Cooking for Friends and Family Chinese Food Made Easy

'My name is Ching-He Huang and I'm continuing my mission

'to show that cooking Chinese food at home is as easy as ordering a takeaway

'and should be far healthier and tastier as well.

'Growing up in Taiwan I was taught the joys of making healthy,

'delicious, simple Chinese food by my grandmother.

'While we cooked for the rest of the family, she taught me lots of

'simple Chinese recipes which I still use today.

'In this programme I want to pass on some of those great recipes that are easy to cook in the home

'and perfect for entertaining family and friends.

'I'll show two busy mums who don't usually cook Chinese for the kids

'how my Grandmother's dishes can become their family favourites.

'Five spice chicken, and vegetable and ham wraps are two recipes

'that are easy to cook and the children'll love.

'I'll cook a dish that always reminds me of home and happy family gatherings - Lion Head Meatballs.'

My mother said if you eat these Lion Head meatballs you'll be as strong as lions and I believed her.

'And prepare some of my family's special chicken and lobster recipes

'for a surprise party where the surprise turns out to be for me!'

Oh, my God!

'One great dish that always reminds me of family gatherings is Lion Head meatballs.

'When I cook it I'm reminded of the stories my mum told as she cooked them.'

I've got here about 500 grams of minced beef, and it's very simple.

It's a bit like making western-style meatballs, but with Chinese seasonings.

So about a tablespoon of Shaoxing rice wine.

You can always use dry sherry. In with some light soy sauce, about two tablespoons.

Some toasted sesame oil, and in with about a tablespoon of corn flour.

And in with a beaten egg.

A pinch of sea salt,

some ground white pepper,

some chopped spring onions,

and about four cloves of chopped garlic.

In with some grated ginger for some heat.

Then just give this mixture a good mix.

Stir this mixture in the same direction and it helps to bind

all the ingredients together and it helps to aerate the meatballs so they're lovely and bouncy.

My grandmother used to make this

with a big wooden spoon and a big, big bamboo bowl.

My grandmother's my biggest source of inspiration because she used to have to cook for all her family.

And her extended family, my goodness, whenever we used to sit down and eat

it was like a huge banquet every evening.

And you can see the meat is all lovely and tenderised.

Now I'm going to make these into meatballs, so a good trick is to wet your hands

because that means that the meat mixture doesn't stick to your hands when you're moulding them.

And in China, the art is to make them as big as possible

to resemble the head of the lion.

And the Emperor used to eat this dish

because it was a symbol of power.

My mother, when she first cooked this dish for me,

she made a big thing about it.

She said, "If you eat this dish you'll be as strong as lions!"

And I believed her.

'Wok on, oil in.'

Now, the oil is nice and hot, we can add the meatballs.

You don't want to break a meatball,

that could symbolise broken power.

'Spoon the oil over the top to help brown them.

'Put the brown meatballs in an ovenproof dish.

'Set all but two tablespoons of oil aside for the sauce.'

To go into the sauce I've got here some dry Chinese mushrooms.

Really fragrant, it's going to impart a woody

earthy aroma and just compliment all the other flavours in the meatballs.

'If you can't get these then you could use fresh chestnut mushrooms.'

Back onto the wok, now.

I'm just going to heat the mushrooms,

and it's going to be cooking in the oil

that's had all the flavours from the meat.

Next, just add good vegetable stock

or you can use chicken stock, and then give it a good stir.

The sauces are bubbling, in with a bit of light soy sauce,

and some toasted sesame oil.

Then all we do now is let the flavours of the stock and the mushrooms infuse with the meatballs.

So just pour them into the dish.

Now, it's not just the meatballs that's going to finish the dish and make them look like lion heads.

You need the mane. So this is it.

What we want to do is just slice

long thin strips like this.

'Wrap one Chinese cabbage leaf around each meatball.

'Cover in foil and into the oven for half an hour on a low heat,

'about 100 degrees centigrade,

'after 30 minutes, out they come with the Chinese cabbage beautifully

'wilted, the stock infused and the lion head meatballs fit for an emperor.'

'The Chinese cabbage used for the meatballs is found in many Chinese recipes

'but I don't need to go home to China to see fields of them being grown.

'I've come to a 15-acre farm near Wisbech in Cambridgeshire

'where they've been growing Chinese vegetables for 20 years.

