I always keep a bag of frozen shrimp stashed away in my freezer so that I can make this quick and easy Chinese-style stir-fry ...

The secret to a simple, satisfying stir-fry is making sure there are plenty of different textures to keep each mouthful interesting. This Chinese stir ... Add the sauce with 300ml/½ pint water ...

Add the chicken hearts (or hearts, gizzards and liver) and stir-fry until the ingredients start to lose their pink colour. Add the sliced mushrooms then pour in the soy sauce/rice wine season­ing ...

So once you’ve baked up this year’s holiday ham and stored the leftovers in the fridge, keep things simple ... cabbage stir-fry is just one way to familiarize yourself with the Chinese condiment.

How do Chinese restaurant stir-fries deliver silky and tender meat with a sauce that seems to cling? The secret is a technique called velveting.