Ching’s Chinese Food in Minutes

3 Dip each prawn into the batter, then carefully lower one by one into the oil and fry until they turn golden. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on absorbent kitchen paper. Once all the prawns have been cooked, add the mung bean noodles to the oil—they will expand and turn opaque white when fried. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on absorbent kitchen paper.

4 While the prawns and noodles are draining, make the sauce. Heat a small pan, add the butter and garlic and fry for less than 1 minute, then take off the heat.

5 Place a bed of noodles on each serving plate, top with the batter prawns and season with a light sprinkle of salt and white pepper. Pour the hot garlic butter sauce on top and sprinkle with the spring onion and coriander sprigs. Serve immediately with lime wedges.

READY TO EAT IN 5 MINUTES

Prep time: 5 minutes

Century duck eggs with coriander & mushroom sauce

This no-cook dish is a classic Chinese starter, or served as an accompaniment to a large bowl of congee. Serve this with a chilled glass of Riesling to cut through the richness of the eggs.

SERVES 4TO SHARE

2 century duck eggs, each sliced into quarters and chilled (see Ching’s Tips)

1 tablespoon vegetarian mushroom sauce or oyster sauce

1 tablespoon light soy sauce

1 small handful of freshly chopped coriander

1 spring onion, finely chopped

1 Place the chilled duck egg pieces on a serving plate. Put the mushroom or oyster sauce and soy sauce into a small bowl and mix well. Drizzle the dressing all over the eggs, sprinkle with the coriander and spring onion and serve.

Ching’s Tips

This is one of my favourite dishes but it is one that you will either love or hate—century eggs take some getting used to! They don’t look or smell particularly appetising, with their black-blue grey soft yolk centre and distinct pungent aroma, but I love them. You’ll find them in the chilled food sections of Chinese supermarkets. You could just use normal boiled eggs: lightly crack the shells all over and cook in a broth of dark and light soy sauce with black tea leaves and some star anise.

Make sure you buy a good-quality mushroom sauce (which used to be known as vegetarian oyster sauce but was made from mushrooms instead of oysters) or use a good-quality oyster sauce.

READY TO EAT IN 15 MINUTES

Prep time: 5 minutes, cook in: 10 minutes (plus 20 minutes marinating)

Sweet & sour Wuxi ribs

The traditional way of preparing these ribs is to slow-braise them in stock, then add the sauce and thicken with blended cornflour. However, for a quicker dish and richer flavour I have shallow—fried the ribs.

SERVES 2TO SHARE

600g/1lb 5oz pork ribs, chopped into 3-4cm/1

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-1

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inch lengths

groundnut oil for shallow-frying

sea salt and ground white pepper

1 spring onion, sliced, to garnish

FOR THE MARINADE

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

2 tablespoons yellow bean sauce

1 tablespoon Shaohsing rice wine or dry sherry

FOR THE SWEET AND SOUR SAUCE

2 tablespoons light soy sauce

2 tablespoons Chinkiang black rice vinegar or balsamic vinegar

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1 tablespoon runny honey

1 Put all the ingredients for the marinade into a large bowl and stir to combine. Add the pork ribs and turn to coat, then cover the bowl and leave to marinate for at least 20 minutes, or as long as possible, in the fridge.

2 Heat a wok over a high heat. Fill the wok to a quarter of its depth with groundnut oil and heat the oil to 180°C/350°F or until a cube of bread dropped in turns golden brown in 15 seconds. Using a spider, carefully add the ribs and shallow-fry until browned.

3 Meanwhile, put all the ingredients for the sweet and sour sauce into a small bowl and stir to combine.

4 Lift the ribs out of the wok with the spider and drain on absorbent kitchen paper. Drain the wok of oil and wipe it clean, then reheat over a high heat.

5 Add the ribs and sauce mixture to the wok and cook on a low-medium heat for 5-6 minutes until the sauce has reduced to a sticky and thicker consistency. Season further to taste with salt and white pepper, garnish with the spring onion and serve immediately.

Pork (#ulink_3cba9281-029a-59fa-b4bc-4076f7b0aa59)

READY TO EAT IN 15 MINUTES

Prep time: 10 minutes, cook in: 5 minutes (plus 20 minutes marinating)

Pork with Chinese leaf

Chinese leaf has crinkled pale green leaves and a white crunchy stem. It makes a simple but delicious meal when served with egg—fried rice.

SERVES 2