Press release 250 landed in my inbox yesterday by lunchtime, another promo for the launch of a cook book. It seems to be the season for them, perhaps Christmas is just around the corner.
Anyway, this one prompted a second look as I was keen to cook something different for tea and I was intrigued by the fact that the author has progressed from working in his father’s Scottish takeaway at the age of 16 to become a chef-proprietor of a number of successful restaurants, including one in the Capital.
Jimmy’s Smoking Wok! Is the title. The author is Jimmy Lee, apparently a “60-second, stir-fry sensation” on TikTok.
The PR blurb said: “Put your takeaway menus away and get your wok on.”
Along with the PR came several recipes. I put my wok on and tried one. Hong Kong sweet and sour chicken, one of the most popular of Chinese takeaway meals. Cooking time ten minutes. Fabulous. Restaurant quality.
Jimmy has a strong CV. He has enjoyed award-winning success with his Glasgow restaurant Lychee Oriental and he has three sites including Salt & Chilli Oriental and Edinburgh’s Leith Woks in the Bonnie & Wild food hall.
The Glasgow native has appeared on ITVs This Morning and STV2’s Live at Fife and is a winner of the Chef Personality of the Year in 2018.
The book delivers 80 recipes plus stories about Jimmy’s rise and it claims to bring the “authentic taste” of Cantonese, Sichuan and British-Chinese classics into your home kitchen. It certainly did to mine.
Bring on the next recipe, chow mein perhaps – three minute cooking time – or Beijing sticky pork ribs or even king prawn with pak choi, cooking time five minutes.
PICTURE: Jimmy Lee in the kitchen
Experienced news, business, arts, sport and travel journalist. Food critic and managing editor of a well-established food and travel website. Also a magazine editor of publications with circulations of up to 200,000 and managing director of a long-established PR/marketing company with a string of blue-chip clients in its CV. Former communications lecturer at a Scottish university and social media specialist for a string of successful and busy SMEs.
