 3 minutes, until the liquid has reduced to asticky glaze and the chicken thighs have become gloriouslydark and glossy. Remove the chicken from the pan and allowto rest for 3 minutes.

5. Place the chicken thighs on a serving plate and garnish withthe remaining spring onion and the red chilli.

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Chopsticks were invented before forks, and handswere around before chopsticks – and never will eating with your fingers feel so satisfying as tucking into this dish. It conjures up memories for me of total food euphoria, as Dad would usually cook this for us as a tastebud teaser, flirting with our hunger before we eventually devoured a 25-million-course family meal!

Dad’s inner showman would take centre stage as he dramatically ladled the chilli oil into the soy sauce, creating an explosion of spitting oil accompanied by a firecracker soundtrack. The smell of frying chillies would engulf the room as we drenched our seafood in sauce which danced around our senses. Result: simplistic food harmony.

SERVES 2
6 cleaned scallops with roes attached, shells washed
a 3cm piece of fresh ginger, peeled and cut into matchsticks
2 spring onions, trimmed and cut into matchsticks
salt and ground white pepper
1 teaspoon sesame oil
For the burning oil sauce
1 fresh red chilli, finely sliced
½ a spring onion, finely sliced
1–2 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely chopped
1 tablespoon light soy sauce
½–1 tablespoon fish sauce
½ teaspoon sesame oil
75ml groundnut oil

PREPARATION TIME 10 MINUTES. PREPARATION TIME 8-10 MINUTES.

1. Place each scallop along with its roe into the deeper half of its shell. Divide and sprinkle over the ginger and spring onion (making sure there is an equal mix of green and white parts in each shell), and season with a little pepper and a pinch of salt.

2. Place the scallops in their half shells into a large bamboo steamer and spoon just a few drops of water over each scallop if they are very small. Cover with a lid and steam over a wok of boiling water for 6–7 minutes (depending on size) or until just cooked through.

3. Meanwhile, make the burning oil sauce. Mix together the chilli, spring onion, garlic, soy sauce, fish sauce and sesame oil in a heatproof serving bowl. Pour the groundnut oil into a pan and heat until smoking, then very carefully pour over the chilli mix, watching out for hot oil splashes. Once the oil has calmed
down, mix everything together.

4. Serve the cooked scallops in their shells, being careful to retain all the liquid. Serve with the burning oil sauce on the side to spoon over, and eat immediately.

> Find out all about the show on my Channel 4 website

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The Chinese community is one of the most social out there, and any excuse is used to get together. Because I’m always working I don’t get the chance to cook for others as much as I used to, but maybe three times a year I’ll spend two or three days putting a menu together, a day shopping and then I’ll cook up a big banquet for my friends.

Food means so much to me that I just want people to enjoy it. It’s like a cleaver to my heart if they don’t. This sole recipe is one I would serve up as part of a love-banquet for my nearest and dearest.

SERVES 2
1 x 350g whole lemon sole
salt and ground white pepper
1–2 teaspoons light soy sauce
1–2 teaspoons fish sauce
a 3–4cm piece of fresh ginger, peeled and cut into matchsticks
½ a lemon, thinly sliced
To serve
1 tablespoon chopped fresh chives
4 handfuls of rice (a mixture of American long grain and fragrant rice)

PREPARATION TIME 5 MINUTES. COOKING TIME 14 MINUTES.

1. Place the sole on to a heatproof serving plate that fits into a deep, hob-proof roasting tray. Place two upturned ramekins into the roasting tray, then place the plate with the sole on top of them. Season both sides of the sole with salt and white pepper. Drizzle the soy and fish sauce over the sole and scatter over half of the ginger. Lay the slices of lemon over the fish, cutting them in half if necessary, then cover with the remaining ginger.

2. Carefully pour hot water into the roasting tray, making sure you don’t get any on the plate containing the sole. Cover the roasting tray with foil, ensuring the foil doesn’t touch the sole (make a tent if necessary) and place the tray directly on to the hob. Heat over a medium heat, ensuring that the water is simmering and steaming. Steam for 10–14 minutes or until the flesh is opaque.

3. Remove the plate from the roasting tray. Garnish the fish with chopped chives and serve with rice on the side (see below).

For the rice
1. Wash the rice, rubbing the grains together between your hands to release any excess starch. Change the water and repeat until the water is clear after rubbing.

2. Once you are ready to cook the rice, place it into a saucepan with a tight-fitting lid. Cover the rice with water so that the water comes 2cm above the level of the rice. Place the pan, without the lid, on to the hob and bring to the boil. Boil until the water has reduced and is forming bubbles at the top of the rice.

3. Cover and reduce the heat to the lowest setting and leave to cook for 10 minutes. Once all the water has been absorbed and the rice is tender, remove the lid, fluff the rice and leave to steam-dry a little before serving.

> Find out all about the show on my Channel 4 website

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When I think of warmth and happiness at the dinner table, I think of this bowl of beautiful food. Not only is it Poppa Wan’s signature dish, it is also one of the most recognized Hong Kong – Chinese meals.

I’ve cooked prawn wonton soup my whole life and yet I never get bored with it. Healthy, hearty and just downright gorgeous, this meal is like a best friend, favourite movie or the perfect man – steadfast, reliable and comforting.

