Eat Clean: Wok Yourself to Health

Copyright

Thorsons

An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF

www.harpercollins.co.uk

First published by Thorsons 2015

Text © Ching-He Huang 2015

Photography © Myles New 2015

Cover layout design © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2015 Cover photographs © Myles New

Ching-He Huang asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work

A catalogue record of this book is available from the British Library

Food styling: Alice Hart and Marina Filippelli (cover)

Prop styling: Wei Tang

Recipe analysis by Consultant Dietician: Fiona Hinton BSc, M Nut Diet, Registered Dietician

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Source ISBN: 9780007426294

Ebook Edition © MARCH 2015 ISBN: 9780007427505

Version: 2015-03-11

Contents

Cover

Title Page

Copyright

My Story

Eat Clean – A Healthy Balance

Breakfast

Lunch

Dinner

Sides

Pickles

Teas and Infused Waters

Fruits in Season

Ingredient Health Benefits Glossary

Special Thanks

List of Searchable Terms

Recipe Index

More from Ching-He Huang

About the Publisher

My Story

In 2011, I began suffering from allergic reactions - my face and skin would turn blotchy after eating shellfish and nuts. For three years my foodie life was in disarray and I was very unhappy. I carried antihistamine tablets with me and had to constantly monitor what I ate because I didn’t know what specifically was causing the reaction. So, to try to solve the problem, I decided to detoxify my body of any pollutants or preservatives that might send my system into overdrive.

Through my own research, I found the cause of the reactions – I was allergic to any foods that had been treated with sulphites. This encompassed a wide variety of foods, ranging from wines, frozen shellfish and frozen pizza dough to yoghurt.

Different types of sulphites are added to many processed foods and they are also used in the production of toiletries and cleaning products. In food, sulphites are used as preservatives, acting by inhibiting moulds, yeasts and bacteria. The long-term effects of ingesting sulphites are unknown. Many people are unaware they are allergic to sulphites; a long testing process involves sulphites being slowly introduced into the body to determine a reaction. My own allergies were due not to any specific food, but to the sulphites used to preserve the ingredients. So eating foods such as nuts and shellfish was like an allergy roulette – I never knew if I would suffer a reaction. However, once I eliminated them from my diet, the allergic reactions stopped.

Food legislation may determine that these preservatives are safe, but the problem is that our bodies react differently to different products – and what adversely affects some people doesn’t affect others at all. This is due to each individual’s ability to detox or get rid of these additives from their bodies. It cannot ultimately be proved that sulphites are ‘safe’ in the long term, as no one really knows their full effects.

I knew my diet had to change. I was overworked and stressed, too, and being on the road I had little time to cook for myself or to exercise. My weight increased during this time. I had always been able to maintain a healthy weight of 55kg, but it jumped to 64kg. For the first time in my life, I was overweight. I wasn’t happy with the weight increase and I knew something was not right.

OK, this wasn’t life threatening, but I didn’t feel myself. I craved sugary high-carbohydrate foods all the time, I was hungry an hour after eating, I wasn’t sleeping through the night and then felt sluggish when I woke up in the mornings, and my bowel movements were irregular. I knew I had to do something drastic but I kept putting it off.

Then in 2013, during the filming of Restaurant Redemption in America, my make-up artist and I went out for dinner at a seafood restaurant and we ordered salmon. Right under the skin of my portion I found two dead roundworms – perfect little things, still intact. Being a cook, I was used to dealing with insects, but after further research I discovered the ugly hidden truth of parasites that live in the human gut. If there were worms in my salmon, I started to consider what might be living inside me. It was food for thought!

Being paranoid, I was convinced I had worms, so I decided to clean up my diet. Our intestine is as long as the height of our bodies, and that is a lot of tubing. Conventional medical experts believe that the gut is self-cleaning, but perhaps this is assuming your body is in tip-top health. Going through periods of eating the wrong foods, having irregular lifestyle habits, or simply feeling anxious can all affect our bowel movements. If we periodically have to deep-clean the pipes and drains in our kitchen to unclog our sinks, then we must surely have to do the same with our insides? It got me thinking about the deeper issues happening inside my gut.

So I decided to go for a general medical health check-up in Taiwan and the doctor confirmed what I had suspected. A chest x-ray showed that my intestines were full and clogged up, so the doctor prescribed laxatives to help me. My gut was unhappy! I decided my diet and lifestyle needed an overhaul, so I embarked on a three-month diet of fresh greens, salads, soups and fruit in an attempt to clean my gut. What I saw and experienced in the toilet was a revelation. However, after the three months I started to lose more of my muffin top and belly fat, my skin and eyes glowed, I was more regular and my sleep had returned. The result was that my body was able to digest my food more efficiently and therefore absorb more nutrients.

