Fast Food Food & Drink

There are days when we have all the time in the world to whip up

incredible food and drink at home but increasingly, our hectic

and busy lives demand a serious need for speed.

This show is all about learning how to make fast food

without making compromises.

And there's no-one better to show us

than the godfather of Chinese cooking, Ken Hom.

Everybody in this country is all so nervous about cooking rice and this is a foolproof method.

Drinks expert Kate Goodman

tackles the tricky task of matching wine with aromatic flavours.

Writer Julie Burchill tells us

why she loves the supermarket giants and is sick of the snobs who don't.

People don't become shopkeepers because they want to do a social service.

They become shopkeepers cos they want to make money.

And I create the perfect speedy pudding - pancakes.

Welcome to a very convenient Food & Drink.

21st-century living is busy, pressured and exciting,

and making time to cook and eat well can be tough.

Ready meals are a multi-billion-pound industry in the UK.

They're convenient but they're not always the healthiest or tastiest option.

I believe you can create fresh, delicious

and speedy meals from scratch in no time at all.

And the master of the original fast food is here to show us how.

Ken Hom has been showing us how to cook fresh,

tasty Chinese food for more than 20 years.

He's passionate about creating fantastic fast food and believes

that being short of time is no excuse for compromising on flavour.

Right, Ken. What are we cooking?

Well, I thought something very quick,

that shows convenience food can be good home-cooked food.

-Orange and lemon stir-fry chicken.

-With rice?

Yes, and with some stir-fry veggies.

So you want me to cube this up first?

Yes, if you cube that up first.

I'm going to get the marinade ingredients.

You know, Michel, how things have really changed

since I first started cooking in this country.

You can get things like the rice wine.

Of course, soy sauce is available.

All these things that seemed so exotic before, I think.

-Everyday ingredients now.

-Yes.

-Absolutely.

Ken's Quick Orange and Lemon Chicken with Perfect Steamed Rice

and Stir Fried Chinese Greens

takes as long to cook as it would to heat up a family-sized ready meal.

It uses some classic Chinese ingredients to create

a delicious dish that's packed full of flavour and taste.

-So why chicken breast?

-Because it cooks quickly.

-It's perfect for a convenient meal.

-Could you use any other meat?

Yes, of course. You could use pork or beef if you want to. Even turkey.

-Actually, turkey.

-Yes.

-We shouldn't just eat turkey at Christmas.

-We should eat turkey all year round.

-Exactly.

The secret is for cooking a stir-fry,

is that it's small pieces and...

Marinated. But this is a instant marinade.

It's really convenience food at its most delicious and best and it's so easy.

If you can't get hold of Chinese rice wine,

you could use dry sherry for this instant marinade.

It couldn't be simpler - just mix the wine

and two spoons of light soy sauce into some diced chicken breast,

before adding the final ingredient.

A little bit of cornflour coats the chicken and, at the same time,

it allows the marinade to cling to the chicken.

-The soy itself is a seasoning.

-Exactly.

Even in French cooking, I use soy. A little bit.

It's an all-purpose seasoning and it can get into this chicken

right away, and this is what I love about this kind of cooking.

You can put together a really delicious meal that's healthy

-and tasty.

-In an instant.

-Exactly.

Set the chicken aside for 15 minutes -

that's all it takes for the meat to soak up those fantastic flavours.

While it's marinating, you can prepare your perfect rice.

We each get through four and a half kilos of it a year in the UK

and in spite of our love affair with this most simple of ingredients,

many of us find it really hard to cook rice right.

-It's a minefield.

-They think it's so complicated and it isn't.

Everybody in this country, they are all so nervous about cooking rice.

-And this is a foolproof method. So, if you get me some water...

-Yeah.

What you do is get long grain white rice.

And how much water should you put in? Now this is what I was taught.

You should put in about half a thumb of water.

Up to this point where the joint is of your thumb.

So just up to the joint of your thumb?

And the thing is, you don't need to rinse rice.