'I want to cook a family favourite - sweet and tangy chilli beef salad with some of those Chinese leaves.

'Managing Director, David Lam, explains that the varieties of

'Chinese cabbage grown here are increasing, like this choi sum.'

Wow, look at all this.

Yeah, this is our new variety we can grow over winter.

That's beautiful, look at all this.

I love choi sum.

This is great, so what variety is this?

-Is this the baby pak choi?

-It is the baby one, yeah.

Once again it was extremely difficult to grow them in the UK in the past before but winter is getting milder

and also in the last few years we got extremely good daylight in the winter.

-Is this all because of global warming?

-Um, maybe a bit yeah.

But good for you!

'Each greenhouse has plants at different stages of growth which means lots of different varieties

'of Chinese leaf are now available for any of us to buy and cook with all year round.'

Keith, he's the one who looks after all the seedlings.

Hi, I'm Ching, nice to meet you.

So you look after all this for David?

-Yes.

-All the seedlings.

Do you eat what you grow?

-No, afraid not.

-Why?

-Never have.

Do you like Chinese food?

-Afraid not.

-No?!

Right, that's it, you're my first guinea pig later!

Don't look so scared!

'In another greenhouse, a different Chinese cabbage, pak choi, is being harvested.

'Do these pickers eat the greens they grow?'

-Hi guys, I'm Ching. Nice to meet you.

-Hello.

-You've never cooked...?

-I've never cooked with pak choi.

How long have you been working here?

-18 years, and I've never cooked pak choi.

-18 years!?

Right, OK. I'm going to cook you something

delicious with pak choi and show you how easy it is to cook with it, how delicious, how good for you it is.

'So, time to set up my woks and prove that cooking

'with these readily available Chinese ingredients is as easy as ordering from a takeaway.

'Paula and fellow picker Paul, her Dad, are going to help make my version

'of one my family's favourite dishes.'

If you go to a Chinese takeaway, have you ever tried like crispy beef, deep fried?

Delicious but not quite good for you.

So this is my sweet and tangy chilli beef.

-Oh, sounds good.

-I've got here some beef fillet, delicious good quality beef fillet.

You can use maybe thin frying steak or maybe the tail of the fillet -

it's a lot cheaper.

All I've done is just sliced that wafer-thin.

So, I'm just going to slice up some of this gorgeous pak choi now.

In with the oil. Once the oil is smoking you know it's ready.

In with some beef, that's that one, OK.

And in this wok.

If I give you a wooden spoon and you give it a good stir.

And Paula, if you could hand me the Shaoxing wine.

Right, give that a good stir.

If you pass me here there's some dry chilli flakes and some white pepper.

I want to season the meat now.

Just a little pinch there and the same with the dry chilli.

Do you like spicy food?

Um, some, some. Not too hot.

OK, at this stage we can turn it off.

We want the meat to be lovely and tender.

We don't want to overcook it.

You see this takes seconds, fast, fast dish.

Now, Paula, I'm gonna get you to make the dressing.

I've got there some orange juice.

I need you to add me some honey,

maybe about two tablespoons of honey.

Chop me some of that green chilli... really finely diced.

That will be great.

'The team of hungry pak choi pickers arrive for lunch

'including the Chinese food virgin, Keith.'

-Where's Keith?

-Keith's right at the back.

Keith? Up here, please!

You're going to be the first to try, you're going to be the first to convince.

-Don't look so scared!

-No, she cooked it!

'Paula finishes the sauce with lemon juice,

'chopped green chilli,

'some diced cucumber,

'a teaspoon of sugar,

'a few dashes of soy sauce and, to finish, some groundnut or vegetable oil.'

Now, time to show you the final dish.

In with some spinach, a handful.

Some of this pak choi, raw, uncooked, delicious, peppery, good for you.

-Ah, if you say so.

-In with some beef.

This is a hot-cold salad.

'Ladle on the dressing, and top with some diced fresh mango.'

OK, I think it's time to taste.

OK Keith, I promised you, you're the first chief taster.

Get your fork.

So I want to see you eat raw pak choi, I want to see you eat your greens!

-Cor, it's hot!

-It's hot, are you OK?

-Is it tasty?

-Um, it's very nice.

-It's lovely, very nice.

-Oh, good, thank you.

So let's get serving up then and make a big portion for everyone.

