Chinese broccoli in ginger sauce

No Chinese meal is complete without a dish of stir-fried greens, and the Cantonese excel at dishes that preserve the brightness and freshness of their raw ingredients. Chinese broccoli, sold as gai lan (Cantonese) or jie lan (Mandarin), has crunchy stalks, deep-green leaves and a delicious bittersweet flavour. It is particularly good stir-fried with ginger.

Chinese broccoli (gai lan) 350g
salt to taste
cooking oil 4 tbsp
ginger 2 tbsp, finely chopped
Shaoxing wine 1 tbsp
sugar ½ tsp
potato flour 1 tsp mixed with 1 tbsp cold water (optional)

Bring a large pan of water to the boil (2.5 litres will do).

Wash and trim the broccoli. If the lower parts of the stems are thick and fibrous, peel away their outer skin with a potato peeler.

When the water is boiling, add 1 tsp salt and 1 tbsp oil, and then the broccoli. Blanch it for a minute or two to "break its rawness". The stems should be just tender, but still crisp. If you are stir-frying them immediately, drain the stems and shake dry in a colander; if you want to serve them later, refresh the stems under a cold tap to arrest cooking before draining well.

When you wish to serve the broccoli, add the rest of the oil to a wok over a high flame, swirl it around, and then add the ginger and sizzle briefly until you can smell its fragrance. Splash in the wine and add the sugar. Add the broccoli and stir fry, adding salt to taste, until it is piping hot. (If you are using pre-blanched broccoli, pour 2-3 tbsp water or stock into the wok and cover it, so the stems reheat thoroughly.)

Remove the stems from the wok and lay them on a dish. If you wish to thicken the juices, give the potato flour mixture a stir and add just enough, in stages, to thicken the sauce to a clingy consistency; pour it over the broccoli and serve. If you do not wish to thicken the juices, pour them and the ginger over the broccoli.

Steamed sea bass with ginger and spring onion

You don't need to do much to a sparklingly fresh fish. With a good sea bass, picked out for its bright red gills, bright eyes and bouncy skin, this recipe is sublime.

SERVES 4-6 WITH OTHER DISHES AND RICE AS PART OF A CHINESE MEAL
sea bass 1, about 700g, gutted but with head and tail intact
salt
Shaoxing wine 1 tbsp
ginger about 45g
spring onions 5
groundnut oil 4 tbsp
light soy sauce 3 tbsp

Rinse your sea bass in cold water and pat it dry with kitchen towel. Make three or four shallow diagonal slashes on each side, and rub the inside and outside of the fish with a little salt and the Shaoxing wine. Cut off about a third of the ginger and smack it with the side of a cleaver blade or a rolling pin to loosen its fibres. Do the same with one of the spring onions, and place it and the smacked ginger into the belly of the fish and leave to marinate while you prepare the other ingredients.

Peel the remaining ginger and cut into thin slices, and then fine slivers. Trim three of the remaining spring onions and cut them into slivers.

When you are ready to cook, pour away any juices that have emerged from the fish, and pat it dry with kitchen paper. Smack the remaining spring onionwith the side of your cleaver or a rolling pin as before, cut into a couple of sections, and lay on a plate that will fit into your steamer. Lay the fish over the spring onion (the onion will raise the fish from the surface of the plate and allow the steam to circulate).

Steam the fish over a high heat for 8-12 minutes, until a chopstick poked into the thickest part of the flesh, just behind the head, enters easily to the backbone. While the fish cooks, bring a little water to boil in the kettle.

As soon as the fish is cooked, remove the plate from the steamer and discard any cooking juices. Strew the ginger and spring onion slivers over the body of the fish. Heat the oil in a wok or saucepan until hot enough to produce a dramatic sizzle when you drip it over the spring onions on the fish. Then use a ladle to pour it over the fish. Finally, mix the soy sauce with 2 tbsp hot water from the kettle, pour it over the fish and serve.

Honeyed roast pork (char siu)

Roasted meats, including pork, goose, chicken and suckling pig, are among the many glories of Cantonese cooking. They are often bought from specialist suppliers but they can also be made at home to scrumptious effect. The ingredients of the marinade vary widely, and may include five-spice powder, chopped shallot and other sauces and seasonings. For the most succulent char siu, use pork that has a good threading of fat: shoulder works well. The maltose syrup can be found in good Chinese supermarkets. You can, if you wish, brush the pork with runny honey instead for a different flavour and slightly less glistening result. Serve the char siu sliced with other dishes and rice as part of a Chinese meal, or on top of a noodle soup for a casual bite. Any leftovers, chopped finely, make a fine addition to fried rice.