When I was growing up, rice was covered with powder to prevent

animals and insects from eating it.

-And, of course, we don't have that problem any more.

-Yeah.

-So you don't really need to rinse it

because you rinse off all the nutritional value of the rice as well.

Yeah, and all that good stuff. Exactly.

You don't need to season it, don't stir it and I was taught never, ever

to look what's in the rice pot, because you know why?

Bad luck! Especially at Chinese New Year! Yeah, bad luck!

And we always have rice at Chinese New Year

because rice also means plenty.

-Prosperity.

-Yeah. See - that's why the Chinese are doing so well now!

Once your rice has come to the boil, let the water evaporate

and check to see that the rice is covered in craters.

Then, and only then, turn the heat down and put the lid on

so the rice can steam for 15 minutes.

And what happens is, all of the water that is forced into the rice

starts to steam very slowly and it cooks the rice perfectly.

Ken's secret to perfect rice takes the mystery out of Chinese cooking,

but matching drinks with aromatic Chinese flavours can be a challenge.

Kate's got some rules of thumb to make sure you get the ideal

drink for your dish.

What to match with Asian food can be a bit of a puzzle.

My top tip is to start with the main flavour and go from there.

For spicy cuisine like peppery Szechuan,

avoid seriously tannic wines like a young cabernet Sauvignon.

These really ramp up any spiciness and your mouth will be on fire.

An aromatic wine with a touch of sweetness will mellow the heat

and go beautifully with all those spices.

I'd go for a German Riesling or Pinot Gris from Alsace.

They have a touch of spice

and even better, prices for a good bottle start at the £7-8 mark.

Sweet and sour is a great British favourite

and works well with both wine and beer.

Pilsner Lager has a crisp and herbal taste that cuts through

the lovely, sticky sweet and sour sauce.

Or try a dry sparkling white wine.

The acidity and bubbles will contrast the fattiness.

If you want to push the boat out, you could choose champagne

but you can get a good dry cava for around the £8 mark.

If there's one ingredient that unites Chinese food, it's soy sauce,

and the flavours this adds to the food are salty and savoury.

This flavour is called umami.

It can increase the acidity and bitterness in wine

and decrease the sweetness, so with lots of dishes on the table,

many with soy in them, go for mellow, rounded flavours.

No sharp whites or tannic reds.

Try a fruity Grenache or a young red rioja, and what's more,

prices for decent bottles of both start at under £10.

So you want me to cut this choy sum up,

-and we're going to cook it in the wok.

-Yes.

You know, vegetables and wok is what make kids love veggies.

-Not boiled veggies.

-I think you've got a point there.

You could also use pak choi in this fresh and tasty stir-fry.

While your wok's getting really hot, remove the zest of an orange

and a lemon.

Now get your wok hot. Is your wok hot?

Well, it kind of feels a bit hot but I think the secret

to cook in a wok is, it's got to be very, very hot.

You've been to Hong Kong, so you know what hot means, right?

I actually worked in Hong Kong and I used to love watching

the Chinese chefs at work with the woks and they used to get them

to temperature and then toss everything in.

Then rather than using their hands to switch on and off,

-they'd use their knees.

-They don't have time to switch it off!

Unbelievable - and fierce, fierce heat.

Groundnut oil has a high smoking point so it's perfect for stir-fry.

Add a coating to your smoking-hot wok before tossing in

your ingredients.

The Chinese say the wok speaks to you.

You see how it crackles and if it doesn't speak to you,

you're not doing it properly.

-It's not hot enough.

-If it gets too hot, don't turn off the heat.

Add just a tiny bit of water to cool the wok off.

Don't add any more oil. OK, that's perfect.

Once everything's sizzling away, add sesame oil

and coriander to the chicken.

And if you like your food spicy, now's the time to add some chilli.

-Perfect. We should open a restaurant together!

-Yes! Yes!

So what is it, Ken, about the wok that really makes it so quick for us to cook our food?