Being a cook, I have always been mindful of eating healthily but my own experience really opened my eyes. Now I truly believe that you are ‘what you eat’ and my own personal experience has taught me this. It’s funny that when you become more attuned to your body’s needs you also start to realise that you are very much ‘what you think’ too. These two truths go hand in hand. When you eat good, you feel good, and then you look good – a cycle of positivity!

This direct action of intervening in my own health made me feel better and more in control of my body. It felt good to have energy and know that I was clean on the inside and out.

As a result of my own personal ‘cleanse’ experience, I became even more discerning about the quality of my food – ultimately, the quality of the ingredients and produce we eat becomes the building blocks of who we are. After further research, I was given books by friends, including Clean by Alejandro Junger M.D. Inspired by their work and research I decided to share my collection of the recipes and dishes that helped me on my journey to health (which is still work in progress). I hope it helps you on your journey, too.

What I have learnt is that our bodies are amazing and work efficiently to clean and detoxify us every day if we are in good health. Generally, we don’t really need drugs and prescriptions. If we are ill, it is because we are not feeding ourselves with the right nutrients to allow our bodies to work optimally. Of course, illnesses may also be caused by viruses and cancers – but if the body is truly healthy, our ability to fight disease is greater and good health may prevent these illnesses in the first place. This is the basis of Chinese medical food therapy – that prevention is better than cure.

Our bodies are highly intelligent and are designed to self-clean. However, if we over-pollute them with toxins and the wrong foods, they will lose their natural ability to continue to clean and therefore heal themselves. If our system is imbalanced, it gives rise to illness. Just think: if we don’t take the rubbish out, bacteria breeds, creating more waste. If our bodies lose the ability to expel waste, bacteria breeds and toxins multiply. If the balance is not addressed, the toxins accumulate, clinging on to fat in the body, not only making us feel unwell, but preventing any ingested fat from being broken down, too. A downward spiral begins to affect our metabolisms, and our bodies gradually lose their ability to naturally regulate and burn fat efficiently because they are overloaded with too much toxicity and too many pollutants to cope with.

The main problem lies in the quality of our foods. Why is a vegetarian or dairy-free diet deemed more healthy? It isn’t, intrinsically – especially if, for example, vegetables are doused in pesticides and chemicals or milk comes from diseased cows. The ‘health’ of our food determines our health. So, ‘Food is medicine’. The famous Hippocrates quote is still very relevant today, but in the age in which we live, ‘Food can also be disease’ and causes illness if it is not ‘clean’.

What you will come to realise is that, by eating clean, your health will return and your body will find its natural rhythm. It will be able to metabolise and break down fat better and you will naturally start to lose weight and slim down. Consistent effort in this vein will produce great results – and all this without having to starve yourself.

During my ‘cleanse’ time I lived on soups, salads and stir-fries. I balanced my diet with a combination of hot and cold dishes, raw and cooked, vegetarian (I ate no dairy products for three months, but I ate organic eggs), a little quality organic meat and fish. Not only did this benefit my health, but it is sustainable, too.

Whatever you experience in your journey to improved health, I hope you find this book useful and that it opens your mind to a different East–West approach to eating healthily. And you should be able to use some of the facts I have found to help you achieve optimum health.

What is this book about?

For the last three years I have been travelling extensively in the US, working on TV shows promoting Chinese cookery. Along the way I have come across lots of people with health issues; many of those I have met are younger than me and suffer from diabetes and heart disease and are on a cocktail of never-ending prescription drugs. It is truly shocking. A lot of the people I met were also on some sort of weight-loss diet.

The simple truth is that there is no need to diet by starving yourself; you can lose weight and stay slim and healthy, as well as extend your life expectancy, if you consistently eat healthily, for example by eating a clean, balanced diet combined with regular exercise. This is not a secret, yet people find it hard to follow. I have had the same problems – stress, overwork, lack of time and expense; all these are everyday modern factors that contribute to the demise of our health and well-being. Anyone who is time poor will find it difficult to balance everyday nutritional needs.

So in this book I wanted to combine nutrition, delicious food and quick and healthy cooking techniques and yet also deliver on practicality – plus I wanted the food to be gourmet and exciting. Quite a tall order!

What you choose to eat determines not only the health of your body but ultimately its shape. A healthy body equals a more efficient one, allowing your body to burn fat effectively. This book contains over 100 easy recipes to help start you on your way. Every recipe is balanced with protein, seasonal vegetables, herbs and spices to help your immune system during each season. Eating a balanced, seasonal diet is an effective way to maintain good health. Each recipe also includes nutritional information so if you are following a restricted calorie diet on any specific day you can reach for those easily.

