Prawns and (Green Flower) Broccoli:

This dish demonstrates the beauty of simplicity in Chinese cooking, which depends on accurate timing and an emphasis on the natural qualities of individual ingredients: the deep, fresh greenness and crunchy texture of the broccoli combines brilliantly with the pale pink, chewy prawns, their distinctive sea-smell emanating from the dish.

Ingredients:

1 good-sized broccoli, torn by hand into little ‘flowers’
Sunflower oil
1 spring onion, washed, divided in half lengthwise and chopped finely
10-15 raw Tiger prawns, peeled with the heads removed
1 1/2 teaspoons of Shaoxing rice wine
Sesame seed oil
Sea salt

Method:

First, bring some water to the boil and add your broccoli flowers, cooking them for 3 minutes only before draining through a colander.

Heat your wok until it is warm and add 1 1/2 tablespoons of sunflower oil. Continue to heat until your oil is hot, almost smoking, and then add your spring onion, creating a percussive sound.

When the sound has quietened and the spring onion has curled, after about 5 seconds, add your prawns. Stir them with a wooden spoon for 2-3 minutes until they turn a reddish colour.

Now add your broccoli flowers and toss, or move around the wok with a wooden spoon. Finally, add the cooking wine, a drizzle of sesame seed oil and a few pinches of salt to taste.

Give a final toss, combining all the ingredients, to ensure that the broccoli absorbs all the natural flavours whilst retaining its distinctive texture and emerald-green colour.