Have you ever-tried cooking Chinese food yourself at home? It’s not that difficult. Here are some tips.

Equipment: To start you really only need a good knife and a wok.  Woks come in all shapes and sizes, non-stick, flat-bottomed, even electric but I still prefer my old carbon steel wok with it’s rounded bottom and one wooden handle.  This is a Pau wok. These are readily available online (if you can’t find one locally) and less expensive than other varieties.  Before you will be ready to cook with such a wok you have to season it.  Scrub it with a cream cleaner to remove any residues of machine oil and dry it carefully. Put the wok on the hob over a low heat.  Rub the inside of the wok with two tablespoons of cooking oil using kitchen towel.  Let the wok heat slowly for 10 to 15 minutes then wipe the inside with more kitchen towel.  The paper will come away black.  Carry on coating, heating and cleaning off until the kitchen towel comes away clean.  Your wok is now ready to use.  After use, wash only in water without detergent and dry thoroughly over a low heat.  You may also apply a little oil if you wish.  This should prevent the wok from rusting but if it does develop rust just scrub and season again.

You will also need a wok stand, particularly if you have an electric hob.  This keeps the wok stable if you are using it for braising or deep-frying. For stirring, any spatula, slice or slotted spoon will do.

Ingredients: Bear in mind that some ingredients don’t keep well if left unused. Just select something simple from your chosen cookery book at first. You can expand your selection as you progress through different dishes.

Some common store-cupboard ingredients that you will almost certainly need are dark and light soy sauce, some sort of cooking oil and sesame oil, cornflour and rice wine or sherry.

Techniques:

Stir-Frying – This is the most well known Chinese cooking technique. Your wok comes into its own as it’s shape and size (at least 14 inches diameter with deep sides) is ideal for quick cooking.   The secret is to have all your ingredients ready in advance.

Meat should be cut according to the recipe but normally in thin strips.  Vegetables likewise but in any event should be of similar shapes and sizes to ensure even cooking.  Long thin vegetables such as spring onions, carrots or asparagus are often cut on the diagonal so that more surface area is exposed for quicker cooking.  Measure out sauce ingredients – check the recipe – if they are all added to the dish at the same time, you can put them all in one small bowl.  If cornflour is included, don’t forget to give it a good stir before adding to the other food.

Once everything is prepared, heat your wok until it is very hot then add oil and stir ensuring the oil is evenly distributed over the surface of the wok.  Before you add your ingredients. the wok should be so hot that it is almost smoking to prevent the food from being greasy. The exception is if you are flavouring your oil with garlic, chili, spring onions, ginger or salt – these will burn if the oil is too hot.

Now add your other ingredients in the order stated in the recipe and toss them over the surface of the wok ensuring that nothing rests in one place for too long and moving the food from the centre of the wok to the sides.

Deep Frying – Using a wok upon a stand uses less oil than a deep fryer or saucepan but you may find these safer and easier to use. Under no circumstances leave it unattended.

Make sure the oil is hot enough before adding ingredients or the food will end up very greasy.  Test it by dropping in a small piece of prepared food or a cube of bread.  If the oil bubbles up around what you dropped in then it’s hot enough.  All food to be deep-fried must be dried thoroughly on kitchen paper or drained of its marinade before cooking otherwise it will spit.

Shallow Frying – Fry food on one side, then the other and drain off any excess oil before adding sauce ingredients.  A normal frying pan is fine for this.

Steaming – You can use a bamboo steamer in a wok, a heatproof plate placed on a rack in a wok or other large pan or a normal US/European steamer. If using a bamboo steamer or plate in a wok, bring about 2 inches of water to a simmer.  Put your rack into the wok and balance your plate or steamer of food on it.  Put the lid on your steamer or wok and check occasionally to see if the water needs topping up (use water which is already hot).

Braising – This is used for tougher cuts of meat and involves gentle cooking of meat and/or vegetables in flavoured stock.  Red braising is the technique where food is braised in a dark liquid such as soy sauce, which gives the food a red/brown colour.  This type of braising sauce can be frozen and re-used.

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