IT’S THAT time of year when New Year’s resolutions start slipping.
Maybe you wanted to eat more healthily or do more home cooking – but as we race through the month of January, ordering takeaways might be looking increasingly enticing.
That’s why Kwoklyn Wan’s latest cookbook, 10-Minute Chinese Takeaway, couldn’t have come at a better time. If you are tempted to order dinner via an app, whipping up one of these meals will only take 10 minutes, and it will most likely be a healthier than ordering in.
But do the recipes really only take 10 minutes to make? And can you pack in enough flavour in such a short period of time? We tried three recipes from the new book to find out…
Lisa Salmon tested: Eight treasure tofu
The problem with this easy, veggie-packed stir-fry was I couldn’t find one of the essential ingredients: the fermented chilli bean paste, or doubanjiang. But, undeterred, I did a little internet searching and tried my best to make my own version. Never having tasted real doubanjiang, I can’t tell you how far my attempt was from the authentic paste, but it contained beans (although not fermented ones), chillies and salt, so it must at least have borne some similarity. I hope.
To be honest, making the paste was the only hard-ish part – the rest was just chopping carrots, mushrooms and onions, opening cans of bamboo shoots and water chestnuts, and packets of peanuts, and throwing them all in the wok with the tofu and sauce (also just a load of thrown-in-and-stirred ingredients).
The end result was tasty, and I loved the peanuts with the tofu. I added more soy sauce, wine vinegar and sugar – and quite a lot more of my paste– but that’s the nice thing about making your own Chinese meal, you can create it according to your own taste, often without even needing any particular culinary skill. I’ll definitely be making a version of this again.
Noreen Barr tested: Beef and onion with mixed peppers
Kwoklyn Wan is already a firm favourite in our house – his previous Chinese Takeaway Cookbook offers speedy, easy to make dishes that have persuaded even our sceptical nine-year-old daughter that stir-fries can bring joy. The idea of being able to conjure up the same kind of deliciousness in 10 minutes really appealed but, truth be told, I didn’t come close to pulling it off within that time.
As I was making a double portion to feed four people rather than two, I expected to go over the four minute designated prep time, but it took me a good 20 minutes to thinly slice the (expensive) beef fillet, peppers and onions, puree the garlic and ginger and sort the simple sauce. Knowing the recipe better, a sharper blade and much improved knife skills would bring that time down, and the stir-frying part was fast and trouble-free.
My finished dish, served up in a big dish as part of a takeaway-themed spread, looked pretty close to the target, with generous amounts of meat and colourful peppers, but the beef should probably have been more charred. As promised, the sauce was tasty and aromatic, and the background heat from the ground black pepper went down well. Most importantly, this dish passed the ultimate test – everyone loved it and it was scoffed almost faster than I made it.
Prudence Wade tested: Yellow bean flat rice noodles with green beans
I have trust issues when it comes to speedy meals claiming to take an impossibly short amount of time – but I can’t help trying them, because who doesn’t want a delicious dinner in 10 minutes? Full disclosure: my attempt at Wan’s yellow bean flat rice noodles with green beans didn’t take 10 minutes, but well over 20.
Even if it wasn’t quite as speedy as advertised, that’s still a quick dish – and it was definitely worth it. The salty, umami taste of the sauce with yellow bean paste, Shaoxing wine and dark soy sauce was rich and moreish, with the noodles soaking up flavour like a sponge.
It was incredibly easy to prepare: all you have to do is chop up and fry the veg, add in the cooked noodles and coat it all with the sauce – it’s a recipe even the most nervous cook would be able to successfully pull off, and you’re rewarded with an impressively flavoursome stir-fry. My only note is it could have included something more alongside the crunchy green beans and beansprouts – perhaps crispy tofu, or extra veg. But that would take more time – something that’s often in short supply in the kitchen.
YELLOW BEAN FLAT RICE NOODLES WITH GREEN BEANS
(Serves 2)
200g dried flat rice noodles
1 1/2 tbsp vegetable oil
5 spring onions, cut into 5cm slices
1tsp ginger purée
200g green beans, cut into 2cm lengths
200g beansprouts
Drizzle of sesame oil
For the sauce:
2tbsp yellow bean sauce
2tbsp water
1tbsp Chinese rice wine (Shaoxing wine)
1tsp dark soy sauce
1tsp sugar
Method:
Combine the ingredients for the sauce in a bowl, mix well and set to one side. Cook the flat noodles in a large saucepan of boiling water for two minutes until soft, then drain and set to one side. While the flat rice noodles are boiling, place a non-stick wok over a medium-high heat, add the vegetable oil and fry the spring onions with the ginger purée for one minute, stirring throughout for even cooking. Add the green beans and cook for one minute, then add the drained rice noodles and stir-fry for another minute. Finally add the beansprouts and mix everything together.
Give the sauce mixture a quick stir, add to the wok and continue to cook to allow the sauce to coat all of the other ingredients. Remove from the heat, transfer to a serving plate and finally drizzle with sesame oil.
BEEF AND ONION WITH MIXED PEPPERS
(Serves 2)
2tbsp vegetable oil
200g sliced onion
200g sliced mixed peppers
300g beef fillet, cut into very thin slices
2tsp garlic purée
2tsp ginger purée
1tsp ground black pepper
For the sauce:
250ml chicken stock
1tbsp Chinese rice wine (Shaoxing wine)
1tbsp oyster sauce
2tsp cornflour
Method:
Combine the sauce ingredients in a bowl, mix well and set to one side.
Place your wok over a medium-high heat, add the oil and stir-fry the onions and peppers for three minutes. Next add the beef with the garlic and ginger purées and stir-fry for a further 30 seconds. Give the sauce mixture a quick stir and pour into your wok, bringing it to the boil and continuing to cook for another minute, or until the sauce has thickened to your preferred consistency. Turn off the heat and add the black pepper, then give it all a good mix and transfer to a serving plate. This dish also works well when served with rice on the side.
EIGHT TREASURE TOFU RECIPE
(Serves 2)
2tbsp vegetable oil
150g diced onion
3 celery sticks, cut into 3cm pieces on the diagonal
100g sliced mushrooms
80g canned water chestnuts, drained and sliced
80g canned bamboo shoots, drained
80g sliced carrots
175–200g marinated tofu cubes
80g salted peanuts
For the sauce:
2tbsp fermented chilli bean paste (doubanjiang)
1tbsp Chinese rice wine (Shaoxing wine)
2tsp sugar
1tsp dark soy sauce
2tbsp water
Pinch of salt
Pinch of white pepper
1 tsp cornflour
Method:
Put all the ingredients for the sauce into a bowl and mix until well combined; leave to one side. Place your wok over a medium-high heat; when hot add the oil followed by the onion and celery and stir-fry for one minute. Add the mushrooms and continue to stir-fry for another minute, then add the water chestnuts, bamboo shoots and carrots and stir-fry for another minute before adding the marinated tofu pieces. Give the sauce mixture a quick stir and add to the wok. Once all of your ingredients are piping hot, add the peanuts, give everything a good mix and then transfer to your serving plate. Enjoy it as it is or with a bowl of steaming rice.
10-Minute Chinese Takeaway by Kwoklyn Wan is published by Quadrille, priced £16. Photography Sam Folan. Available now. Below are three recipes for you to try at home...
