Vegetarian Chinese Banquet With Peking Mushrooms

Preheat the oven to 180°C/ 160°C (fan)/ gas 4

Tear the chestnut mushrooms into small pieces and add to a baking tray (or two!) with a drizzle of vegetable oil and a pinch of salt and pepper trying to spread them out as much as possible

Put the tray[s] in the oven for an initial 15-20 min, or until starting to brown and crisp

Combine the toasted sesame oil, chilli flakes (can't handle the heat? Go easy!) and half the soy sauce (you'll use the rest later!) in a bowl and set aside to infuse – this is your sesame chilli oil

Drain the tofu, then pat it dry with kitchen paper and cut into cubes

Add the tofu cubes to a bowl with the remaining soy sauce and set aside to marinate

Meanwhile, add the white long grain rice to a pot with a lid with 175ml [350ml] cold water and bring to the boil over a high heat

Once boiling, reduce the heat to very low and cook, covered, for 12-15 min or until all the water has absorbed and the rice is cooked

Once done, remove from the heat and set aside (lid on) to steam until serving

Meanwhile, peel and finely slice (don't chop!) the garlic

Deseed the green pepper[s] (scrape the seeds and pith out with a teaspoon) and chop into large pieces

Trim, then slice the spring onions finely

Rip the leaves off the spring greens, discard the tough stalks, then layer the leaves over each other, roll them up and finely shred

Add the shredded spring greens to a large baking tray and sprinkle with a generous pinch of salt, 1 tsp [2 tsp] sugar and a large drizzle of vegetable oil and give everything a good mix up

Set this aside for later, then boil a full kettle

Heat a large, wide-based pan (preferably non-stick with a matching lid) with a generous drizzle of vegetable oil over a high heat

Once hot, add the marinated tofu to the pan and cook for 4-5 min or until starting to crisp

Once crisp, add the chopped pepper, any remaining soy sauce marinade and half the sliced garlic and cook for 1-2 min further or until the garlic has softened

Once slightly softened, add 1 tsp [2 tsp] flour and mix it together, then add the black bean paste with 150ml [250ml] boiled water and 1 tsp [2 tsp] sugar and give everything another good mix up

Turn the heat down to low and cook, covered for 8-10 min – this is your tofu with black bean sauce

Tip: Remove the lid for the final few minutes if your sauce needs thickening!

Increase the oven temperature to 220°C/ 200°C (fan)/ gas 7

Remove the mushrooms from the oven

Add the shredded spring greens to the oven for 8-10 min or until crispy – this is your crispy 'seaweed'

Pour the plum chutney over the mushrooms

Mix it all together and return the mushrooms to the oven for the final 5 min or until caramelised – these are your peking mushrooms

Add the fine egg noodles to a large bowl, cover them with boiled water and stir for 10 secs to separate the noodles

Set aside to soak for 4 min

Return the reserved pot to the heat with a drizzle of vegetable oil

Once hot, add the remaining sliced garlic and half of the sliced spring onion and cook for 1-2 min or until softened

Add the cooled rice and 1/2 tbsp [1 tbsp] of the sesame chilli oil (you'll use the rest later!) and cook for 2-3 min until everything is combined

Once combined, push the rice to one side of the pot and crack the egg[s] into the other side

Stir the egg[s] with a wooden spoon to break the yolk[s] and cook for 1-2 min until it resembles scrambled egg, then mix it all through the rice – this is your egg fried rice

Drain the soaked noodles

Add the remaining sesame chilli oil with the remaining sliced spring onion (save a little for garnish!) to the noodles and mix everything together – these are your longevity noodles

Tip: In Chinese custom, it's believed the longer the noodles, the longer your life. So when eating these, try not to bite down too early and instead give them a great big sluuuurp!