KWOKLYN WAN: ‘I’M ALWAYS HUNGRY’

PRUDENCE WADE TALKS TO THECHEF ABOUT WRITER’S BLOCK, GETTING CREATIVE IN ACAMPERVAN, AND WHATHECOOKS FOR CHINESE NEW YEAR

Chef Kwoklyn Wanbought a campervan two years ago, and you can be sure he hasn’t been cooking up basic fare on the road.

“Wewere eating so well –itwas quite funny,actually.We’d look over to the people next door,and they were having their typical beans, bangers and bacon and stuff like that –and we were having squids and Macanese curry,and all these other bits and bobs,” Wanremembers with palpable glee.

Wokcooking is abig part of Chinese cuisine, and that requires a fierce heat –something that’s tricky to replicate out the back of acampervan.“We solved that problem by having an electric hook-up and taking an induction cooker with us,” the chef reveals –keentogive his cooking “a bit more oomph”.

Even so, cooking outofacampervan isn’t quite the same as being in a professional kitchen –and it required Wan, 49, to think abit differently about his normal recipes.

“I thought, how could we simplify these dishes to make it really easy for cooking in acampervanand caravan?” –and so he began developing more one-pot or wok meals, which is the basis for his latest book.

One Wok, One PotisWan’s sixth cookbook –and he’s written them at a remarkablerate, having released his first in 2019. While Wanadmits “I do get writer’s block”, alove of food spurs him on.

“I’m abig guy. I’ve enjoyed food my entire life –Igrew up around food, in restaurants andtakeaways. When there’s aspecial occasion, we eat, when there’s not aspecial occasion, we eat,” he reflects. “So, it made it [writing the books] very simple in asense that we were always hungry –Iwas always hungry

“I try to pen between 10 and12 recipes aday when I’m writing. It sounds crazy.WhatIdo, Iwrite the recipe –I might see something, whether that is on social media or on TV,and then Ithink, ‘How would Idothat? How would I change it?’ And Iwrite arecipe.

“Once I’ve written the recipes, Ithen go into the kitchen andtest them. Isay, ‘OK, this didn’t work, or that flavour didn’t work, or you’ve got to add this at a certain time’.”

Spicy Singaporevegetable rice

“Pretty much ‘anything goes’ when it comes to fried rice,” says Kwoklyn Wan. “But asimpleChinese takeaway classic is the spicy Singapore-style, with its signaturecurry powder taste.”

Ingredients: (Serves2-3)

2tbsp vegetable oil

1onion, finely diced 2garlic cloves, roughly chopped 2red bird’s-eyechillies, roughly chopped 500g cooked long-grain or basmati rice

150g frozen mixed baby vegetables, defrosted

2tbsp Chinese curry powder,or useyour favourite

1tbsp light soysauce

1tspdark soysauce

Pinch of white pepper

Salt, to taste

Method:

1. Place awok over amedium-high heat, add the oil and, once smoking, add the onion and garlic and fry until golden brown, being careful not to let the garlic burn. Add the chopped chillies and fry for afurther 30 seconds until fragrant, then add the cooked rice and continue to fry for two to three minutes; you want the rice grains to toast slightly, which will give your dish aslightly nutty flavour,sodon’t stir the ingredients constantly.

2. Nowadd the thawed frozen vegetables along with the curry powder,light and dark soysaucesand white pepper and toss gently to combine with the rice. Once the ingredients arefully heated through, taste the rice and adjust the seasoning with salt if required. Servepiping hot.

Drunken chicken noodles

“Contrary to what the name would suggest, the chicken in this noodle dish is not drenched in alcohol,” says Kwoklyn Wan. “A common theory behind the Thai name (Pad Kee Mao) is that they aresimply a perfect recovery dish for the day after the night before.”

Ingredients:

(Serves2)

400g fresh flat rice noodles (ho fun)

2tbsp vegetable oil

350g boneless skin-on chicken thighs, cut into 2.5cm pieces

2garlic cloves, minced

3spring onions, cut into 5cm lengths, whites and greens separated Thumb-sized piece of ginger,peeledand sliced

300g choysum, cut into 5cm lengths, stalks and leaves separated

3tbsp oyster sauce

2tbsp light soysauce

1tbsp dark soysauce

2tspchicken powder

125ml redwine

1tbsp cornflour mixed with 2tbsp water

1tsp sesame oil

Method:

1. Place the noodles in acolander or sieve (strainer) and loosen under hot water,drain and set to one side.

2. Heat awok with the oil over amediumhigh heat, then add the chicken thighs and cook for about 12–18 minutes, turning occasionally until golden brownand cooked through. Nowadd the garlic and ginger and fry until fragrant, then add the spring onion whites and choysum stalks along with the oyster sauce, light and dark soysauces, chicken powder and redwine. Bring to the boil, then add the softened noodles, spring onion greens and choysum leaves and combine. Givethe cornflour mixturea stir and pour into the noodle sauce, mixing continuously until the sauce reachesyour desired consistency. Turn off the heat and drizzle with the sesame oil.

