Wok for Less – Cookbook Giveaway

Enter our US/CA giveaway to win one of three copies of Wok for Less: Budget-Friendly Asian Meals in 30 Minutes or Less by Ching-He Huang. Ching-He has events as follows: a virtual class at Milk Street Kitchen on February 1st (cooking for the New Year) and on March 13th at Topping & Company (Bath location).

Ching-He Huang is a Taiwanese-born British food writer and TV chef. She has appeared in a variety of television cooking programmes, and is the author of 11 best-selling cookbooks and co-author of Exploring China with Ken Hom. I believe I have all of her titles in my collection and enjoy them.

Ching-He’s latest title Wok for Less: Budget-Friendly Asian Meals in 30 Minutes or Less shares over 100 recipes for quick meals that won’t break the bank or stress the cook. The wok is an incredibly quick, heat-efficient cooking method – and a lot less expensive (and bulky) than an air fryer. Chinese and Asian cuisines have also always featured recipes that use cheaper ingredients.

In Wok for Less, there are creative ways to make fish, seafood and meat go further, to inventive veg-packed dishes that will satisfy the most committed carnivore, and ideas for using store cupboard ingredients to make multiple meals, the recipes will not only bring you joy but will save you both time and money. The dishes here are approachable and once you have a few staple ingredients in your pantry such as soy sauce, sesame oil, rice wine vinegar, for example, you can have any number of dishes on the table any night of the week.

The publisher is sharing the following two recipes with our Members to try now.

Hoisin cauliflower noodles
Add this recipe to your Bookshelf (click the blue +Bookshelf button)

Serves 2
Prep 10 mins
Cook 7 mins

  • 1 tbsp rapeseed oil
  • 1 small head of cauliflower, washed and broken into florets
  • 50ml (2fl oz) water
  • For the sauce
  • 1 tbsp rapeseed oil
  • 2.5cm (1in) piece of fresh root ginger, peeled and finely grated
  • 1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
  • 200ml (7fl oz) vegetable bouillon stock (1 tsp vegetable bouillon powder + 200ml/7fl oz cold water)
  • 2 tbsp hoisin sauce
  • 1–2 tbsp low-sodium light soy sauce
  • 1 tsp dark soy sauce
  • 1 tbsp cornflour, blended with 2 tbsp cold water
  • 200g (7oz) cooked egg noodles

To garnish

  • 1 handful of roasted, unsalted peanuts
  • 1 tbsp finely sliced spring onions

I love wok-charring cauliflower to bring out its smoky sweet flavours. It makes the perfect accompaniment to either chunky egg noodles or wide rice noodles. I like umami sauces especially savoury hoisin sauce. The combination of aromatic chives and crunchy peanuts makes this a super satisfying dish. So good.

Heat a wok over a high heat until smoking. Add the rapeseed oil and give it a swirl. Add the cauliflower florets and stir-fry for 30 seconds, then drizzle the measured water around the edges of the wok to create some steam to help cook the florets. Keep stirring until any liquid has evaporated, charring the florets for a smoky flavour. Remove the florets and set aside.

Wash the wok, and reheat for the sauce, adding the rapeseed oil. Add the ginger and red chilli and fry for a few seconds. Then add the vegetable stock, seasoning it with hoisin sauce, light soy sauce and dark soy sauce, and thicken it with the cornflour slurry for a glossy sauce.

Add the cooked egg noodles and the cauliflower back in and toss in the sauce well, garnish with peanuts and finely sliced spring onions and serve immediately.

Prawn x edamame fried rice 
Add this recipe to your Bookshelf (click the blue +Bookshelf button)

Serves 2
Prep 10 mins
Cook 5 mins

  • 1 tbsp rapeseed oil
  • 2 spring onions, trimmed and sliced into 1cm (½ in) rounds, greens and whites separated
  • 1 large handful of frozen edamame beans
  • 8 tiger prawns, shelled, deveined and sliced in half down the middle
  • 1 tbsp Shaohsing rice wine
  • ½ tsp dark soy sauce
  • 220g (73/4oz) cooked jasmine rice
  • 1–2 tbsp low-sodium light soy sauce
  • dash of toasted sesame oil
  • pinch of ground white pepper
  • dried chilli flakes, to serve

I love the combination of the sweetness of the prawns, crunchiness of the edamame beans and bite of the spring onions. Slice the prawns in half to make it go a little further. This is great fried rice on a budget.

