Wok rock

WE all love a good Chinese takeaway meal from time to time, but the truth is we don’t have to fork out a fortune to sample delicious cuisine from the Orient, as promising young chef Ching-He Huang demonstrates, in Chinese Food in Minutes.

This show aims to prove that, with a few ingredients and a decent wok, it’s possible to knock up some wonderful culinary creations that look and taste like they’ve been cooked by Ken Hom himself.

Great, but who’s got hours to spend in the kitchen every night? No one, is the simple answer, especially as we spend more time at work now than ever before.

Rest easy, as help is finally on hand as Ching explains how to wok and roll – her recipes take only a few minutes to cook, yet still taste like they’ve been lovingly prepared for hours on end.

“I’m fortunate to be able to give Chinese food a different edge because in the 21st Century, our busy modern lifestyles mean we don’t have much time, but we still want good, healthy, fresh, nutritious food,” she says.

Chinese celebrity chefs such as Ken Hom, Martin Yan and Nancy Lam have been tantalising our taste buds with food from eastern Asia for years, so do the television schedules really need another show on Chinese cooking?

According to Ching, the answer is a resounding ‘yes’ as Brits’ experience of Chinese food is largely limited to ordering a “set menu B” and an extra portion of chips from their local takeaway.

“I feel that Chinese food has been slightly misrepresented in the UK where some takeaways go to the extreme and add flavour enhancers, colourings and preservatives,” she says.

And viewers who can’t even boil an egg need not worry, for the show is aimed at kitchen novices whose idea of cooking a meal revolves around reheating past night’s leftover takeaway in the microwave.

Every episode sees Ching coach two novices in the art of cooking Chinese, and she soon transforms them from dumpling dunces into Szechuan supremos.

In each episode, she prepares three delicious versions of authentic Chinese dishes and takeaway classics. Watching her are two participants who have never attempted to cook such cuisine before.

Our chef then makes a third course designed to complement the meal. She also gives viewers at home her own tips, tackling a different aspect of Chinese cookery each week.

In the first instalment, two gospel singers cook up a treat for their choir. On the menu are a sizzling chicken and black bean stir-fry and succulent sweet and sour ribs. Will the singers prove to be gifted Chinese chefs?

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