Vegetables from Floyd's China by Keith Floyd

Mrs Li cleans herbs found in the mountains around the Great Wall; imaginatively carved vegetables; a vendor arranges many different vegetables in a street market.

Chinese cuisine has an enormous variety of vegetables and, for the most part, they are cooked very simply – steamed, fried, braised or stir-fried, and for just a short time. They are rarely eaten raw.

If you are obliged to use canned vegetables, such as bamboo shoots, water chestnuts, etc., be sure you rinse them well and dry before use. Where you are using fresh vegetables, you can cut them into pretty shapes such as diamonds, julienne, flower shapes, etc.