Heat a wok over a medium heat until smoking. Add the rapeseed oil and give it a swirl. Add the white parts of the spring onions. Toss for less than 20 seconds, then add the frozen edamame and toss for 10 seconds. Add the tiger prawn pieces and toss for another 10 seconds in the wok until the prawns start to turn pink. Season with the Shaohsing rice wine and dark soy sauce and cook until the alcohol has evaporated.

Add the cooked jasmine rice and ,using a wooden spoon or metal spatula, start to gently break apart the rice grains: not in a stabbing motion but by tossing the ingredients well for 1–2 minutes.

Drizzle the light soy sauce over the rice and quickly toss to coat the grains well and evenly colour the rice. Sprinkle over the remaining green parts of the spring onions. Season with a dash of toasted sesame oil and a pinch of ground white pepper and serve immediately with dried chilli flakes on the side.

Vegan Option Add small cubes of fried tofu instead of the prawns

Excerpts from: Wok for Less by Ching-He Huang, Kyle Books Photo: Jamie Cho

Special thanks to the publisher for providing three copies of this title in our promotion. Entry options include answering the following question in the comments section of this blog post.

Which recipe in the index would you like to try first?

Please note that you must be logged into the Rafflecopter contest before posting or your entry won’t be counted. For more information on this process, please see our step-by-step help post. Once you log in and enter your member name you will be directed to the next entry option – the blog comment. After that, there are additional options that you can complete for more entries. Be sure to check your spam filters to receive our email notifications. Prizes can take up to 6 weeks to arrive from the publishers. If you are not already a Member, you can join at no cost. The contest ends at midnight on March 29th, 2024.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Post a comment

76 Comments

  • matag  on  January 21, 2024

    Honey soy chicken x mangetout x walnuts

  • dadekian  on  January 21, 2024

    Smoked bacon chow mein

  • ravensfan  on  January 21, 2024

    Scotch egg miso mushroom ramen

  • monasli  on  January 21, 2024

    Taiwanese cold egg noodle salad.

  • lean1  on  January 21, 2024

    Soy butter lamb chops

  • Kristjudy  on  January 21, 2024

    Soy butter lamb chops

  • miggsy  on  January 22, 2024

    Taiwanese run bing pancake

  • sarahawker  on  January 22, 2024

    Spam and eggy chow mein

  • Jillyb3  on  January 22, 2024

    Wow! So many of these recipes sound delicious! The two above and anything with smoked tofu.

    But I’m really curious about Macanese minchi hash!

  • sayeater  on  January 22, 2024

    Sweet soy smoked tofu x chickpea fried rice – this recipe got me right off the bat. Why have I never thought to put chickpeas in fried rice?!

  • karya  on  January 22, 2024

    I’d make the spicy peanut noodles. Just got a nice wok too!

  • jinni  on  January 22, 2024

    Steamed seabass in chilli bean sauce

  • dataentrytard  on  January 22, 2024

    I would like to prepare the honey soy chicken with mangetout and walnuts.

  • demomcook  on  January 22, 2024

    Taiwanese cold egg noodle salad ‘liang mein’

  • rkosully  on  January 23, 2024

    I would first like to make the egg & tomato spring onion scramble.

  • Babycarrot  on  January 23, 2024

    Spicy peanut noodles

  • txbktxbk  on  January 24, 2024

    Soy egg & broccoli scramble

  • gbaj  on  January 24, 2024

    ‘Everything’ chop suey

  • GreenhouseCheryl  on  January 25, 2024

    Bang bang chicken peanut noodles

  • hrk  on  January 26, 2024

    Taiwanese cold egg noodle salad ‘liang mein’

  • Arashi  on  January 27, 2024

    I am interested in a couple of these recipes.

  • skvalentine  on  January 29, 2024

    I would try one of the vegetarian recipes first — like the spicy peanut noodles!

