Ken Hom Mini Wok

Kenny Hom Makes Light Wok

Man comes home from a hard day at work. He drops the brown paper grocery bag on the counter, goes to the cupboard and takes out his Ken Hom mini wok. Puts it on the hob, splashes a dash of sesame oil into the pan, turns on the gas. Puts a saucepan full of water next to it, lights that too. From his grocery bag he takes an organic chicken breast, some fresh garlic, a carrot, a lump of ginger, a red pepper, some celery, a pack of bean sprouts and an onion. He chops what needs chopping. Throws some noodles into the boiling pan of water. The oil in the wok is hot now: he throws in the garlic and ginger for maybe thirty seconds. Then the celery, onion and carrot strips, along with the pepper. Again, thirty seconds, no more. Gives it all a toss. Then the bean sprouts go in. Gives this another thirty seconds, adds a splash of soy, then puts this lot out of the wok onto a plate. Adds some fresh oil and adds the chicken strips: maybe three to four minutes. Puts the vegetables back in, adds a shot more soy, the noodles and a jig of oyster sauce. Tips it onto a plate, pours himself a glass of Rosemont's Diamond Label Crisp Chardonnay (yes, he is comfortable drinking Chardonnay. He doesn't follow fashion, just his taste buds), and sits down to eat. The whole deal has taken 12 minutes. Ready meals? They've never darkened his fridge. A meal in a wok: simple and quick.

Ken Hom's mini wok's are well worth their silly £10 price tag. We miss Ken Hom. He used to be good when he was on the telly. Turned us on to a lot of Asian cooking back in the day. Mind you, that was when the also very, very ace Keith Floyd bestrode the earth like a Goliath. Ah, well. You can get the wok's at places like Debenhams or Amazon or better stiil Ken's own web site, which has loads of other good stuff on it. Don't be a ready meal fast-food sucking sap all your life. Get cooking.