Chinese Unchopped: An Introduction to Chinese Cooking

Love Chinese food but have absolutely NO idea how to cook it? Fear not. In Chinese Unchopped, acclaimed teacher and School of Wok founder Jeremy Pang demystifies the secret traditions of Chinese cookery, revealing the core techniques that bring the authentic flavours of traditional Chinese cooking into your own kitchen.

Opening with the Chinese Kitchen Essentials, Jeremy outlines everything you need to know to set up a workable Chinese kitchen. All the necessary equipment such as cleavers and choppers is covered, along with the dazzling array of ingredients that make up the Chinese pantry, with tips on which to buy when starting out. Above all though, the focus is on preparation - the key to unlocking successful Chinese cooking with its quick cooking processes and ingenious visual 'Wok Clock' sorts your prepared ingredients into the right order for rapid cooking such as stir-frying.

Once you've covered the essentials, Chinese Unchopped moves through six chapters outlining the fundamental techniques in Chinese cooking, including stirfrying, deep-frying, steaming, poaching and braising, roasting and double cooking. Each chapter focuses on a range of simple-to-cook yet authentic Chinese recipes such as Seabass fillets with crushed soy bean & coriander, Spicy sichuan-style bubergine, Claypot chicken with mushroom rice and Drunken black bean rib eye that will have you testing your new cleaver skills and trying out new techniques.

Crammed full of information presented in an engaging, accessible way, with Chinese Unchopped you'll soon be turning out exceptional Chinese food in your own home - day in, day out.

Foreword

Long before I became a television chef I was foremost a teacher first at my own cookery school and then at the California Culinary Academy, a school for professional chefs. What was important for me then was to teach Chinese cookery techniques so that my students could gain a fundamental understanding and appreciation of one of the most ancient cuisines in the world.

Today, with Jeremy Pang s masterpiece Chinese Unchopped, the author has successfully distilled the essence of how to make delicious authentic Chinese dishes through simply explained techniques. In this book every essential aspect is covered, every recipe is written with clear instructions on how to prepare and cook each dish, while Jeremy s distinct voice (and sense of humour) fills it with his personal experiences and observations. I love how helpful substitution suggestions for harder to find ingredients are provided while practical tips on technique give you the know-how you need to cook with confidence, as if Jeremy was right beside you. I also love how some traditional Chinese recipes have been given new life with unusual ingredients or sauces, while Martin Poole s mouthwatering photos make me want to run into the kitchen to try them out.

I am certain you will find Chinese Unchopped as enlightening as I did and will agree that it belongs in the kitchen of anyone with an interest in cooking.

- Ken Hom

Jeremy Pang started the School of Wok - the only Oriental and Asian cookery school in Central London - in 2009, and has never looked back. His unique talent for creating accessible, jargon-free lessons that both intrigue and inspire has led to Jeremy quickly gaining recognition in the modern Chinese food world, with publicity and reviews in the Sunday Times, Delicious Magazine Online, BBC Good Food, ES Magazine and many more.

Jeremy's ability to bring food to life with his laid back, straightforward approach and delicious recipes has added production companies to his list of clients; he was a contributor to Nigel's Simple Cooking series in 2012, while his recipe for the same Tamarind Fish Curry made during the episode featured in Nigel's recent book Kitchen Diaries II. Recent successes for the young chef have including achieving finalist places two years in a row at the British Cookery School Awards in two separate categories including Best Specialist Cookery School.