I must confess that I only had the vaguest ideas about pangolins and thought they were scaly animals from South America. It turns out that I was right about the scales but that’s all. Apparently, these small, melon-sized beasts have now been driven to the edge of extinction by a voracious Chinese appetite for anything that walks, crawls, flies or swims.

Found in the forests of Southeast Asia, one of these creatures can fetch anywhere between $100 and $400. Although protected under an international convention, poor forest dwellers and farmers trap and sell them for clandestine export to the vast Chinese market where a rising wealthy class will pay anything for an exotic meal.

The Chinese are justly proud of their ancient culinary tradition. As the Chinese empire expanded over the centuries, and its trading links grew with others, various techniques and recipes were incorporated into an already vast gastronomic treasure-house.

But it would be a mistake to assume that this tradition was based on wealth alone. China has been subjected to countless wars, invasions, floods, droughts, earthquakes and other natural disasters. These have caused national and regional famines that have forced millions to overcome starvation by eating artfully prepared creepy-crawlies.

Everything you wanted to know about Chinese cuisine but were afraid to ask

Another effect of widespread poverty was the paucity of fuel to use for cooking. The invention of the wok and the stir-frying technique minimised the heat needed to prepare a dish. As a small amount of oil is used at the bottom of the wok, the heat needed to bring it quickly to cooking point is less than that required with a utensil with a larger cooking surface. And because of the high temperature, food is cooked very quickly.

While stir-frying, all the ingredients are cut into small pieces, and this, too, hastens the process. Another reason food is cut into bite-size pieces is that it is eaten with chopsticks.

So basically, almost all the time used is in the preparation, or ‘prep’, to use restaurant parlance. But given the rapid rate at which stir-frying takes place, it is important not to overcook the dish.

An essential component of Chinese cuisine is balance: the concept of yin and yang is a crucial aspect. It is important to balance colours, textures, aroma and taste. Each of the ‘Four Tastes’, ie, sweet, sour, bitter and salty has a place on the table.

There are eight major culinary schools in China, but three of them are well-known abroad: Cantonese, Hunan and Szechuan.

It has been some time since I stir-fried, but it’s time I dusted off my wok. Beef was something I cooked fairly often and few things are as simple. Take around 200 grams of lean beef (undercut or fillet is best), and slice it into pencil-thin pieces. To simplify this, put the meat in the freezer, and pull it out before it turns hard. And use the sharpest knife you have. After you have sliced the beef, roll it around in some cornstarch. Add some soya sauce, a finely sliced, de-seeded red chilli, and some chopped up garlic and ginger to the meat.

Slice a small carrot, again very fine, and cut up six spring onions diagonally. Bring a tablespoon of vegetable oil to a high heat in a wok. Don’t use olive oil as it has a lower smoking point and you need really hot oil here. Stir-fry the meat, moving it quickly to prevent it from sticking; around three to four minutes. Move it out with a slotted spoon and set aside on a heated plate. Now add another spoon of oil and bring it back to a high heat before adding vegetables. You could also throw in broccoli and / or a large red pepper, both sliced thinly again. These are as much for colour and texture as for taste.

Once these are still slightly crunchy, add the meat, and cook them together for a minute or two. And a drizzle of sesame oil and soy sauce goes well before serving hot. Some steamed rice to accompany.

In this simple dish, you have combined colours, flavours and textures, the essence of Chinese cooking. But note that it is essential to keep the beef tender without overcooking it to the point that it becomes chewy. The vegetables should have a slight crunch when you bite down to contrast with the tenderness of the meat; easy to say, but not always easy to achieve.

Published in Dawn, Sunday Magazine, November 2nd, 2014