Ching-He Huang - Chings Chinese Food in Minutes

When I was little I often stayed with my grandmother in Taiwan, and I have many memories of her cooking up a meal in minutes when we were hungry, and of my mother cooking several dishes with speed and teaching me in no time. I was always impressed that delicious, healthy food could be prepared and cooked easily and quickly.

These days life is so frenetic and busy that after a days work the last thing you may want to do is slave over a hot stove. I know the feeling. There have been extremely demanding periods throughout my working life when I didnt have time to cook and it left me incredibly unhappy. So now, no matter how busy I am, I always find the time to prepare food, because it lifts my spirits, and there is no doubt that my collection of quick dishes has been my lifesaver throughout the years. Friends are always asking me for the quickest recipes or meal solutions to feed their families and so I wanted to share them with you.

I love experimenting and so, as well as including in this book all my reliable recipes that have served me well in the past, I have also created new ones. My cuisine is, of course, Chinese and I must admit that we have a head start in terms of cooking at speed. There is nothing faster than cooking a stir-fry in minutes in a wok over high heatand nothing is more pleasurable and satisfying. However, I think cooking in minutes doesnt just imply literally in minutes; for me it is about the whole time, that is how you spend time and the process of it. Therefore, not all of the recipes may seem fast in terms of speed, but I hope you will enjoy the time cooking them because they are designed to be relaxing and fulfilling.

I didnt always enjoy cooking when I was growing up in my teens. I had to cook for my father because my mum was away a lot, and she would teach me several dishes at a time before she went abroad to work. Often, when my friends went out at the weekends and stayed out, I would have to go home to cook the evening meal for my father because, bless him, he is not a very good cook (sorry, Dad). Cooking was a necessity but it was something I grew to love. Now, I cannot function if I dont have my time in the kitchen and when I travel for very long periods, I often find myself craving my kitchenthere is only so much eating out one can do, with all the rich food, and it can be too heavy on the body.

When I cook I reconnect with myself and feel sane again. It lifts my spirits and it is as if I am feeding my soul too. If you are an established cook, you will no doubt understand what I mean, but if you are a beginner I hope you will experience that innate pleasure as you start on your cooking journey. I am under no illusion that we all live such stressful lives, juggling work and family life with little time to cook, so I hope that these recipes will come in handy when you need to keep an eye on the clock and base your food decisions around the time available. But if you find yourself with more time on hand, I have also included some dishes that you can really plough your love and attention into with reckless abandon!

Many of the recipes in this book are inspired by Chinese classics and some have been handed down from my family. I am proud to be able to share many of my late grandmothers favourites. I took for granted that she would always be here to see me progress through my career and I am sad that she will not see this book published. I am dedicating this book to her and to her timeless recipeswhich will carry me through the rest of my life.

She was my teacher and source of inspiration. My earliest childhood food memory is of sitting on her knee while she worked tirelessly and happily wrapping hundreds of parcels of meaty-rice dumplings to share with all her family and friends (nearly a hundred of them) for the Dragon Boat festival in Taiwan. She was an incredible woman: beautiful, strong and vocal (when she didnt get her way with my grandfather). She was an extremely talented cook who could always whip up something to be on the table in a matter of minutes. But she was also hard to please, with high standards. Whenever I cooked for her, I always expected the criticism, and so the few compliments came as delicious surprises.

Her lessons have been invaluable, from watching her gutting fish and killing live birds, to picking vegetables and rinsing her large wok on the wooden stoveshe groomed me to be a cook without realising. All the visual sights and smells of her traditional Chinese kitchen are always there in my mind when I am cooking and those years were the happiest of my life; of course, I took them for granted because I was a child. She showered us with love through her cooking, through the time she took to prepare all those delicious dishes for usthe labour of her love.

I never knew I would grow up to be a cook and that it would become my career. Many of the memories I have of my life experiences are referenced by food and it always amazes me how dishes, tastes and smells can bring to mind some of the oldest memories lost through time. I will never forget the first time my grandmother came to England. I had the pleasure of cooking for her during her stay and she didnt say anything throughout the trip, but, when she returned to Taiwan, she called me and said she thought my food was delicious. I was so happy.

The recipes in this book are wide-ranging, varied and some of my favourites; many of them are versatile and so you can use your imagination and turn them into your own creations.

Throughout the book Ive added short cuts and tips to help you save time and I have also included preparation and cooking times and suggested marinating times. For marinades, sometimes I have the forethought to do this overnight, but most often, in a hurry, I will marinate for just 10-20 minutes, depending on how impatient I am to have my meal. So dont feel you have to slavishly marinate for 12 hours if you are pushed for time. Also, some people cook more quickly than others and therefore the guidance times in this book are designed to help with planning and not act as a pressure cooker! So please relax, enjoy and remember, as always, practice makes perfect.

If you are new to Chinese cooking, I would recommend trying some of my quick home-style dishes such as the Shrimp, crabmeat, dofu and spinach soup, which can be turned into a light meal, or my one-wok Chicken, smoky bacon and bamboo shoot stir-fry. My grandmother used to cook dishes such as the Pork with Chinese cabbage and Sichuan stir-fried pork with cucumbers, served with egg-fried rice, and so whenever I cook these I think of her.

One of my favourite quick home meals has to be Saucy pork and tomato egg stir-frythe sauce is so delicious you can mop it up with plain jasmine rice; this gets the thumbs up with children too and its a great way of getting them to eat some vegetables. The Saucy beef dofu, Spicy chunky lamb, and Garlic chilli pepper beef and mushroom pak choy are my family favourites and if you are a fan of noodles then I highly recommend the Rice wine pepper beef noodles. If I am cooking a range of dishes to share, I like to serve Sweetcorn, egg and spring onion stir-fry or Garlic spinach from the vegetarian and side dishes chapter, which both make delicious simple accompaniments.