Why wok cooking?

Many of my recipes are made in a wok – wok cooking is easy, speedy, healthy and inexpensive. Ingredients can be seared at a high heat using a small amount of oil, making dishes taste crisp and delicious while also retaining their nutrients. You can invest in a good unseasoned carbon-steel wok for less than £15, and as long as you take care of it, it can last a lifetime (so that’s a pretty good investment!). Unseasoned carbon steel is great for healthy cooking, better for the environment and more stable, because there is less chance of metal chemicals leaching into the food – unlike seasoned non-stick woks. A good stainless-steel wok with a lid is also great for healthy cooking and is a one-pot wonder. You can not only stir-fry in a wok, but also make soups, steam, braise and make curries, so it’s the perfect versatile cooking vessel. Above all, wok cooking is fun and as we all have to eat 365 days of the year, you are more likely to stick to this lifestyle change if it is fuss-free and enjoyable.

Why Asian cuisine?

Asian cuisine offers a diverse range of recipes. Not only does it deliver on taste, freshness and speed, but the ingredients used in many classic dishes are also healthy. I won’t only be sharing classic dishes, but some fusion recipes too, making the very best combinations of Asian ingredients with up-to-date research on their health and nutritional benefits. The recipes are wide ranging and varied, so rest assured that there are plenty of delicious dishes to choose from.

De-clutter your mind

I also offer tips that I personally believe in, to strengthen and calm the mind. These nuggets of advice come from many sources – people I have met, stories I have heard, things I have read – and I hope they will help to strengthen, enlighten and enrich your spirit. They also make for fun reading. These words of wisdom were important to me in achieving a healthier version of myself. I believe you are not just what you eat, but what you think, too. The mind controls our eating habits and it is important to consciously eat for optimal health.

My personal motivation and beliefs

As a cook promoting food on TV, I always felt inclined to make nutritious dishes for taste, health and well-being, but I admit that health was not always the priority! However, seeing widespread health issues, and having experienced my own bout of bad health, I had an awakening. I felt I could no longer justify creating recipes to entice people simply to fall in love with Chinese cuisine and culture. My cooking has never been over-indulgent and I don’t use a lot of butter or sugar – but it could be cleaner and healthier. In general we could all eat better and be leaner, cleaner and kinder to our environment, and this book is my first step to reminding myself and sharing with others the importance of eating well.

Today people are suffering from more diseases such as diabetes and heart disease, and from allergies, than ever before. I was always taught that prevention is better than cure, that our diet determines the health of our bodies. With this in mind, I wanted to create a book that would be useful and practical every day, in every season, knowing that the quantities have been measured for salt, sugar, fat and calories. However, food and its health benefits don’t just come down to conventional nutritional analysis. There are many things we don’t know and we shouldn’t discount alternative, unconventional healing efficacies.

Traditional Chinese dietary advice, for example, follows the age-old principle of yin and yang. Thousands of years of Chinese medical research point to eating and living in harmony with nature. Based on this philosophy, a healthy diet relies on a balance of fresh seasonal ingredients – raw and cooked, hot and cold. Raw foods are deemed ‘cleansing’, cooked foods are considered ‘nourishing’, with some ingredients being more ‘healing’ than others. In traditional Chinese cuisine, few foods were eaten raw because they were deemed too hard for the body to digest. However, having experienced the health benefits of the Western culture of eating raw salads, I have combined the best of Eastern and Western ways of eating. Also vital for good health is knowing how to prepare and cook food to maximise its nutritional benefits, so I have tried to incorporate some of these Eastern principles into my recipes. Combining these with conventional Western nutritional research, I have taken an integrated East–West approach to nutrition, too.

This book is designed to help you eat clean and fresh every day. The basic tools you need to get started are a carbon-steel wok, an all-purpose chef’s knife or a cleaver, which I prefer, and a chopping board. With spices and Asian storecupboard ingredients that you can build up, eating nutritiously and healthily is at your fingertips.

By eating a diet made up of 80% plant-based foods and 20% organic meat, fish, dairy and eggs, you will be well on your way to good health. Again, the quality of those ingredients will determine the quality of your health. Clean air and water are perhaps the most important of those, aside from food. We cannot control our water and air quality on a daily basis, but we can control our food choices. Don’t get me wrong: I am no saint, as I succumb to the occasional slice of cake, but consistent efforts make the odd slip-up inconsequential.

I wish you clean eating and happy, healthy wokking!

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