Now he’s onto book six, Wanhas to think abit more creatively.“The first couple of books, Iwas writing Chinese takeaway dishes –things you canpretty much have regardless of whether you’re sitting in the middle of London, Manchester,oreven if you’re in New York –you’ll get similar dishes.

“But as the books haveprogressed, I’ve obviously had to start thinking outside of the box –especiallywith One Wok, One Pot, because Iwas thinking, ‘How can we create these dishes that are going to be substantial enough to class them as aone-pot dish?’ We can always do achicken stir-fry in awok, but that’s been written 1,000 times. So, how canwedo achicken stir-fry that’s actually got some body to it?”

While Wanmight be best known for his cookbooks and TV appearances nowadays, he’s been working in Chinese restaurants and takeaways for more than 30 years –and he’s picked up useful tips and tricks along the way for home cooks

“Preparation” is his toppiece of advice. “When you work in any commercial kitchen, you’ll find everything’s out andready foryou –you’re not having to worry aboutwhether the onions are chopped, or the meat’s been sliced into pieces, or even if it’s been velveted –a Chinese technique we use, where we tenderise the meat first, so everything’s been pre-done.

“When you’re cooking at home, especially if you’re thinking, ‘We’vegot an hour,Iwant to try to get dinner on the table’ –you’re goingtotry to fitall of that into your cooking time. Wokcooking is pretty minimal anyway–we’re talking acouple of minutes –but the prep will sometimes take you 45 minutes.”

Wanspent his childhood in takeaways (the family ran takeaways and aCantonese Restaurant in Leicester), andsome of his fondest memories are around Chinese New Year.He remembers a“party atmosphere” thatwas “very chaotic” in the restaurant in the weeks building up to the big event, saying: “And then at the end of it all, on Chinese New Year’s Day,my dad would invite his entire family –and there’s alot, eight of them, Ithink,and they’ve all got children.

“The restaurant would be filled with all of my extended family,and my dad –well, the chefs –would create this amazing banquet for us all to sit down and eat.”

Chinese New Year falls in January,and now Wan’s parents are older,his cousin has taken thereins.

“He organises abig Chinese New Year party,hehires asmall village hall and invites the family,” Wansays. “He’s an amazing chef –hecooks all the food, but this year they’ve asked me to create two or three dishes for them.”

So, what was Wandue to be cooking up for his fortunate family members?

“I’d probably do it more in line with aWestern tastebud, because my cousins have had children now and they’re very much immersed within the British culture.

“I might do something simple, such as spring rolls…I’ll try to wing it where I’m not in the kitchen for 14 hours cooking up dishes. Itry to keep it as simple as possible.” n One Wok, One PotbyKwoklyn Wanispublished by Quadrille, priced £16.99.

Photography by Sam Folan.

Fried bananas

“Growing up in Chinese restaurants and takeaways, we ate alot of banana fritters, especially on Saturday nights at the end of avery busy service,” remembers Kwoklyn Wan.

“Dad would cook abig plateful (always drizzled with Lyle’s golden syrup) as his way of thanking the staff for their hard work.”

Ingredients: (Serves4)

4ripe bananas

Vegetable oil, for deep-frying

Maple syrup, honey or golden syrup

Icing sugar

For the batter:

95g self-raising flour

25g cornflour

1egg

1tbsp vegetable oil

½tsp baking powder

250ml cold water

Method:

1. Cut the bananas into 2.5cm chunks.

2. Place all the batter ingredients in a bowl and mix until smooth.

3. Heat the oil in adeep-sided saucepan or wok to 170°C (340°F).

4. Dip the chopped bananas into the batter and then carefully fry them in batches in the oil until golden brown. Drain on awirerack.

5. Arrange on your serving plate, pour overyoursyrup and dust with icing sugar to serve.

WARNING! Allowtocool slightly before eating as the bananas will be extremely hot when they first come out of the pan.