Don't try this at home! No, really don't!

This is a jar of Pickled Sour Mustard Cabbage:

Have you ever used this? I hadn't, and I am always excited to try an unfamiliar ingredient. Of course, ideally I'd like to have really delicious results................so close, yet so far!

I have a brilliant book by Ching-He Huang called Chinese Food Made Easy. I had only heard of this book, and bought it after suggestions from fellow cookbook lovers. There are a lot of recipes I am keen to try, but the one I went for first, was a dish for two. We are five, so obviously I was going to have to increase quantities. Also, in the introduction to the recipe, it's explained the dish was originally made with Mustard Cabbage, but as this is apparently not as easy to come by in the UK (where the writer is from) the recipe subs with gherkins (which is very clever). I wanted to go the traditional route, for the chance to try a new ingredient as I said. MY problem was, I didn't really follow the recipe closely enough. Had I taken more note of how many gherkins the recipe required, I mightn't have overdone the cabbage as I did.

My second error was that, in spite of reading and re-reading the recipe, noting the amount of liquid in the dish, it was only as I was in the midst of finishing the recipe did I notice the word 'soup' at the end of the recipe title! I'm not joking. I don't know how I could miss it. I had completely ignored the 'soup' in the title 'Sour Ginger Pork and Celery Rice Noodle SOUP'! I sit here, still shaking my head at myself. So, this recipe, with too much pickled mustard cabbage, and not enough broth was a start at what could be a fabulous and easy soup. As it was, the family ate the chicken, the noodles and some of the small amount of broth. I love these flavours, so could manage the cabbage, but it was clear that the next time I try to make this dish, I'll up the water and I suspect a whole jar of cabbage (it really didn't look that much once out of the jar) wont be needed!

I have a pretty decently sized wok, but I think it would be easier if making this recipe for more than two to transfer all the ingredients to a pot. So, I don't suggest this recipe is followed, I'll be using this for reference as a 'what not to do' next time around!

In a little oil, stir fry three sliced chicken breast fillets in batches until nearly cooked, setting aside each batch to a bowl.

Adding a little more oil if needed before stir frying 6 stalks of celery and 2 tbsp microplaned ginger before adding 4 tbsp of Chinese rice wine.

Return the chicken to the pan, add 500ml hot water and 200g rice vermicelli noodles (previously softened slightly to speed things along). Bring to the boil before adding the contents of one jar of drained and chopped sour mustard cabbage, 1 tbsp clear rice vinegar, 2 tbsp light soy sauce and a pinch of white pepper.
When the noodles are cooked, and just before serving, splash in a little sesame oil.
Divide the noodles, meat and vegetables between serving bowls before pouring over the inadequate amount of broth (!). Serve and wait for family to pucker!

This is NOT a reflection of Chinese Food Made Easy - as mentioned I wasn't following the recipe, I merely used it as an all too rough guide this time around. We could see this had great potential to be a delicious dish, if only I would adhere more to the real recipe. Oh well, isn't there a saying about learning so much more from our mistakes? Still glad I tried the pickled mustard cabbage, I'll just ease up on it next time around.