skinless pork shoulder 500g
For the marinade:
salt ½ tsp
sugar 4 tbsp
light soy sauce 2 tsp
ground yellow bean sauce 1 tbsp
hoisin sauce 2 tbsp
red fermented beancurd (optional) ½ tbsp
cloves garlic 2, crushed or finely chopped
Shaoxing wine 2 tsp

For the glaze:
ginger 10g, skin on
maltose syrup about 4 tbsp

Cut the pork into strips about 4cm wide and 1.5-2cm thick. Make shallow cuts across any thicker parts of the pork to allow for the marinade to penetrate more easily. Prick the pork all over with a skewer and place it in a bowl. Add all the marinade ingredients, mix well and set aside for about an hour. Set the oven to 180C/gas mark 4.

Wash the ginger, crush with the side of a cleaver or a rolling pin and place in a cup with cold water to cover. Place the maltose syrup in a small saucepan (you won't be able to measure neat tablespoons because it is extremely sticky, but quantities are not critical). Add 2 tbsp of the water from the ginger, which will now smell wonderfully gingery. Heat the maltose and ginger-water gently to dissolve into a syrup.

Have ready a roasting pan with a rack. Brush the rack with a little oil to avoid the pork sticking. When the meat is ready, bring some water to the boil and pour a little into the base of the roasting pan: this will catch any drips from the marinade and prevent burning.

Lay the strips of pork on the rack, and place the pan in the centre of the oven. Roast for about 25 minutes, turning halfway.

Remove the pan from the oven and allow the pork to cool for 3 minutes. If any edges have burnt, snip them off with kitchen scissors and discard. Warm up the maltose syrup and brush it generously all over the pork, turning to coat it on both sides. Return the pork to the oven for another 2 minutes.

Lay the pork on a chopping board and, holding your knife at an angle to the board, cut into thick slices. Transfer to a dish and serve.

Ho-fun rice noodles with beef

This satisfying noodle dish is typical of the fare cooked up at the dai pai dong street stalls that were once a mainstay of Hong Kong life and are now a dying breed. Eat it as a main dish at lunchtime, or serve it with other dishes as part of a Chinese meal. The fresh rice noodles can be bought, refrigerated, in Chinese stores. Yellow Chinese chives add a zesty freshness to the dish: look out for them in larger Chinese supermarkets.

SERVES 2 AS A MAIN DISH, 4-6 WITH OTHER CHINESE DISHES
beefsteak (rump steak will do) 200g, trimmed

For the marinade:
caster sugar ½ tsp
salt ¼ tsp
dark soy sauce ½ tsp
light soy sauce 1 tsp
potato starch ¾ tsp
cold water 2 tsp

Other ingredients:
spring onions 3
Chinese yellow chives a good handful (optional)
fresh ho-fun rice noodles 450g
groundnut or rapeseed oil 5 tbsp
beansprouts 200g
light soy sauce 2 tsp
dark soy sauce ¼ tsp
salt and ground white pepper to taste

Cut the beef, against the grain of the meat, into thin slices. Add the marinade ingredients, mix well and set aside while you prepare the other ingredients.

Trim the spring onions and separate the green and white parts. Smack the white parts with the side of a cleaver blade or a rolling pin to loosen their fibres. Cut the green parts into two or three sections, and then cut lengthwise into slivers. If using the yellow chives, cut them into sections to match the spring onions.

Cover the rice noodles in warm water, leave for a minute or so, and then use your fingers to gently separate them (some will break – don't worry about this). Shake dry in a colander.

If you are using a classic Chinese wok rather than a non-stick one, pour 1 tbsp oil into the wok, smear it all over the surface with a wad of kitchen paper and heat over a high flame (this will help to prevent sticking). When the surface of the wok is smoking, add 2 tbsp oil, tip in the beef and stir swiftly to separate the slices. Stir-fry until they are nearly, but not completely cooked and then set aside. Rinse and dry the wok if necessary. Return the wok to a high flame, add another 1 tbsp oil, tip in the beansprouts and stir fry for a minute or so until hot but still crisp. Set the beansprouts aside.

Return the wok to a high flame with another 1 tbsp oil. Add the spring onion whites and sizzle for a few moments until you can smell their fragrance. Tip in the drained noodles and stir fry until hot, adding the remaining light and dark soy sauces, with a couple of pinches of ground white pepper. Add the beef and beansprouts and stir fry until everything is piping hot and smells delicious, seasoning with a little salt if you need it. Finally, add the spring onion greens and the Chinese chives, if using, stir a few times and serve.

Fuchsia Dunlop is the author, most recently, of Shark's Fin and Sichuan Pepper: A Sweet-Sour Memoir of Eating in China