-Well, because it's so hot.

-Yeah.

-And ironically enough, it also gives it flavour. Smell that.

-Oh!

I don't know what you're having, but goodbye!

-Let's see the rice.

-Are we going to have to open it up now?

-Yes.

OK, you can see that they have individual grains.

It's dry and none of it is sticking together.

That's perfect now.

Ken's speedy stir-fry just goes to show there's nothing stopping us

whipping up fantastic fast food packed full of flavour in minutes.

And it's not just the rice that's perfect.

-This is my sort of dish, this, Ken.

-This is just food heaven.

And it's just the smell. The aroma must fill the house.

And it's made with ingredients that I would be likely to

have in the house, so that's what I love about it.

-Are we diving in?

-Diving in, yes.

This chicken is beautiful.

It's succulent, it's sweet and it's cooked to perfection.

And you can taste the orange and lemon.

But it's not overpowering and your rice is lovely. Wonderful.

-Absolutely delicious. Spot-on.

-And the chicken is so succulent.

I'm always a bit nervous about chicken, so I think I do tend to overcook it. I do.

Whereas that's just so juicy.

People have to remember that it continues to cook, right, Michel?

-Yeah.

-After you take it out.

-After you've taken it out.

-Especially when the wok is so hot.

-Mm. Yeah.

What kind of wine would you drink with something like this?

I've gone for Semillon. So Semillon, the homeland is southwest France.

It's used to make some of the finest sweet wines in Bordeaux.

It blends really well with Sauvignon blanc to make fantastic dry wines,

-but we've gone to Australia.

-What's interesting is,

-you are thinking out of the box as well, because Chinese...

-Pushing boundaries!

That's great, because Chinese food very often...

You know, Alsace wine, Gewurztraminer, maybe even an old Riesling.

They do work well but I think this is just a great variety

that we wouldn't necessarily think of straightaway.

But it's a real diversity of styles, so you can get really grassy,

herby styles, right through to almost oily, waxy. I mean,

depending on where they're grown or if they're aged,

they develop these really sort of honeyed, almost toasty

characters, so we've got three different styles of the same grape.

This is from Hunter Valley, so this is just a couple of hours north of Sydney.

McWilliam's Mount Pleasant Semillon.

It's from 2005, so it's got quite a lot of bottle age and that's the thing about Semillon,

-it changes dramatically after time in the bottle.

-Is it expensive?

No, it's about £8.99. Smoky, isn't it, on the nose? Quite toasty.

But very nice, I think, with this.

I think that works beautifully with that style of food.

-It really brings out the citrus tang.

-It does.

OK, so that's the first wine.

The second wine, we're moving along to South Australia,

so this is Tim Adams Semillon from the Clare Valley.

This is a touch more expensive. It's £9.99. The first one had no oak.

This one has some oak.

And with this, you tend to get more sort of pineapple,

tropical flavours, a bit fuller-bodied.

-So slightly different style here.

-This will work with that as well.

I like that too.

Really nice contrast, but then you've got that toasty, smoky...

which I think works really nicely.

Then the last one, which is completely different, is Vasse Felix.

Now this is Sauvignon and Semillon, so it's two grapes,

-not just Semillon on its own.

-Is it drier?

Have a taste and see what you think. It comes from the Margaret river over in Western Australia,

so a climate quite similar to Bordeaux, actually.

-A maritime climate.

-Very light in colour.

-Yeah, much lighter. Exactly.

-Look at the colour.

-Yes.

You'll really notice the difference now it's got some Sauvignon in it.

Much grassier, much herbier.

Yeah, you immediately get the Sauvignon in your nose there, yeah.

Yeah, a bit sort of sherbety, citrusy, that last one. So quite different to the other two.

Tim Adams for me is the pure Semillon, from Clare Valley.

-The second one, yeah. That toastiness.

-It works perfect with that, I agree.

-It's not a bad one.

-What's the price on that one?

-So that one's a little more expensive.