SERVES 2
(makes 1 large or 2 small bowls)
For the fish stock
A 3cm piece of fresh ginger, cut in half and roughly bruised
1 stick of celery, snapped in halves
Shells and heads from 10 raw king prawns (prawns used below)
For the soup
4 tinned water chestnuts, drained and coarsely diced
4 tinned straw mushrooms, drained and coarsely diced
10 raw king prawns, peeled and roughly chopped
salt and ground white pepper
1 egg, separated
cornflour, to dust
8–10 wonton wrappers
A handful of fresh thin egg wonton noodles
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1½–2 tablespoons oyster sauce
2 teaspoons light soy sauce
1 teaspoon fish sauce
2 spring onions, chopped
To serve
Chinese chilli oil

PREPARATION TIME 25 MINUTES. COOKING TIME 30 MINUTES

1. Place the ginger, celery and prawn shells and heads into a saucepan. Cover with water and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for up to 1 hour (10–15 minutes is fine). Drain the liquid through a sieve lined with muslin. Measure out 500ml of stock, topping up with boiled water, if needed.

2. Put the water chestnuts, straw mushrooms, prawns, a good pinch of salt and pepper and a third of the egg white in a large bowl. Mix well, squeezing the prawns between your fingers until you have chunks of sticky prawns rather than a runny mess.

3. Dust a work surface with cornflour and lay the wontons wrappers on top. Dust your hands with cornflour and pick up a wonton wrapper. Put a tablespoon of the prawn mixture in the centre of the wrapper and brush the edges with egg yolk. Bring the corners together over the middle of the mixture, then squeeze and twist the top to make a shape like a small sack. Repeat with the remaining mixture.

4. Boil a large pan of water. Separate the noodles and drop into the boiling water. Loosen the noodles using chopsticks and cook for 1–2 minutes. Once they are tender but still springy, remove them from the pan with a slotted spoon and run under a cold tap. Put them back into the pan of boiling water and cook for a further minute until warmed through, then remove and drain, adding sesame oil to keep the noodles from sticking
together. Place the noodles into serving bowls and cover.

5. Put the drained stock into a saucepan and add the oyster sauce, soy sauce and fish sauce, along with a pinch of salt and pepper.

6. Sprinkle half of the spring onions over the cooked noodles in the serving bowls, add a little stock, then cover.

7. Drop the wontons into boiling water (you can use the water the noodles were cooked in) and cook for 6–8 minutes or until they float to the surface. They are cooked through when the wrapper is soft and the filling firm to touch. Remove and place on top of the noodles, then cover with the hot stock. Sprinkle with the
remaining spring onions and serve with chilli oil on the side.

> Find out all about the show on my Channel 4 website

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There are not enough words in the English dictionary to describe how much I love this dish. It just screams home comfort and I love the fact that you can eat this on its own and feel 100 per cent satisfied. You can literally add whatever you want: fish, meat, veg… it doesn’t matter as it will all taste great.

Think of it as a Chinese bubble and squeak – whatever you have in your fridge, lob it in!

There are just a couple of rules to making fried rice that will guarantee a fabulous result.

1) Use day-old rice that has been cooled in the fridge. The reason for this is simple: rice that has sat overnight in the fridge will have dried out, whereas if you use hot, freshly cooked rice it will turn sticky and need a lot of oil to cook.

2) Don’t use too much oil. This dish has been given a bad reputation over the years because of the word ‘fried’ in its title. But it’s not deep-fried like chips. You only use as much oil as you would need to stir-fry the healthiest vegetable dish.

That’s it . . . so simple. Viva La Rice!

SERVES 4
Groundnut oil
2 Chinese sausages, thinly sliced on the diagonal
2–3 eggs
Salt and ground white pepper
300g long-grain rice, cooked and chilled
75g frozen peas
7 water chestnuts, sliced
1 tin of anchovy fillets in oil, drained and roughly chopped into very small pieces
½–1½ tablespoons light soy sauce, to taste
2 spring onions, trimmed and sliced

To serve
Chinese chilli oil
½ iceberg lettuce, leaves separated

PREPARATION TIME 5 MINUTES. COOKING TIME 10 MINUTES.

1. Heat a wok until medium hot and add a dash of oil. Add the Chinese sausage slices and fry quickly on both sides until colouredall over, with the white parts turning pink. Remove and set aside. Beat the eggs in a bowl and season with salt and pepper.

2. Add 1 tablespoon of oil to the hot wok and pour in the beaten eggs. Scramble the eggs, scraping the bits that are sticking tothe wok. Aim for well-cooked scrambled egg that is separating into individual pieces. Once cooked, add the rice, scraping thebottom of the pan and tossing the rice as you heat it through. Once the rice is hot, add the remaining ingredients, except forthe sausage. Continue to cook over a medium heat, tossing and mixing. Once the anchovies are beginning to melt intothe hot rice, taste and season with pepper and a pinch of salt. Continue to stir-fry for 3–4 minutes, then taste and adjust theseasoning, adding more soy sauce if necessary.

3. Serve the fried rice with the cooked Chinese sausage, chilli oil and lettuce, wrapping spoonfuls of the rice inside the lettuce leaves to eat.

> Find out all about the show on my Channel 4 website

> Get your hands on all the recipes: Buy ‘Gok Cooks Chinese’

Catch me on Channel 4 tonight – and every Monday for the next 6 weeks – and I’ll show you just how easy it is to cook healthy, yummy Chinese food. And meet Poppa Wan who’s making his TV cooking debut!

Get your hands on some of my delicious recipes on my Food blog

Find out all about the show on my Channel 4 website

Get your hands on all the recipes: Buy ‘Gok Cooks Chinese’