If you find yourself tucking into a cold Chinese takeaway that's tasty, tangy
and low in fat, it could be Ching-He Huang you have to thank. The
30-year-old businesswoman and cook would like to think that she started the
cool noodle salad concept.
With a TV series, Chinese Food Made Easy coming up next month on BBC Two and
an accompanying book, her charm offensive to change our perception of
Chinese food is blossoming. As she says, she is determined to show us that
we, too, can make crayfish and sweet chilli white shi noodle salad.
Ching couldn't be better placed to convince us to try her style of cooking.
She was born in Taiwan where her grandmother introduced her to the island's
cuisine, a combination of mainland influences from Sichuan, Fujian and
Hunan, with the legacy of half a century of Japanese occupation and Dutch
and Portuguese traders.
It wasn't until the family moved to South Africa when Ching was 6 that she
first visited a supermarket and tasted yoghurt. “Now I love mozzarella and
avocado, with tomato, basil and olive oil,” she laughs.
From university to supporting her family
In London from the age of 11 she often had to cook for her father while her
mother travelled for the family importing business. After acquiring a taste
for biltong (dried meat) and braais (South African barbecues), she learnt to
love British schoolfood too. But she says that it was “a difficult time” for
her family and, less than two months after finishing her economics degree,
she started to earn money to support them. She found premises in London and
put her business plan into action; knocking on doors and delivering
Chinese-inspired salads - including the cold noodles she now supplies to a
top sandwich chain (she won't say which one) - for office lunches. Her
company, Fuge, employs 20 people.
In the new TV series, she wins over the British women's Olympic rowing squad
with her zesty take on sweet and sour pork, and dancers from the English
National Ballet with a hot and sour noodle soup.
Chinese cooking is a triumph of ingenuity over scarcity. Fuel is precious,
hence quick hot wok cooking; cooking oil is a luxury, so little is used. And
traditional dishes, carb-heavy to sustain farmers, can be adapted for
office-bound workers without sacrificing their distinctive flavours; Ching's
peanut chicken noodle salad with spring onion, cucumber and boiled rather
than fried chicken breast is a perfect example.
For her sweet and tangy chilli beef she cooks the meat fast in the wok instead
of deep frying, and her sweet and sour sauce is simply pineapple whizzed
with lime juice. “People just think of greasy prawn balls, but there are
thousands of dishes waiting to be tried,” she says.
Ching believes that deep-fried dishes are fine, but only occasionally, and
only as part of a selection. “It's about balance, yin and yang. Meat must
have vegetables; if you're deep frying, you must have something steamed.”
Ching's brother lives in Shanghai, her aunt and cousins in Hong Kong, her
grandmother and parents in Taiwan. She has settled in north- west London
with her partner and appreciates how produce grown here can bring a fresh
angle to her food. She is championing chillies from Chorley, pak choy from
Wisbech and soy sauce brewed in Wales.
She also chooses healthier versions of traditional ingredients, such as
low-sodium soy sauce. There's no monosodium glutamate in her kitchen either
“though my grandmother loves it, won't eat anything without it and she's in
her eighties. But it gives me a dry throat and there's no need for it”.
Ching stays as slim as a chopstick by eating what she cooks. Filming for her
series took its toll - too many croissants and hot chocolates - but she soon
shed the four unwanted kilos.
Western food is her undoing. she says, although once a week she and her
partner indulge in pizza, chocolate and ice-cream. “The cheat day is always
non-Chinese,” she says. Three weeks of her own cooking put her back on the
right weight track. A good food day might start with porridge or bran
flakes, eggs and tomatoes. She sometimes breakfasts on congee, a Chinese
rice porridge, which she perks up with eggs, pickle, bamboo shoots in chilli
oil and salted duck egg. “It sounds odd, but it's really good. You chuck it
all in and flavour with a bit of stock.”
“I always make time to cook at home”
She snacks on nuts and fruit during the day and always stops for a salad,
usually noodles, for lunch, with green tea and a slice of fruit loaf if
she's flagging in the afternoon. Typical supper? “Seafood. Maybe steamed
seabass with a hot sauce I make in the wok with shao hsing rice wine, spring
onion, light soy sauce and fermented yellow bean sauce.” She mops it all up
with jasmine rice.