'So, what's the verdict from the assembled pak choi pickers?'

-Good.

-Very good.

My job's done. I can't believe you're all now eating raw pak choi!

We're converts now.

'So there's my version of my family's sweet and tangy chilli beef with a crisp pak choi salad.

'Easy and quick to prepare for any large gathering.'

'Like some of the vegetable pickers, children can be very conservative

'when it comes to trying Chinese food.

'So I'm going to use variations of dishes that my grandmother loved to cook for me

to show a couple of busy mums two recipes that are quick and healthy...

'the perfect alternatives to traditional tea-time favourites like pizza or fish fingers.

'My vegetable and ham wraps, and five spice chicken drumsticks.

'First the chicken.'

I've got here some garlic and some ginger, really quickly

I'm just going to mash up the garlic and finely chop that.

Do you all eat together when you come back from school?

No, this is the problem. I've got the three all coming home at different times.

And coming home starving.

So you can cook this really and then keep it to one side.

It's really useful.

'Sprinkle the garlic and then grate some ginger over the chicken drumsticks.

'A small amount of Shaoxing rice wine, or sherry,

'adds some bittersweetness but if you don't want to use alcohol, just leave it out.

'Some light soy sauce, some groundnut oil.'

And then in with some honey.

-Oh, yum.

-Because this is lovely and sort of sticky.

Chinese five spice. Smell.

It's really strong and really sort of aromatic.

'You can now get Chinese five spice in most supermarkets.

'Massage the marinade into the chicken.

Tina, if you could pop this into the oven.

180 for about 30 minutes, that would be great.

'While the chicken's cooking, on to a great alternative to ham sandwiches...

'vegetable and ham wraps.'

Firstly I need a helper. How about you, Chloe?

Oh, very elegant.

'Slice up some red and yellow peppers,

'a tablespoon of grated ginger,

'some sliced baby corn and shitake mushrooms.'

Harry, can you pick me out maybe three or four,

any ones you like.

So, you could do all of this in advance before they come home for tea?

-Yeah, absolutely.

-And then all you have to do is assemble it.

And all you have to do is just put it in the wok and

stir fry when you're ready, and you can do it in batches, so it's perfect.

Next, some honey-glazed ham.

-How hungry are we?

-KIDS: Very!

-Oh, shall we go for the whole lot?

-Yeah!

Put the oil in. Once it's nice and smoking, in with the egg.

I'll just swirl this around a little bit.

'Once scrambled, set the cooked egg to one side.

'Then, put the grated ginger into the smoking wok.

'Vegetables follow.

'The chopped ham.

'Spring onions and bean sprouts.'

Pretty much that's ready.

I'm just going to season it with a little bit of light soy sauce,

a bit of ground black pepper.

I love toasted sesame oil.

It just lifts the dish at the end.

Just a little drop.

'And finally, the cooked eggs.'

I've got here this gorgeous pickled red cabbage.

'The pickled cabbage adds colour and sweetness

'but if your kids don't like the idea, you could always use tomato relish.

Now, to prepare the wraps, steam some ready made Chinese pancakes

or you could use tortilla wraps.

OK, and that's it, that's one.

You can make any different shapes you like.

And you can tuck a little bit of the cabbage.

Who wants first taste, then?

Issie, yeah, sure.

Go for it, Issie.

It's really sweet.

You like it?

Is that from the pickled cabbage?

I think so.

-Do you like it?

-Yeah.

Time to get the chicken out of the oven and sit down to a family lunch.

It's delicious.

I'm pleased, guys.

-Is it good?

-Hmm.

That is delicious.

'So that's my quick and easy vegetable and ham wraps and five spice chicken drumsticks.

'Easy and quick for any busy mum.

For all the recipes used in this series and more masterclasses

go to our website.

'There's nothing we Chinese like more than eating with family and friends.

'Chinese food is perfect to make for big groups of people

'because it's so easy to cook.

'So when an old friend from school, Lina, asked me to put together

'a special meal as a surprise for a group of mates,

'I was delighted to cook some traditional dishes.'

I've got most of the ingredients ready now,

-I'm going to make you my mushu chicken.

-Great!

And it's really good. Mushu just means like little

pieces of, like, wood. Not really wood, you're not going to eat wood!

It's really everything that's woody and earthy in this dish.

And it's finely, finely chopped.

