Take it away . . .

In the first of our takeaway specials, Rachel Allen says a well-stocked cupboard will give you a good start in the pursuit of home-cooked Chinese-style food. Photography by Tony Gavin

The nation’s most popular takeaway food is a draw between Chinese and Indian. While I’m a huge fan of all fare from India (come back next week for Indian takeaway food), it was Chinese cuisine that really tickled my taste buds as I was growing up. The exotically sweet, mildly spiced flavours seemed so exciting in comparison to our more simply flavoured foods.

Happily, many of our takeaway favourites can be replicated at home with great success — you just need to find your local Chinese supermarket for all the essential condiments, as well as a wok (although a frying pan will suffice). If your kitchen cupboard is well stocked with hoisin sauce, oyster sauce, proper Shaoxing rice wine and some decent fresh ginger and Chinese five-spice powder, you’ll be off to a good start in the pursuit of takeaway-style food cooked at home.

Spring rolls, above right, are the Asian example of a sort of dish that I adore, with everything neatly packaged in a beautiful parcel, ready to be eaten. They’re one of my favourite ways to start a Chinese meal, with so many different fillings to choose from.

The name ‘spring roll’ comes from the Chinese Festival of Spring, during which spring rolls are eaten across the country. The Chinese, with their amazing range of different cuisines, fill the rolls with a huge variety of ingredients according to each region. They all consist of finely chopped ingredients that could include pork, chicken, shrimp, beef, tofu, or just vegetables with noodles, and are carefully wrapped in the thin wrapper and fried, which gives them a delightful, crisp-crackly skin and a golden colour. Spring rolls, authentically, should be small enough to eat in four bites.

The rib is always an essential on Chinese takeaway menus. Sweet, sticky and oh-so moreish, the sweet sticky pork ribs, above right, are a lovely simple version to try at home.

And finally, the Chinese crispy salmon pancakes, pictured above, are a play on the classic Peking duck, which has come a long way from Beijing. My great friend and cousin-in-law Ivan Whelan started the genius idea of using mackerel and salmon instead of the duck, which could almost give the Chinese a run for their money.

SPRING ROLLS

Makes about 20 spring rolls.

You will need:

5 tablespoons pure sesame oil 4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped 2cm (1in) piece of fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped 20 peeled raw tiger prawns, cut in half lengthwise 150g (5oz) mushrooms, sliced 1-2 tablespoons soy sauce 200g (7oz) carrots, sliced into matchsticks, or grated (not finely) 200g (7oz) green cabbage such as Savoy cabbage, quartered, core removed and very finely sliced 50g (2oz) spring onions, finely sliced 110g (4oz) peanuts, toasted and chopped 50g (2oz) glass noodles (cellophane, mung bean) or rice vermicelli or thin egg noodles, soaked in boiling water for 3-5 minutes until soft, then drained completely, rinsed and cut up a bit 20 spring roll wrappers 1 tablespoon cornflour 1 tablespoon water Sunflower oil, for frying Heat a wok or frying pan over a high heat until it is very hot. Add 2 tablespoons of the pure sesame oil, then add the finely chopped garlic and the finely chopped fresh ginger. Stir and fry them for about 45 seconds, until they are just starting to turn pale golden. Add the halved raw tiger prawns and cook them for a couple of minutes, until they are pinky-white and opaque. Tip everything out of the pan and set aside.

Put the wok or pan back over the high heat and allow it to get hot again. Add another tablespoon of sesame oil, tip in the sliced mushrooms and stir-fry them until they are golden and all the juices have evaporated. Add the soy sauce, then add the mushrooms to the garlic, ginger and prawns you set aside earlier.

Once the wok or pan is hot again, add another 2 tablespoons of the sesame oil, then add in the chopped carrots and the finely sliced cabbage and stir-fry them just until the vegetables begin to wilt and there is no liquid left in the pan. You want the vegetables to retain a bit of crunch.

When the vegetables are ready, add the garlic, ginger, prawn and mushroom mixture you set aside earlier into the wok or pan, then throw in the finely sliced spring onions, the chopped toasted peanuts and the cooked, cut-up noodles, and taste for seasoning — add a dash more soy sauce if you think it’s slightly under-salted. Tip the mixture onto a plate, spread it out and allow it to cool completely. The mixture should not be juicy — the drier, the better; a hot, steamy filling means soggy spring rolls.

To assemble the spring rolls, separate the spring roll wrappers and place them under a damp cloth to prevent them from drying out. In a small bowl, mix the tablespoon of cornflour with the tablespoon of water. You’ll also need a pastry brush.

Place a spring roll wrapper in front of you on a clean, dry surface. It should look like a diamond, with one corner pointing toward you. Put a tablespoonful of the filling mixture just above the corner closest to you. Then tightly roll that corner away from you and fold over the left side, and then the right side of the wrapper. It should now look like an open envelope. You want to make sure to roll as tightly as possible and to leave no air pockets, as they will result in an oily spring roll. Next, roll the spring roll away from you until it resembles a cylinder.