Ching is also a devout fan of yoga, something she's done since she started her
business. She's recently switched from sivananda to the more vigorous
ashtanga and has noticed the difference in her fitness. She swims and runs,
too. Yoga may keep her sane, but it is cooking every day that she finds
therapeutic and essential to her wellbeing and sense of self. Making modern
Chinese food is Ching's business, her tribute to her scattered family, her
way of expressing herself and her background, and her time for quiet
contemplation. “I always make time to cook at home. It's so quick, how can
you not?”
Chinese Food Made Easy starts on BBC Two on July 7. The book Chinese Food Made
Easy, by Ching-He Huang (Harper Collins, £16.99), is available at £15.29,
free p&p. Phone 0870 1608080; timesonline.co.uk/booksfirstbuy
Thomasina Miers is away
For more information on Ching visit her website
Ching's store cupboard basics
Ground nut oil Best in the wok because it can be heated to high
temperatures; the higher the heat, the quicker food is sealed and stops
absorbing oil. Vegetable oil can be substituted.
Chinkiang black rice vinegar Vinegar is widely used in Chinese cooking
and this strong but smokily mellow-tasting fermented rice vinegar is a
favourite. You can use balsamic vinegar instead.
Dried chilli flakes Whole red chillies, seeds and all, dried and
crushed.
Shao hsing rice wine Low alcohol and made from rice, millet and yeast
and aged for three to five years. Dry sherry is a substitute.
Light soy sauce Not as thick as dark soy, but tastes saltier, unless
you choose a low-sodium version. Made from fermented soya beans and wheat.
Wheat-free soy sauce is called tamari.
Oyster sauce Originally a thick seasoning made from extract of oysters,
but vegetarian varieties made from mushrooms and without monosodium
glutamate are better. Very salty, so best used sparingly as a condiment
rather than for cooking or marinading.
Toasted sesame oil A nutty-tasting oil used for flavouring. A little
goes a long way.
Chilli oil Dried red chillies heated in groundnut oil to produce a hot,
spicy oil. Use in sauces and at the end of cooking for a spicy hit.
Clear rice vinegar Sweet and subtle clear vinegar made from fermented
rice, relatively low in acidity. More commonly used than black rice vinegar.
Cider vinegar works instead.
Sichuan peppercorns Widely used in China, the dried reddish berries
from a type of ash tree are used whole or ground to a powder. Pungent,
peppery and citrusy, they can be devillishly hot. One of the components of
Chinese five spice powder.
Also Fresh root ginger, garlic, chillies, salt.
PORK AND BAMBOO SHOOT STIR-FRY
Serves 2
1 tbsp groundnut oil
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
3 dried Chinese mushrooms, pre-soaked in hot water for 20 minutes, drained and chopped
225g skinless pork fillets, cut into thin strips
1 tsp Shaohsing rice wine or dry sherry
1 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tsp dark soy sauce
A few pinches of five spice powder
100g pickled chilli bamboo shoots, drained and cut into strips
1 cucumber, peeled and deseeded and sliced lengthways using a potato peeler
Steamed jasmine rice to serve
Heat a wok over a high heat and add the groundnut oil. Add the garlic and
mushrooms and stir-fry for a few seconds.
Add the pork fillet and, as it starts to cook, add the rice wine or sherry and
stir-fry for 1 min. Season with the light and dark soy sauce and the
five-spice powder and stir well. Add the bamboo shoots and cucumber slices
and stir well.
STEAMED JASMINE RICE
Serves 4
350g jasmine rice, washed until the water runs clear
600ml water
Place the rice in a heavy-based saucepan and add the water. Bring to the boil
and cover with a tight-fitting lid and reduce to a low heat. Cook for 15-20
min. Fluff up the rice grains with a fork and serve.
STIR-FRIED GARLIC PAK CHOY
Serves 4
1 tbsp groundnut oil
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
350g baby pak choy
Generous pinch of salt
Heat a wok over a high heat and add the groundnut oil. Add the garlic and pak
choy and stir-fry for 2-3 min until wilted. Season with salt and serve
immediately.