OK, I've got some chicken breast

and I'm just going to mince the chicken into really fine pieces.

-You just want me to peel these?

-Yeah, if you could just peel those.

So that's done.

Just put that to one side.

Let's get the wok nice and hot.

I'll have the chicken here.

This is a good dish because you can make it all in advance.

We're going to stir fry it, cook it, and then just leave it to one side

and heat it up with the lettuce cups when the guys arrive, OK?

In with some groundnut oil.

I've got about two to three beaten eggs in here, I'm just going to scramble that.

Do you want me to grate this? All of it?

Yes please, all of it, that would be great.

OK, so egg out,

in with a little bit of oil, then garlic and ginger.

You can add chilli if you want.

Give this a good stir. In with the chicken.

Just let the chicken settle a little bit, OK.

As the chicken turns white,

I'm just going to add some Shaoxing rice wine.

-It looks like Scotch!

-You can

use dry sherry instead, it's really strong.

So in with a bit of that, give this a good stir.

That's going to absorb the flavours.

That smells amazing,

that really smells good.

I've got here some carrot, that's been really finely chopped.

I did these before you came.

Add the carrots in.

We've got here some tinned bamboo shoots and I've just drained it

and finely chopped it all the same size.

That goes in as well.

And then it's just a case of giving it a good stir.

So we have to talk about these because these look frightening.

Yeah, they look like an ear. Well, they're called wood ear mushrooms.

I suppose they're the ear of the wood

because they grow on the bark of trees.

And they come dried like this, and you have to soak them

in some hot water for about 15-20 minutes and they just expand.

Isn't that amazing? From like that size to that.

We'll cook them lightly but they're really for texture,

-they're really springy and bouncy.

-Mm, mm, they're crunchy.

So we've got the crunch from the carrots,

the bamboo shoots, the sweetness of the chicken,

that's quite soft and then now these crunchy bits of wood ear mushrooms.

If I couldn't get those or, I'm a bit scared by them still,

what would I use instead?

Could I just use bog standard mushrooms?

Yeah, you could use mushrooms, you could use chestnut mushrooms.

Now, if you like red peppers you could dice those up,

some green peppers, you could change the dish to how you like it.

-This is really traditional. And you can mushu pork as well.

-OK, right...

Some takeaways do mushu pork.

Yes, I've had this before I think in the restaurant wrapped in lettuce leaves. But I like this.

And then some gherkins.

Again, just really finely chopped.

It's going to be quite a sharp taste, I think.

Yes, this is going to give it a zing. Give that a good mix.

That really smells good.

And then in lastly with the egg.

And you can just break up the egg.

With this stir fry you can't really go wrong because all the textures are quite tough,

but sometimes when you stir fry, and people jab at the stir fry,

I hate that because it just breaks everything to mush.

You've got to kind of lift and stir in and fold in like that.

Some light soy sauce in there,

and then in with a little bit of toasted sesame oil.

I can't live without this stuff, it's so good.

And then in with a little bit of ground white pepper,

it's more delicate.

Give that a good final stir,

and then we'll just take it off the heat.

-Done. That was really easy, wasn't it?

-Really easy.

Do I have to wait for everyone else or can I have some now?

No, we're going to have some now

and I'm going to serve it with some dry roasted nuts.

You could use cashew nuts if you wanted.

-Just normal, bog standard nuts?

-Yeah.

See, that's what I get for coming over and helping, isn't it?

That's your reward, girl. You ready?

-How is it?

-Mm.

It's really crunchy. It's really good.

Really tasty, there's so many different tastes in there.

Did you taste the gherkins? That's the sour.

You've savoury, you've got crunchy, you've got aromatic.

'The mushu chicken can be put to one side before being re-heated

'and served wrapped in lettuce leaves.'

OK, so let's clear up a bit.

The next dish I'm going to make is my dragon prawn noodles.

Dragon prawn lobster.

Because in Chinese tradition -

'long sha' - lobster.

'Long' is dragon, 'sha' is prawn so lobsters are the dragon prawns

of the sea world, they're the king prawn.

Because dragons symbolise power and strength and they are, they are the strongest prawn in the ocean.

But here's the thing though, I couldn't buy a lobster

because I wouldn't know how to

so I probably wouldn't make this dish cos it's complicated.

If you are worried, just get your fishmonger to do it.

