Heartsmart Chinese Cooking

by Stephen Wong

Douglas & McIntyre Ltd., 1615 Venables Street, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada , 1996, , $14.95 (Canadian)

Paperback, colour illustrations V5L 2H1

"HeartSmart" in Canada means foods that are reduced in fat and sodium. Some years ago the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada supported publishing HeartSmart cookbooks and they were extremely popular, selling more than one million copies. This is quite a feat when a book selling more than 5,000 copies in Canada is considered a best seller! Stephen Wong was their choice as author for their first cookbook in their New World of Cooking series, and justifiably so. He is a creative Chinese-Canadian chef, well known and respected in the Vancouver area. His flavours are a fusion of Asian and North American, but he styles his cooking as Pacific Rim. His is a natural talent for combining flavours, using a variety of sauces, seasonings, vegetables and grains.

The question is, then, "how does he reduce fat and sodium in Chinese cookery?" The fat part is supposedly easy, but not so if the flavour of the food is lost. Stephen is clever, and there is a secret to his good results. He cooks the vegetables in a rich, unsalted stock so that they glisten. Cooking vegetables in stock, he says, disperses their flavours. Then, he cleans the wok, and browns the meat, marinated in wonderful flavour combinations, in just a little fat, around one tablespoon for four servings. "Marinating the meat", he says, "helps to flavour meats that have been trimmed of fat, and the thickener (usually cornstarch) adds flavour because it makes the sauces cling to the meat. In fact, these are not new methods, but traditional Chinese cookery techniques." To complete the recipe, the vegetables and meat are combined.

Sodium reduction might appear difficult: don't we Westerners know how much salt there is in soy sauce? Well, for one thing, the Chinese do not pour soy sauce on their food as we think they do. In fact, a Chinese student told me emphatically that using soy sauce the way we do is analagous to dumping several bottles of ketchup on an order of fries. That said, Wong reduces the sodium in his recipes to 25% of the same dish you would find in a Chinese restaurant. None of his recipes contain more than 0.9 grams of sodium per serving. Again, Wong is ingenious: he uses his full-intensity stocks and increases the quantity of his spices and seasonings such as garlic, ginger, vinegar and five-spice powder.

This book is a treasure-trove of recipes that ask to be tried. Included are favorites remembered from his childhood in Hong Kong such as Chicken Congee, Barbecued Pork and Vegetarian Eggplant Szechuan Style. And, drawing from all around the Pacific Rim he has created dishes like Salmon Roulades with Enoki Mushrooms, Potsticker Tofu with Shrimp, and Spinach Fettuccine with Moo Shu Prawns. Wong introduces Westerners to many new ingredients and seasonings: Some of his favorites are gai lan, chayotes, see qua, yard-long beans, wood ear mushrooms and lotus roots.

Each recipe is distinctively different, making use of differing spice combinations and flavorings. The list of ingredients may appear long, but they are quickly combined, and the cooking time is generally from five to ten minutes. He includes detailed instructions for how to chop and cut, an invaluable aid for neophyte Chinese cooks. If the ingredient is one which may only be available in Asian markets, he suggests substitutes: "I like to introduce new ingredients in my recipes, but still retain the original flavours. I encourage people to be creative and make substitutions--that is what Chinese cookery is all about." He provides the reader with information about the ingredients he uses, including a colour photograph and glossary. A full nutrient analysis is given for each recipe, performed by Nancy Ling, Registered Dietitian, using the Food Processor Nutrition Analysis Software, Version 6.03.

Wong's Spicy Beef with Baby Bok Choy is an example of his cookery methods. There was about a quarter of a cup of oil in the original recipe, which he reduced to one tablespoon. He added a new "fusion" twist with the addition of satay sauce, and drew from his knowledge of French cookery (he worked in a French bistro) to add the Veal Demi-glace sauce. Wong says, "The result is a well-balanced dish with contrasting colours and flavours."