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

When I first started to forge my TV career, it was difficult to break down the general perception that Chinese cuisine is unhealthy and bad for you. When most people in the UK think about Chinese food they almost always think of the local takeaways, some which are good but many of which are not. Monosodium glutamate (MSG), gloopy sugary sauces, deep-fried dishes laced with fat and salt – all dressed up as tasty, but in fact detrimental to one’s health. There are over 15,000 Chinese restaurants and takeaways in the UK, and some unfortunately perpetuate this image, but my hope is to dispel this notion and set the record straight.

With their research into thousands of years of Chinese history, historians confirm that Chinese culture derived from its food culture. Chinese are obsessed with food. For centuries, peasants and farmers struggled against famine, poor harvests, and floods. Out of this struggle, cooking techniques such as wok frying were invented, and preserving techniques such as drying, pickling and curing followed. To the Chinese, the genius of all inventions is the wok; the shape of it allows the food to be cooked on a very high heat with very little oil, and with rapid stirring and tossing, the wok cooks the food to perfection. This way of cooking sears the food on the outside, not only helping to create a slight smoky flavour but also retaining the nutrients in the ingredients for optimum health. The wok is also used for steaming (with the help of the bamboo steamer) as well as for braising, smoking and making soups – all healthy cooking techniques.

In fact, traditionally, when Chinese families go out to eat at a Chinese restaurant, just one fried dish, or none at all, will accompany the series of dishes ordered to be shared at the table. This was very much the case in my family, when I first grew up with my grandmother. In her kitchen, she would only ever deep-fry food if it was on its last few days of freshness! This method is a safe way of cooking leftover ingredients by heating them in hot oil and therefore killing off any possible bacteria (although if you think of this fact every time you eat fried food, it may just put you off). My grandmother was seriously opposed to ordering fried fish in restaurants – it implied the fish was not fresh and she would always insist on having it steamed instead. If the fish was not fresh, it would be overly fishy once cooked, because fresh fish when steamed should be odourless. However, I am not as strict as my grandmother when it comes to cooking or consuming fried foods. Of course, I would hope that all restaurants and takeaways use the freshest ingredients. To ensure that you are eating healthily, my advice is to cook the food yourself; and if you are dining out, then remember that keeping the balance right is key to good health and enjoying any cuisine – never too much of one thing is best for you.

In terms of balance, another important aspect of Chinese food is the philosophy of ‘yin’ and ‘yang’ – this is one of the foundations and principles of Chinese cooking. The belief is that all food has a ‘yin’ and a ‘yang’ element attached to it – ‘yin’ foods are cooling and ‘yang’ foods are heat giving. Traditionally, Chinese cooks would try to balance these foods in any one dish. ‘Yin’ foods include cucumber, fruits and most vegetables, while ‘yang’ foods are most meats, ginger, garlic and chillies. So a perfectly balanced dish might have a balance of meat and vegetables. Cooking techniques also impart a ‘yin’ or ‘yang’ element to a dish. Stir-frying and steaming are ‘yin’, whereas deep-frying is ‘yang’ – so if you deep-fry some vegetables, the dish is balanced overall because the vegetables are ‘yin’ and deep-frying is ‘yang’.

This philosophy not only applies to food in Chinese culture, but also in Feng shui (the practice of creating harmony in the home) and in Traditional Chinese Medicine, with which practitioners, by using certain foods, help heal the body of illnesses caused by imbalances in one’s lifestyle. Chinese believe that food is medicine for the body, mind and soul.

With this in mind, I have created dishes in this book that may sound familiar but that have a modern twist in cooking techniques or ingredients. Some of the dishes are new versions of old favourites, and some are traditional recipes I have collected from my travels in China, simplified to demonstrate how healthy, light and simple Chinese cooking can be. Some of these dishes were the result of working with farmers, producers and the British public from all walks of life, who inspired me to re-create recipes that suited their working and home lifestyles – Richard, for example, who needed my help to convince the town of Chorley to buy his local, home-grown chillies, and Robbie, who wanted some new healthy recipes to cook for his watch at the Blackburn fire brigade. The recipes are wide ranging, varied and versatile.