When Gok Wan ventured into the kitchen in 2012, with his recipe book Gok Cooks Chinese and accompanying Channel 4 TV series, it proved every bit as successful as his wardrobe-based endeavours.

Drawing on skills he’d picked up while working in his parents’ restaurant, growing up in Leicestershire, the show was a hit and the book spent ten weeks at the top of the bestseller chart, with the unlikely newcomer proving a match for foodie heavyweights like Nigella Lawson and Jamie Oliver.

He’s now back with a second book, Gok’s Wok, and where his debut was an homage of sorts to his family and Chinese roots, this one’s personal for other reasons.

“I wanted it to look like a fashion book, for starters,” he says, with his trademark enthusiasm. “That was the brief and that goes throughout, from the styling of the photographs, the layout, illustrations, fonts, everything.”

About 30 of the dishes featured were left over from putting together his first book and the rest he wrote specially, including tried-and-tested favourites he regularly cooks for friends at home, and inspired by his travels all over Asia.

“I'm very lucky to have seen a lot and absorbed so many different cuisines,” he says. “Chinese food will always be my first love, but I didn’t want the book to be just that. I also wanted to take advantage of how adventurous home cooks are now. We’re surrounded by different flavours.”

10 MINUTE NOODLES

(Serves 4)

Ingredients

2tbsp rice bran or vegetable oil; 300g frozen prawns; 1 red onion, peeled and roughly sliced into thin wedges; 4 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely chopped; 3cm piece of fresh ginger, peeled and finely diced; 2 fresh red chillies, deseeded and finely sliced (leave in the seeds if you prefer it hotter); 80g frozen broad beans; 80g frozen peas; 80g drained water chestnuts, roughly chopped; 350g straight-to-wok thick udon noodles; 1tbsp light soy sauce; 1tbsp dark soy sauce; 2tsp fish sauce; Lime wedges to serve; Sweet chilli sauce, to serve (optional)

Method

Heat half of the oil in a wok over a medium to high heat. When hot, add the prawns and fry for two to three minutes, stirring every now and then, until they have defrosted and turned a delicious coral colour (they won't be fully cooked at this point). Tip the prawns on to a plate and wipe your wok clean with kitchen roll. Heat the remaining oil in the wok over a medium to high heat. Once hot, fry the onion for one minute before adding the garlic, ginger and chillies. Stir-fry for a further minute and then return the half-cooked prawns to the wok. Heat through for one to two minutes and then add the beans and peas. Stir-fry the whole lot for a further two to three minutes until everything’s heated through. Add the remaining ingredients, apart from the lime wedges and sweet chilli sauce, and toss together until well combined. Serve with lime wedges and chilli sauce, if using.

THAI GREEN CURRY

(Serves 4)

Ingredients

6 shallots, peeled and roughly chopped; 10 green bird’s eye chillies (reduce the number of chillies if you don't like it too hot); 50g fresh coriander, stems and all, roughly chopped; 20g fresh basil, stems and all, roughly chopped; 2 stalks of lemongrass, trimmed and roughly chopped; 4cm fresh galangal, peeled and roughly chopped (or 2 heaped tsp from a jar, and if you can’t find galangal, use fresh ginger instead); 2 tinned anchovy fillets, drained and roughly chopped; 5 cloves of garlic, peeled and roughly chopped; Juice and zest of 1 lime; 3tbsp fish sauce; 150g coconut cream; 400g skinless chicken breast, chopped into bite-sized chunks; 300g aubergines, trimmed and chopped into bite-sized chunks; 250ml hot chicken or vegetable stock; 500g steamed jasmine rice, to serve; ¼ fresh red chilli, to serve

Method

Blitz the shallots, chillies, coriander, basil, lemongrass, galangal, anchovies, garlic, lime zest and two tablespoons of the fish sauce in a small food processor, until you achieve a fairly smooth paste. (You can also do this with a pestle and mortar.) Spoon the coconut cream into a wok and heat over a medium to high heat for a couple of minutes; it will melt, boil and then begin to split. When it has split, stir in the curry paste. Cook for two minutes, stirring frequently. Add the chicken and aubergines and stir gently for two minutes, by which time they should be well coated in the sauce. Pour in the hot stock and simmer for about ten minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through and the aubergine is soft, while still holding its shape. Serve the curry with freshly steamed jasmine rice sprinkled with chopped red chilli.