This fusion version of ceviche is “cooked” with fresh Thai lime juice, although if you have calamansi juice, use that instead. Of course, the seafood is not actually cooked, but if you leave it marinating long enough, the texture and colour change so that it looks cooked – the scallops turn from opaque to off-white while the shrimp become white/pink.In addition to the lime juice, the ceviche is flavoured with fish sauce, garlic, shallot, bird’s-eye chilli and fresh

Salted eggs were almost certainly created as a way to preserve an abundance of eggs to eat when times were leaner. The best ones are duck eggs, because they are larger and have a richer, more oily yolk than those from chickens.It’s not difficult to make them – it just takes time. You put the uncooked whole eggs – shell and all – in a heavy saltwater brine in a tall jar or container, so the eggs have plenty of room to bob around.The brine penetrates the porous shell

Fresh corn – often called sweetcorn to differ­entiate it from the starchier varieties – is a delicious, cooling treat. I love it slightly charred on the grill, so it gets a smoky flavour, but it’s also good when simply blanched, then served with melted butter.If the sweetcorn you buy is really fresh, there is no need to cook it – you can eat it raw. If you prefer to cook the vegetable, blanch it only briefly – for 30 seconds or less – or it

This dish, if served in a Chinese restaurant, would cost a little more than other egg dishes, not because the ingredients are expensive (they’re not), but because it’s a bit fiddly to cook – although not difficult. The egg is pan-fried into small, thin omelettes before being folded over a meaty filling. I use a small wok, but a small skillet works, too.If you want to get more luxurious, substitute cooked crabmeat for the shrimp: just steam a crab

There are many types of chow mein. It is not just the cooking method that varies – the noodles (which can be thick or thin) can be stir-fried, deep-fried or pan-fried, and, of course, there are endless combinations of ingredients to go with them. The style found in most restaurants is where all the ingredients are stir-fried together in the wok.For this dish, I like to use oil noodles (also called oily noodles), where, as the name

I know food lovers in Hong Kong who turn up their noses at sizzling rice dishes, saying they are for tourists.There is something rather showy about them: in restaurants, it is tableside service, with the waiter presenting two platters – one with the rice cakes, the other with meat or seafood in a runny sauce. The saucy food is poured over the rice cakes to create steam and a loud sizzle that makes other diners look over to see what’s going on.But the fact it is showy doesn

Almost everybody loves mango – and often they have strong preferences for the varieties they believe to be best. I like almost all mangoes as long as the flesh is juicy, sweet and smooth.When checking for ripeness, you can’t rely only on your eyes. Some varieties turn mango-orange when ripe, others keep a greenish tinge.It’s better to smell the mango for ripeness, then double check by pressing on it with your fingertips – the flesh should yield gently; it should not be hard

My first restaurant job in Hong Kong was as pastry chef at a restaurant where all the cooks – except myself and the head chef – were Filipino. They were a talented group who cooked American/European food for the restaurant, but when it came to staff meals, they prepared homestyle dishes from the Philippines.Because I hadn’t yet visited the Philippines at that time I didn’t know much about the cuisine, but by eating with those cooks, I came to realise that the food is far more varied

Stir-fried chilli chicken is a dish that you can have cooked and on the table in 45 minutes or less. The meat needs to marinate just briefly – I use that time to prepare the other ingredients and start cooking the rice. Serve the chicken with steamed or stir-fried vegetables.As with most boneless chicken dishes, I start with bone-in thighs. Once you get the hang of deboning the thigh, it takes less than 30 seconds for each one. Often, the prepared boneless dark

Larb, also spelled larp, laap, lahb or laab, can be made from all different types of protein. I’ve had it with fish, mushrooms, chicken, duck and, of course, pork.Larb originated in Laos, but has spread across the border to Thailand and other neighbouring countries.A shop specialising in larb will (or should) vary the seasonings according to the type of protein used, so one made with strongly flavoured meats such as water buffalo or duck will be seasoned more assertively than