  • JenjiD  on  January 29, 2024

    Prawn x edamame fried rice

  • Lafauvette  on  January 29, 2024

    Cantonese-style ham & egg fried rice/basic egg fried rice

  • elschneider  on  January 29, 2024

    Bacon x French beans x peanuts

  • BMeyer  on  January 29, 2024

    soy butter lamb chops

  • soffner  on  January 29, 2024

    Sweet soy chicken x bamboo shoot, sweetcorn & peanut fried rice

  • virjeania  on  January 30, 2024

    Spicy sweet oyster sauce prawns with pine nuts

  • LaurenE  on  January 30, 2024

    Smoked bacon chow mein

  • thewoobdog  on  January 30, 2024

    my husband would love bacon x french beans x peanuts

  • brigs03  on  January 31, 2024

    Spicy peanut noodles

  • bmorris4434  on  February 1, 2024

    Soy butter lamb chops

  • chezlarios  on  February 2, 2024

    Simple Singapore noodles

  • oduong930  on  February 3, 2024

    smoked bacon chow mein

  • kmwyman  on  February 4, 2024

    spicy mushroom egg noodles

  • janv  on  February 5, 2024

    Chilli beef brisket baos

  • elsid22  on  February 6, 2024

    Spicy peanut noodles

  • t.t  on  February 7, 2024

    Simple Singapore noodles

  • betsyradelow  on  February 7, 2024

    Hoisin cauliflower noodles

  • awesomepossum  on  February 9, 2024

    Hakka pork mee. I live a good pork recipe! And woks are so much fun to cook in.

  • trudys_person  on  February 10, 2024

    Oven-baked sweet spicy salmon with oyster sauce noodles sounds amazing! Two of my favourite things–salmon and noodles …

  • leknit  on  February 10, 2024

    Three Cup Tofu

  • maria411  on  February 11, 2024

    spicy peanut noodles

  • clairew137  on  February 11, 2024

    Taiwanese cold egg noodle salad.

  • munki  on  February 11, 2024

    Macanese Minchi Hash

  • TBipp  on  February 12, 2024

    Bacon x French Beans x peanus

  • soling  on  February 14, 2024

    Soy butter roast chicken

  • Shelley.b  on  February 16, 2024

    Taiwanese run bing pancake (Lun piah)

  • LeMinou  on  February 17, 2024

    scotch egg

  • CatsintheKitchen  on  February 18, 2024

    Bacon x French beans x peanuts

  • Karla123  on  February 18, 2024

    Woodear mushrooms in chilli soy sesame dressing

  • teamkies  on  February 19, 2024

    Malaysian-style smoked mackerel with egg laksa curry

  • Maryd8822  on  February 21, 2024

    Sweet soy smoked tofu x chickpea fried rice

  • Dannausc  on  February 27, 2024

    Everything chopsuey

  • EmilyR  on  February 27, 2024

    Smoked bacon chow mein

  • Leonard5854  on  February 29, 2024

    Egg & tomato spring onion scramble

  • CrazyCat63  on  February 29, 2024

    Taiwanese cold egg noodle salad.

  • Laura1  on  February 29, 2024

    Hoisin cauliflower noodles

  • debbiehb  on  March 1, 2024

    Simple Singapore Noodles

  • cinefemme  on  March 3, 2024

    Everything Chop Suey

  • orchidlady01  on  March 4, 2024

    Sweet soy chicken x bamboo shoot, sweetcorn & peanut fried rice

  • kitchen_chick  on  March 5, 2024

    Spicy sweet oyster sauce prawns with pine nuts

  • artthecat  on  March 5, 2024

    Prawn x edamame fried rice

  • elysedc  on  March 6, 2024

    spicy peanut noodles!

  • acecil  on  March 7, 2024

    taiwanese cold egg noodle salad

  • brfranco  on  March 12, 2024

    Smoked bacon chow mein

  • Pizzacat13  on  March 12, 2024

    Leftover Soy Butter Chicken Fried Lettuce with Hazelnuts- sounds like an amazing use of lefties!

  • RSW  on  March 13, 2024

    Egg & tomato spring onion scramble

  • Lora724  on  March 16, 2024

    Spicy peanut noodles

  • Blue___Nile  on  March 17, 2024

    Prawn x edamame fried rice

  • hibeez  on  March 17, 2024

    Chinese-style stuffed egg omelette

  • itadakimasu  on  March 18, 2024

    Sweet soy smoked tofu x chickpea fried rice

  • ktrum7  on  March 19, 2024

    spicy peanut noodles!

  • scoutycat  on  March 26, 2024

    Spicy peanut noodles

  • Pizzacat13  on  March 26, 2024

    Taiwanese Run Bing Pancake

  • TazinaTlo  on  May 7, 2024

    Smoked bacon chow mein

Seen anything interesting? Let us know & we'll share it!