That's around £13.99 but it's just great, isn't it, to see

the different types of wines that the same grape can produce.

-I agree.

-It just goes to show

we can cook delicious fast food at home

and we don't have to get it from the supermarkets.

I'm not a huge fan of supermarket shopping, but writer Julie Burchill

thinks it's too easy to demonise the kings of convenience.

Instead we should be celebrating their influence on our lives.

I love supermarkets. Some people say they are destroying the planet

and that we should support small shops.

But make mine mega every time.

Small local shops are all very well when you're abroad,

prancing around in the sunshine with your wicker basket.

But then the Spanish don't have to stagger through the streets

in torrential rain for nine months of the year, do they?

I've always loved speed.

I love the lights, rush

and exhilaration of zipping around the supermarket.

There can be fewer humdrum feelings more satisfying than

knowing you've bagged a week's worth of shopping in half an hour.

And knowing that one can now devote the rest of one's leisure time

to the important business of having fun.

And let's not forget,

the supermarkets have given us food of a quality and variety

that just a few decades ago was the preserve of the privileged.

And selling things cheap - what's wrong with that?

Face it, the sort of people who are against supermarkets are the

sort of people who were once against labour-saving devices on the grounds

that they might allow women to put their feet up for five minutes.

So what have supermarkets ever done for us?

Given us the time to live a life not dedicated to domestic drudgery.

What's not to love?

I'll tell you what's not to love about supermarkets.

They are taking over the high street.

Everywhere you look, there's a supermarket

and there's a mini supermarket.

They are killing the very lifeblood of our cities.

That's an interesting point of view.

In Brighton, where I live, we have loads of exquisite tiny shops.

The trouble is, they're only open every other Wednesday by appointment.

-That is not true.

-It can't be true.

Last bank holiday, the sun was shining,

there were masses of tourists wanting to part with their money

and all the tiny exquisite shops were closed down.

But all the supermarkets were open,

so the tourists ended up going there instead.

Why were they shut? Because they can't compete with the supermarkets.

No, they were closed because the owners were at the beach

and wanting to have fun because they are only semi-professional,

unlike the supermarkets, which are professional through and through.

Julie, how can you say that? Those small businesses are run by passionate,

knowledgeable people who care about what they're doing,

who are driven by producing good quality.

-They are passionate about clocking off at three o'clock.

-No, no.

I have to say, I agree with Julie.

I tell you why, because there's room for everyone,

and if you want to shop at a small shop,

that's fine, but I like the option of shopping at a supermarket.

When I was growing up, the shops were closed all day on Sunday

and they closed for half a day on Wednesday, and when you did go to a

small shop, the range of things you got in those days was so limited.

It's so different now, though. There's so much diversity.

-That's where you get diversity, in your small...

-No, you get diversity in supermarkets.

We've got a local cheese shop. They're amazing.

They all know what they're doing. They give you tasters.

You can sample stuff, you can ask them questions,

they give you information and it's knowledgeable, good information.

I think that's what you get as well that you don't get in a supermarket, and that's service.

Personalised service in the small high street shops.

That, I agree with you.

People don't become shopkeepers because they want to do a social service.

If they did, they'd become nurses or teachers or firemen.

They become shopkeepers because they want to make money. If...

They give a lot to the local community

but they contribute enormously to the local community.

I believe that supermarkets are there partly to keep small

-shops on their toes.

-I agree with you there, yes.

It keeps them on their toes and maybe makes them better,

-which can only be a good thing.

-Exactly.

-Small shops are important but I think they have to specialise.

They have to offer something that the supermarket doesn't.

-And a lot of them do that.

-Exactly. And so they survive.

What gets me is that supermarkets can afford to have loss leaders as well.

Two for the price of one, BOGOFs and so on, and it's just enticing

people to spend more in my view and then it just kills that high street.

I mean, we're going to end up with just such a homogenous high street,

because of the onslaught of these supermarkets.

