Chinese Food Made Easy: 100 simple, healthy recipes from easy-to-find ingredients. Ching-He Huang

the table and let your guests use those to add anything into the stockpot – this reduces the chance of cross-contamination from the raw ingredients and your guests’ serving plates.

      For a great vegetarian alternative, leave out the the fish and meat and use more of the vegetables plus vegetarian balls (available from Chinese supermarkets) for the soup stock base, and pak choy and broccoli for the pot.

      Sichuan cooking uses a lot of dried tangerine or orange peel in stocks to enhance the flavour of dishes. Inspired by ingredients such as dried tangerine peel and the citrusy-numbing hot Sichuan peppercorns, I have decided to use fresh oranges in my Sichuan orange beef. This dish is oh-so-simple to make and nutritious, too. The flavours are fresh and fruity, and it’s one of my favourite healthy midweek suppers.

      Sichuan orange beef

      SERVES 2

       2 beef frying steaks or beef

       fillet steaks

       1 tablespoon groundnut oil

       100g/31/2oz fresh shiitake mushrooms, sliced

       mixed salad leaves or steamed jasmine rice to serve

      FOR THE MARINADE

       1 tablespoon Shaohsing rice wine or dry sherry

       2 tablespoons light soy sauce

       2 tablespoons runny honey

       4 tablespoons orange juice

       1 pinch of freshly ground black pepper

      TO GARNISH

       1 orange, peeled and segmented

       1 spring onion, finely sliced (optional)

      1 Put all the ingredients for the marinade into a bowl and stir to combine. Add the beef and leave to marinate for 10–15 minutes.

      2 Heat a pan over a high heat and add the groundnut oil. Place the steaks in the pan and cook until browned on one side, then turn over to cook the other side. Cook according to your taste: 1–2 minutes for rare, 2–3 minutes for medium, longer for well done.

      3 When the beef is cooked to your taste, add the remaining marinade and cook for a few more seconds. Lift the beef out onto serving plates, cover with foil and keep warm.

      4 Add the shiitake mushrooms to the pan and cook until softened.

      5 To serve, place the mushrooms alongside the steak and garnish with the orange segments and spring onion, if you like. Serve with mixed salad leaves or steamed jasmine rice.

      The name Bang-Bang comes from the word for stick in Mandarin, which is ‘Bung’. The chicken meat was beaten with the stick to tenderise it. You could use a rolling pin on cooked chicken breast and then tear the meat into shreds using your fingers.

      Bang-Bang chicken

      SERVES 2

       100g/31/2oz dried vermicelli mung bean noodles, pre-soaked in hot water for 5–6 minutes and drained, or use rice noodles

       1/2 cucumber, cut into julienne strips

       250g/9oz cooked chicken breast, shredded

       50g/2oz radish, sliced

       1 large spring onion, finely sliced

       1 medium red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped

      FOR THE DRESSING

       2 tablespoons groundnut oil