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

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

Divide the lettuce leaves between two plates. Fill each with grated carrot, cucumber and bean sprouts, top with the crispy chilli pork and then some crispy mung bean noodles. Sprinkle with finely chopped coriander. To eat, drizzle each little parcel with lime juice and enjoy!

In Sichuan cooking, over twenty three different flavours can be created. ‘Yu-shiang’, or ‘fish fragrant’, is just one of these, but this dish does not actually taste ‘fishy’. It is a way of describing the almost bouillon-like taste that is derived from using a good stock. Here, the flavour is created using a good chicken stock, chilli bean sauce and rice vinegar. I love cooking this dish time and time again. If you like your vegetables, slice some baby green-stemmed pak choy in half lengthways from leaf to stem, and add before the chicken stock.

Fish fragrant aubergine pork

SERVES 4 TO SHARE

3 tablespoons groundnut oil

1 aubergine, halved lengthways and then cut into 1cm/1/2 inch slices, top to bottom

2 garlic cloves, crushed and finely chopped

1 medium red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped

1 tablespoon freshly grated root ginger

200g/7oz minced pork

1 tablespoon Shaohsing rice wine or dry sherry

2 tablespoons chilli bean sauce

200ml/7fl oz hot chicken stock

1 tablespoon clear rice vinegar or cider vinegar

1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil

2 large spring onions, chopped

1 tablespoon cornflour blended with 2 tablespoons cold water

1 Heat a wok over a high heat and add 2 tablespoons groundnut oil. Add the aubergine slices and a few splashes of water to create some steam and fry until the aubergine is softened and golden on the outside. Transfer to a plate and put to one side.

2 Wipe out the wok, reheat and add 1 tablespoon groundnut oil. Stir-fry the garlic, chilli and ginger for a few seconds, then add the minced pork. Stir-fry for 1 minute, then add the rice wine or sherry. Cook until the meat is browned, then add the chilli bean sauce and stock. Return the aubergines to the wok.

3 Season with the vinegar and sesame oil and bring to the boil. Stir in the spring onions. Add the blended cornflour and stir to thicken. Serve immediately.

This famed Sichuan dish originated in Chengdu; the name comes from the bamboo shoulder poles (dan) from which the noodle sellers suspended their stoves, noodles and sauces. This is served as a quick solution to those in need of a snack – mah-jong players and gamblers wandering around the city at night – but I love to serve small bowls of it as a starter to get the tastebuds going. There are several versions, some spicier and some drier than others, but I like more sauce and have added chicken stock. Traditionally, this dish also uses preserved mustard greens or Tianjin preserved vegetables, but one day I didn’t have any and used pickled cornichons instead.

Dan Dan noodles

SERVES 4

FOR THE MEAT TOPPING

2 tablespoons groundnut oil

2 garlic cloves, crushed and finely chopped

1 tablespoon freshly grated root ginger

1 medium red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped

250g/9oz minced beef

1 tablespoon Shaohsing rice wine or dry sherry

100g/31/2oz cornichons or cocktail gherkins in vinegar, drained and finely diced

1 tablespoon light soy sauce

FOR THE NOODLE BASE AND SAUCE

500g/1lb 2oz any wheat flour noodles

toasted sesame oil

1 tablespoon sesame paste, or tahini blended with 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil

1 tablespoon chilli oil

1 tablespoon Chinkiang black rice vinegar or balsamic vinegar

750ml/11/4 pints chicken stock

FOR THE GARNISH

1 teaspoon whole Sichuan peppercorns

1 large spring onion, finely chopped

1 small handful of fresh coriander, leaves and stalks, finely chopped

1 teaspoon chilli oil

1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil

For the method, please see overleaf.

1 Cook the noodles according to the packet instructions, drain and toss them through with some sesame oil. Put to one side.

2 To make the meat topping, heat a wok over a high heat and add the groundnut oil. Add the garlic, ginger and chilli and stir-fry for a few seconds, then add the minced beef. As the beef starts to turn brown, add the rice wine or sherry and cook for a few seconds. Stir in the cornichons or gherkins and cook until fragrant, then season with the soy sauce and keep on a very low heat.

3 Next, make the noodle sauce. Put the sesame paste or blended tahini, the chilli oil and vinegar into a small wok or pan, add the stock and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat to low.

4 Put the Sichuan peppercorns for the garnish into a small pan and dry roast until fragrant, then remove from the heat and crush in a pestle and mortar, or place in a plastic bag and bash with a rolling pin.

5 To serve, either divide the noodles between four bowls or leave in the wok, then ladle on the sauce and top with the stir-fry. Garnish with the Sichuan peppercorns, spring onion and coriander. Drizzle chilli oil over the dish, add a drizzle of sesame oil to taste around the edge of the sauce and serve immediately, with extra chilli oil, if you like.

This is one of Sichuan’s most famous dishes and is also served in Chinese restaurants throughout the world. Apparently, it was named after Old Mrs. Chen, who served this in her restaurant. In Sichuan they use Suan miao, thin Chinese leeks, but most cooks substitute spring onions.

The word ‘Ma-po’ describes Old Mrs. Chen’s ‘pockmarked complexion’. The Chinese are not known for being very tactful – my grandmother used to refer to a South African friend of mine as ‘the one with the “sharp” nose’ – she didn’t mean it impolitely; to the Chinese, pointed noses are deemed more beautiful. Needless to say, I had some explaining to do to my friend.

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