In supermarkets as well you can get fresh cooked lobster.

So it's already cooked, you don't have to worry.

Yes, but I cooked these earlier today.

I got them live from the fishmonger, I put them in the freezer, I let them sleep a little bit

and then I had to put them in some boiling water, OK?

Now, the tail should break off very easily, so you just pull that off.

The claws just come off as well, so just pull that off.

Now the head, I'm just going to pull the legs out,

this is what you don't want, this is like the dead man's fingers.

You can't eat these so it's really important that you remove these and put it in there.

I don't want to lose the meat that's in the middle

cos that's really juicy and that's the best bits.

So that I'm going to keep for decoration.

We want to crack the claw.

So that's going to allow all the delicious juices

to soak into the meat.

And these are all the pieces that are going into the dish.

This is my favourite. You've made this for me before and it's so good.

I hope the others are going to enjoy it as well.

As long as they don't mind being messy with their fingers.

This bit here, again we want to cut it into pieces.

The easiest way is to just lay it flat on there and just...

Make two slits into the shell and then that's still together so we can just

slice through the meat and then onto the other side.

I think we've got enough, so I'll save that for tomorrow's lunch.

So that can go in the fridge.

In with garlic and the ginger and as you drop it in,

very quickly give that a good stir.

That's really hot, isn't it?

Yeah, it's very hot.

In with the lobster.

You can put a little bit of Shaoxing rice wine if you want but it's not necessary.

-Keeps it nice and juicy.

-I just love this wine.

-Lovely flavour.

-It just makes all the difference.

If you pass me the yellow bean sauce.

'Yellow bean sauce is an ingredient you can buy in most supermarkets.'

-It smells so good.

-About two tablespoons.

'Earlier than expected, the first surprise guests arrive and what a huge surprise it is, for me!

'It's my Mum and Dad!'

Oh my God!

'They've been away for months and have just flown in from Taiwan.

'I can't think of anyone better to share this special meal.'

So your parents have come all the way for you clearly.

We're just back from travelling, I want to see you while you're living in England.

-Oh my God, what a surprise!

-They're our surprise guests.

OK, we need to let Ching finish off in the kitchen and maybe we'll go and sit down and have a glass of wine.

-Let you carry on with all the hard work!

-Oh my God!

I just...didn't expect it!

OK, there's real pressure on now. My mother's in the house.

So all that's needed now is some noodles,

a good handful of cooked yellow shi noodles al dente.

Mix the noodles in well,

add a little bit of the stock.

'And then an even bigger shock.

My mum's arranged two more surprise guests all the way from Shanghai.'

I've just come from Shanghai.

-What's for dinner tonight?

-Oh my God!

What's for dinner tonight?

-Lobster and noodles.

-Oh, good. She'll love that.

What are you doing here?

We're here to see you.

Hey, how are you doing?

This is Jasmine.

Surprise, huh!

This is my brother and my sister-in-law, they've come all the way from Shanghai.

I can't believe it!

And here I was just expecting casual friends

and it's turned out to be my prized family.

Careful, don't lose your concentration!

So a good glug of light soy sauce.

I hope you're gonna use your fingers,

real Chinese style.

Just because you're in England you don't have to use a knife and fork.

Don't worry. We'll use chop sticks!

'I finish off the dragon noodles as quick as I can

'with some toasted sesame oil and sliced spring onions.'

The tears of joy.

In with the lobster noodles. The heads on that.

-What do you think?

-Fantastic. Looks good.

Let's go and sit and eat this now.

'So there's my dragon noodles

'and to go with it the mushu chicken and some lion head meatballs.

'Family favourites perfect for any special family celebration.'

Come on guys, feast on this.

That looks so good, Ching.

Eat! Yeah, we never wait at home.

Let's eat, yeah.

Dad, what do you think?

Just perfect.

Juicy. Really juicy.

Thanks, Ching!

Dad slurped,

that's a Chinese way,

it means appreciation.

Dad slurped, is that what you're saying?

(My job's done. Phew!)

I'd like to propose a toast for Ching.

Thanks for a lovely dinner and it's certainly worth the 12-hour flight.

Absolutely! Thank you very much.

Cheers!

A lot of old generation Chinese find it hard to say "I love you",

and through food you can express and show that love.

So when you make a big fuss and a big deal out of cooking for your family, that is saying "I love you".

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd

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