Jeremy Pang, TV chef and founder of the School of Wok, came up with the concept of a ‘wok clock’ to help his students organise their ingredients and cook more efficiently.
After prepping the veg and meat, it is placed in a circle in order of when to put them in the wok.
“Once you get into the habit of doing so, you’ll find cooking as a whole to be a much neater and more straightforward process,” says Pang.
Mung bean vermicelli with shiitake and mangetout
Serves: 4
Ingredients:
2 dried shiitake mushrooms
100g dried mung beanvermicelli (or glass noodles)
1 garlic clove
6 mangetout
½ carrot
1 spring onion
50g or approx 2 large handfuls of beansprouts
1 tbsp vegetable oil
For the sauce:
1 tsp chilli bean sauce
1 tbsp vegetarian stir-fry sauce (swapsies: oyster sauce)
½ tbsp light soy sauce
100ml vegetable stock
½ tsp pure sesame oil
Method:
1. Soak the dried shiitake mushrooms for at least 1 hour, or overnight for best results.
2. Soak the mung bean vermicelli in hot water for 3-4 minutes, then drain in a sieve and run cold water from the tap through the noodles to prevent them overcooking.
3. Finely slice the garlic, and finely matchstick the presoaked and drained mushrooms, mangetout, carrot and spring onion. Pick the ends off the beansprouts and wash the sprouts well by soaking in cold water, running your fingers through them a few times, rinsing, then soaking once more in cold water.
4. Mix the sauce ingredients together in a small bowl or ramekin.
5. Now build your “wok clock”: place the garlic at 12 o’clock, followed by the carrot, mangetout, mushrooms, beansprouts, soaked vermicelli and then finally your sauce, clockwise around the plate.
6. Heat 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil in a wok to a high heat. Once smoking hot, add the garlic and stir-fry for 30 seconds, then add the carrot and stir-fry for another 30 seconds. Next, add the mangetout, shiitake mushrooms and the beansprouts and continue stir-frying for 1 minute more, then add the vermicelli, immediately followed by the sauce. Bring the sauce to a vigorous boil, then start to fold the noodles and vegetables through the sauce.
7. Once all the sauce is evenly coating both the veg and vermicelli, remove from the heat, scatter with the spring onion and serve.
Recipe from ‘Hong Kong Kitchen’ by Jeremy Pang (Hamlyn, £25).
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