Ken Hom is the UK's favourite Chinese chef and this is his collection of his best 100 stir-fry recipes. With everything from chicken recipes to vegetarian curries, healthy recipes and food for entertaining friends, modern and traditional, plus appetisers, salads, snacks and side dishes, this cookbook offers an amazing range of tastes, ingredients and styles – all made in the wok.

Recipes include: Cantonese Egg Flower Soup, Classic Lemon Chicken, Cold Bean Curd Salad, Crispy Corn Cakes, Curry Rice Noodles with Vegetables, Fragrant Prawn Curry, Ginger Fish Soup, Indonesian Vegetable Salad, Malaysian-style Beef Satay, Red Chicken Curry, Shredded Chicken with Sesame Seeds, Singapore Noodles, Spicy Hot and Sour Soup, Spicy Pork with Fragrant Basil, Stir-fried Chilli Pork with Cashews, Stir-fried Pasta with Orange and Curry, Sweet and Sour Onions, Sweetcorn and Ginger Fried Rice, Two-minute Coconut Prawn Starter, Vietnamese-style Lemon Grass Beef…

SAMPLE RECIPE

Chicken with Chillies and Basil (pictured left)
This traditional dish, called gai phad bai krapao, is very easy to prepare. Although ordinary fresh basil is fine, if you can find Thai basil, its unique, pungent aroma makes the dish especially mouth-watering.

Serves 4
2 tbsp ground nut oil
450g (1lb) boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into 2.5cm (1in) pieces
3 tbsp finely sliced shallots
3 tbsp chopped garlic
for the sauce
3 fresh red or green Thai chilli peppers, de-seeded and finely shredded
2 tbsp fish sauce (nam pla)
2 tsp dark soy sauce
2 tsp sugar
a large handful of basil leaves

Step one – Heat a wok or large frying pan until it is very hot, then add 1 tablespoon of the oil. When it is very hot, add the chicken and stir-fry over a high heat for 8 minutes, until browned all over. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the chicken to a colander or sieve to drain.

Step two – Reheat the wok and add the remaining oil. Toss in the shallots and garlic and stir-fry for 3 minutes, until they are golden brown.
Step three Return the chicken to the wok and add the chilli peppers, fish sauce, dark soy sauce and sugar. Stir-fry over a high heat for 8 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through. Stir in the basil leaves and serve at once.

Author Biography

Ken Hom is an internationally regarded authority on Chinese and Oriental cooking, and has 25 years' experience as a television chef. He began his culinary career in his uncle's Chicago restaurant at the age of eleven, before eventually moving on to teach at California's Cu­linary Academy. Following a spell studying gastronomy in France, Ken presented his first TV series in 1984 – Ken Hom's Chinese Cookery on the BBC. Since then, he has written over 30 cookery books and presented numerous internationally distributed television series.