I don't agree with that. I think the specialist shops which specialise

and are good at what they do will survive and I think the rubbish

shops will go to the wall, but it literally is a marketplace

and if you don't want that, then you shouldn't be a shopkeeper.

-It's capitalism.

-Absolutely.

Right, guys, I'm after one tip about convenience,

one way to make life much easier in your kitchens at home.

Well, I have got this amazing little gadget. It's really basic.

It's like a little hand blender

but it has loads of different attachments so when you need to cut

things really finely, and I don't have the patience for that, buzz!

-Brilliant.

-Julie?

-Pick up the phone and get someone else to do it!

-She's very cheeky!

For me, the best tip I can give is a set of really sharp knives,

because if you have a set of sharp knives, like all good chefs,

it just makes life so much easier.

But Michel, I have just one cleaver that does everything.

I mean, I can peel, for instance,

it's really sharp like this,

and I can chop it at the same time,

so I don't have a set of knives but just one that does everything.

-One knife for everything?

-Exactly.

-Multi-purpose.

-That's convenient.

-Brilliant!

There is a kitchen gadget that was all the rage in the '50s and '60s,

but it's fallen out of favour in recent years.

Cutting-edge chef Sat Bains thinks

it's time for the pressure cooker to make a comeback.

I love gadgets. I've made my name using 21st-century technology

to create cutting-edge, adventurous and exciting food.

But you know what? If it came to it,

I'd trade it all in for the godfather of kitchen gadgets,

the pressure cooker.

The pressure cooker is not a fuddy-duddy piece of equipment,

flash in the pan, it's a serious piece of kit

that takes centre stage in my development kitchen.

It's such a simple technology

that's versatile, economical and really easy to use.

The pressure cooker is a pan with a sealed lid

that heats water beyond boiling point.

A combination of pressure and high temperature

all help intensify flavour and speed up the cooking process.

It's perfect for anything that's got a lot of gelatine or collagen -

cheeks, shin, tail.

Oxtail usually needs between four and five hours of slow cooking.

But in the pressure cooker, it only takes 45 minutes to an hour.

So look at what this pressure cooker has done. It's falling off the bone.

You can see all the fibres but it's not dry.

It's absolutely beautiful and tender.

You can do stocks, sauces, a pot roast chicken in 20 minutes.

You can do pulses without soaking.

Trust me, this wonderful bit of kitchen kit will change your life.

Every home should have one.

Catherine Phipps is a food writer who, like me, has a soft spot

for this underrated time-saving king of kitchen convenience.

I use mine every day at home,

just for feeding the family.

You know, stews, beans, lentils, risotto.

Five-minute risotto's quite incredible.

No boiling water, everything done in the pressure cooker.

When Catherine says she cooks everything in the pressure cooker,

she's not joking.

I didn't think I had anything left to learn about pressure cooking,

but she's got a thing or two to teach me

with her recipe for American-style baked cheesecake.

-Sugar, cream...

-Sugar...

Some vanilla and a pinch of sea salt if you've got some over there.

-Yeah, of course.

-OK, I'm going to get on with the base.

We prepare the ingredients as we would a standard baked cheesecake.

The clever bit is what happens next.

You just need enough that

the steam will actually force it up to pressure, so in this case

not much at all, just a couple of inches.

-This is pretty much a bain-marie on steroids.

-I love it.

The foil helps because it's a bit of a tight squeeze.

That's perfect, snug. I think what's fascinating as a chef,

we think of lots of usages for this,

how we can impart flavour and all the rest of it,

but I'd never have thought of doing a cake

and I think it's really exciting, so it's opened loads of ideas for me.

After just 15 minutes, Catherine's pressure-cooked cheesecake is ready.

You really wouldn't know that's not been cooked in the oven.

The pressure cooker is versatile, economic and time-saving.

I'm buzzing with new ideas after tasting Catharine's cheesecake.

It makes you wonder why every kitchen hasn't got one.

That's delicious.