Use the pastry brush to brush the cornflour-and-water paste on the very tip of the wrapper at the furthest point away from you, to keep it secure. Repeat the process with the rest of the spring rolls. Place each one seam-side down, in a single layer, on a parchment-paperlined tray while you’re preparing the rest — this helps to secure the stuck corner so that it doesn’t come loose and open during cooking. Keep them covered in the fridge until you’re ready to fry. They can sit in the fridge for the day. They can also be frozen. Once frozen on the tray, they can then be placed in a box or bag in the freezer — make sure they’re frozen in a single layer intitally, or else they’ll stick together.

To deep fry, heat the sunflower oil in a deep-fat fryer to 180°C, 350°F, Gas 4.

If you don’t have a deep-fat fryer, pour the sunflower oil into a large saucepan to a depth of 2cm (1in) and bring it to the same temperature on the hob. You can check the temperature using a sugar thermometer. Alternatively, stick a wooden chopstick in the oil. If the oil bubbles around the wood, it’s hot enough. If there are no bubbles around the chopstick, the oil is too cool. Once the oil is at the right temperature, make sure to turn the heat down slightly to prevent the oil overheating and burning the spring rolls.

Deep-fry a few spring rolls at a time as you don’t want to overcrowd the fryer; adding too many spring rolls at once will reduce the temperature of the oil too much. Cook them for 3-5 minutes, or until they are golden and crispy. Drain the spring rolls on kitchen paper and keep them warm, but uncovered, to prevent them getting soggy.

If you prefer, you can shallow fry the spring rolls. Add 4-5 tablespoons of sunflower oil to a frying pan and place it

on a medium high-heat. When the oil is hot, add the spring rolls and fry them for a few minutes on each side until they are a rich golden brown all over.

QUICK DIPPING SAUCE FOR SPRING ROLLS You will need:

150ml (5fl oz) soy sauce 50ml (2fl oz) rice wine vinegar 3 teaspoons pure sesame oil 1½ teaspoons caster sugar 3 spring onions, sliced finely Put the soy sauce in a bowl and add the rice wine vinegar, the pure sesame oil, and the caster sugar. Stir to dissolve the sugar, then mix in the finely sliced spring onions.

SWEET STICKY PORK RIBS

Serves 6-8.

You will need:

4 tablespoons hoisin sauce 3 tablespoons cornflour 3 tablespoons Shaoxing rice wine, or dry sherry 2 tablespoons brown sugar 2 tablespoons finely grated fresh ginger 2 teaspoons Chinese five-spice powder 1 tablespoon soy sauce 2kg (4.4lbs) baby back ribs, separated 6 spring onions, thinly sliced Preheat the oven to 210°C, 410°F, Gas 6.

To make the spice mixture, add the hoisin sauce to a bowl along with the cornflour and the Shaoxing rice wine, or the dry sherry, whichever you’re using, and stir together well. Mix in the brown sugar, the finely grated fresh ginger, the Chinese five-spice powder and the soy sauce. Place the ribs on a roasting tray in a single layer. Rub the spice mixture all over the ribs, then put the tray of ribs in the preheated oven and bake them for 30-40 minutes, turning them halfway through, until they are a deep golden brown and slightly crispy around the edges.

Remove the ribs from the oven, scatter them with the thinly sliced spring onions and serve.

CHINESE CRISPY SALMON PANCAKES

(Pictured) Serves 4-5 people; makes 20 pancakes.

You will need:

1 tablespoon pure sesame oil 1 tablespoon soy sauce, plus 2 teaspoons soy sauce 4 teaspoons Chinese five-spice powder 750g (1lb 10oz) fresh salmon, filleted and skinned 20 Peking pancakes 2 tablespoons hoisin sauce 2 tablespoons oyster sauce 5 spring onions, cut into matchsticks ½ cucumber, cut into matchsticks In a bowl, mix the tablespoon of pure sesame oil, the tablespoon of soy sauce and 2 teaspoons of the Chinese fivespice powder.

Cut the salmon into chunks about 4cms (2in) in size and add them to the bowl, tossing them well to make sure that each piece of fish is well covered in the marinade. Allow the fish to marinate in the fridge for 10-30 minutes — a couple of hours would be ideal, but it’s not essential. Put the salmon chunks and all the remaining marinade on a cool frying pan. Put the pan over a medium heat and allow it to come up to a moderate temperature while the oils escape from the fish, stirring with a wooden spatula to break the flesh apart as it cooks.

Fry for 10 minutes or so, but make sure not to burn the fish, then sprinkle over the 2 teaspoons of soy sauce and the remaining 2 teaspoons of Chinese five-spice powder. Continue to fry until the salmon is a rich golden brown and crisp around the edges — be patient, as this can take a while, depending on your pan and the heat. When it’s cooked, take it off the heat and set the fish aside on a plate to keep warm.

When you’re ready to eat, warm the pancakes (see my Tip, above left) and put them on the table. Mix the hoisin sauce and the oyster sauce in a bowl and put it beside the pancakes.

Put the spring onion matchsticks and the cucumber matchsticks on a plate alongside the pancakes and the plate with the warm crispy salmon. Everyone can make up their own pancakes by spreading some of the mixed hoisin and oyster sauce over each pancake, arranging a little spring onion and cucumber down the centre followed by the crispy salmon and then a final drizzle of the sauce. Wrap up each pancake and enjoy.