Ching’s Fast Food: 110 Quick and Healthy Chinese Favourites. Ching-He Huang

sheet and brush with oil again. Fill as in the recipe, then place on a baking tray and bake in the oven (preheated to 180°C/350°F/gas mark 4) for 20 minutes.

      Crispy seaweed

      This does not originate in China – it was invented by Chinese cooks in the West. It doesn’t actually contain seaweed but is made with pak choy leaves that are finely shredded and deep-fried. I like to season mine with salt and granulated sugar so that it’s sweet and salty. It’s a great way to use up any pak choy you may have that is slightly past its best, and is also great as an appetiser or sprinkled as a garnish over crispy squid.

       PREP TIME: 10 minutes COOK IN: 2 minutes SERVES: 2–4 to share

      600ml (1 pint) groundnut oil

      200g (7oz) pak choy leaves, stems removed

      Sea salt and granulated sugar, for sprinkling

      1 tsp of toasted white sesame seeds (see the tip below)

      1. Place a wok over a high heat and pour in the groundnut oil. Heat the oil to 180°C (350°F) or until a cube of bread dropped in turns golden brown in 15 seconds and floats to the surface.

      2. Add half the pak choy leaves and deep-fry for a few seconds, then lift out using a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen paper. Deep-fry the remaining pak choy leaves and drain in the same way.

      3. Season the ‘seaweed’ with salt and sugar to taste, then transfer to a serving dish, sprinkle over the toasted sesame seeds and serve immediately.

      CHING’S TIP

      You can buy sesame seeds ready-toasted, but they taste much better if you toast them yourself. Simply add the raw seeds to a frying pan set over a medium heat and dry-fry, tossing occasionally, for 3–4 minutes or until they begin to brown and become fragrant. Keep a close eye on them, as they can quickly burn, and remove from the heat as soon as they are toasted.

      ALSO TRY

      For a non-vegetarian option, you could sprinkle over dried pork or fish floss instead of the toasted sesame seeds.

      Sesame prawn toast

      This dish is a takeaway classic. Instead of mincing the prawns, however, I keep them whole, wrapping them in brown toast and sesame seeds and then frying them until golden brown. They are delicious served with sweet chilli sauce.

      PREP TIME: 15 minutes COOK IN: 5 minutes MAKES: 8 toasts

      1 tsp of peeled and grated root ginger

      1 large spring onion, finely chopped

      1 egg, beaten

      1 tbsp of cornflour

      Dash of toasted sesame oil

      Dash of light soy sauce

      Salt and ground white pepper

      8 tbsps of white sesame seeds, toasted (see the tip opposite)

      4 slices of brown toast, halved and crusts removed

      8 raw tiger prawns, shelled and deveined, tails left on

      600ml (1 pint) groundnut oil

      1. Combine the ginger, spring onion, beaten egg, cornflour, toasted sesame oil and soy sauce in a bowl and season with 2 pinches of salt and some white pepper. Place the sesame seeds in another bowl.

      2. Dip a half piece of toast in the mixture and coat well. Then wrap the toast around a prawn and squeeze slightly so that the bread fully covers the prawn. Roll the wrapped prawn in sesame seeds and coat well. Repeat with the remaining prawns and pieces of toast.

      3. Place a wok over a high heat, add the groundnut oil and heat to 180°C (350°F) or until a cube of bread dropped in turns golden brown in 15 seconds and floats to the surface. Deep-fry the sesame prawn toasts for 4–5 minutes or until golden brown, then remove with a slotted spoon, drain on kitchen paper and serve immediately.

      ‘Stinky’-style aromatic dofu with kimchi

      Stinky dofu is made by fermenting dofu in a pungent brine, which gives it a distinctive smell and flavour. Traditionally, the brine consists of fermented milk, dried prawns, mustard greens, bamboo shoots and Chinese herbs. It does smell strong, but it is extremely flavoursome. This dish is one of my favourite street-food snacks and I often have a craving for it. The dofu is deep-fried and served with sour cabbage and chilli sauce. This is my own version. I like to marinate dofu that has been already fried (and which you can buy in a Chinese supermarket) in garlic, mirin and five-spice powder, then deep-fry it and serve with some Korean-style kimchi and a good hot chilli sauce.

       PREP TIME: 10 minutes, plus 1 hour for marinating COOK IN: 3 minutes SERVES: 2–4 to share

      8 x 6cm (2½in) square pieces of deep-fried dofu

      4 tbsps of potato flour or cornflour

      600ml (1 pint) groundnut oil

      FOR THE MARINADE

      2 cloves of garlic, crushed and finely sliced

      4 tbsps of mirin

      1 tbsp of clear rice vinegar or cider vinegar

      1 tsp of Chinese five-spice powder

      TO GARNISH (OPTIONAL)

      Pinch of medium chilli powder

      Few sprigs of coriander

      TO SERVE (IN SEPARATE DISHES)

      3 tbsps of kimchi

      2 tbsps of chilli bean sauce

      2 tbsps of chilli sauce mixed with 2 tbsps of oyster sauce

      2 tbsps of hot chilli sauce

      1. Mix together all the ingredients for the marinade in a bowl and add the dofu pieces, then cover the bowl with cling film and leave to marinate for 1 hour. Lift the dofu pieces out of the marinade, giving them a good squeeze to remove any excess liquid, then dust with the potato flour or cornflour.

      2. Place a wok over a high heat and add the groundnut oil. Heat the oil to 180°C (350°F) or until a piece of bread dropped in turns golden brown in 15 seconds and floats to the surface. Fry the dofu for 2–3 minutes or until golden and crisp on the outside, then drain on kitchen paper and cut into triangular wedges (each cut in half, diagonally, to give 16 triangles).

      3. Transfer to a serving plate and dust with the chilli powder and sprinkle with the coriander if you like. Serve with the assortment of small dishes of kimchi, chilli bean sauce, chilli oyster sauce and hot chilli sauce.

      Sichuan salt and pepper squid

      Squid contains lots of nutrients, including zinc, manganese, copper, selenium and vitamin B12. When cooked well, it has a delicious soft, chewy texture. I was once fed squid sperm sacs stir-fried with egg and spring onions in a seafood restaurant in Hong Kong and it certainly was an acquired taste! Squid itself is not so challenging, however, and salt and pepper squid is one the most popular starters to be served