Ching-He Huang on her grandmother’s sticky rice, and the meal she just can’t cook

Taiwanese chef Ching-He Huang knows a thing or two about the perfect stir-fry (she literally wrote a book on it) – as well as how to pack as much flavour into vegan food as possible.

This is what happened when she answered our quickfire food questions…

The one dish you can’t get right in the kitchen… This Shanghainese duck – I can never get it right to how the chef did it. It basically has sticky rice stuffed into the cavity of a duck, and it’s braised. It just doesn’t taste right [for me]. The chef crisped up the skin, but being steamed it just doesn’t work – I don’t know how he did it.

Your favourite store cupboard essential is… Shaoxing rice wine. Definitely.

The kitchen utensil you can’t live without is… My wok or my cleaver. Can I have two?

Your favourite late-night snack is… Chocolate – it’s really bad. But vegan.

Your takeout of choice tends to be… It’s Indian, we have this great Indian takeaway near us.

What did you eat last night? We actually fasted on the weekend, so last night we broke our fast with a really nice stir-fry with garlic, ginger, chillies – lots of it. We had a soup: miso, tofu, spinach – basically it was leftovers, because I’m expecting a food delivery today. It was everything from the fridge, it was great. I left it on the stove – I cooked it a bit too long, so it ended up like a rice noodle congee. It was perfect to break the fast with.

To cure a hangover your go-to is… Definitely lime and warm water – the best.

You just can’t stomach… Literally the insides of a stomach, anything intestine-y. No.