Ken made us a superfast delicious main course.

And now it's my turn to make an equally fast and delicious dessert,

a take on a great classic - pancakes.

My coconut pancakes with mango and passion fruit curd

is a fantastically versatile recipe.

It's a delicious, quick dessert

that strikes just the right balance

between tangy, sweet and sour flavours.

Add sugar,

a pinch of salt

and four eggs to

125g of plain flour.

So we mix that in, beat it well...

And then we will slowly and surely

mix in the milk.

That's your basic pancake mix done,

and you can flavour that with a bit of lemon rind or orange rind,

but I've got a particular twist that I want to share with you -

toasted, desiccated coconut.

That lovely nuttiness, and you just add a couple of pinches

to the mix

and it gives a little exotic feel to the pancakes,

and a lovely crunch of the coconut.

Now I'm going to make something really unusual and different

to fill the pancake, and that's a passion fruit and mango curd.

This curd is really easy to make

and lasts for a couple of weeks in the fridge.

Just whisk sugar and egg yolks together

before adding passion fruit and mango juice to the mixture.

Heat gently until the curd starts to thicken.

Then add butter and cool.

So here it is - a taste of the tropics.

Next, we need to cook the pancakes.

Heat up the pan. This is a pancake or crepe pan,

but you can use just a regular non-stick frying pan,

it works just as well.

A little bit of butter on there,

and then just the right amount of pancake mix.

And you twirl it around.

Make it nice and thin.

There we go. No-one knows why, even in professional kitchens,

the first pancake

is never quite right. It's the chef's treat, so this one's for me.

The beauty of pancakes is that they're quick to cook

and you can rustle up as many as you need in no time at all.

Mmm.

There have to be some advantages.

The pancakes should be golden brown with a slightly crispy texture.

Nearly there.

And there we go.

They are so, so quick to make.

But maybe even quicker to eat.

Spread a generous portion of the curd

on the rough side of the pancake.

Presentation is important.

It's simple things like that that do make a difference.

Then roll up and serve

with a garnish of your choice.

Thinly sliced pineapple works perfectly.

Just for a little bit of freshness, some mint,

then a little dusting of icing sugar.

Mmm! Luxurious and delicious.

Oh, my word! That's the same colour as your top.

It wasn't planned, I promise.

-This is perfect.

-Right, pancakes!

-Or crepes, as we say in French.

-Yes.

-Mmm. That's delicious.

-So creamy.

I love the texture of them.

Firm pancake, but really thin,

and then inside, that buttery sweetness, mango and passion fruit.

A real zest to it.

Tangy, but quite rich, so I don't know whether I'd be having two!

It's a perfect crepe because it's slightly elastic.

It's got to have a little bit of body.

So to go with your crepe, we have a bit of fun today.

And this is a dash of passion fruit liqueur topped up with some fizz.

Fizz will work really lovely with this because it is quite rich,

creamy sort of texture, so you want something to refresh the palate.

-It's a take on the Kir Royale, isn't it?

-Yes.

-Exactly.

And it's fragrant, it's got that passion fruit floral note

to match the passion fruit in there.

And it just jazzes up a sparkling wine.

I've used sparkling French wine.

Equally, you could use prosecco or champagne if you're feeling flush.

-It goes perfect with that.

-Does it go well? Good.

-It cuts the richness of it.

-I think it works really well, really well.

-I love that. It makes it look like an expensive rose.

-Yeah!

-Cheers to that.

-Cheers.

-Yeah!

These days, convenience is king.

It's all too easy to sacrifice taste and flavour in favour of speed,

so next time you reach for a ready meal, remember,

cooking up a fresh and delicious meal

is quicker and easier than you think.

Next time, it's all about guilty pleasures.

Angela Hartnett shares a pizza recipe that will

send your taste buds to heaven.

Oh, yeah! Mmm!

Rachel Khoo takes on the diet brigade.

Low fat? You can keep it.

And I show you how to make a salted caramel dessert to die for.