Woks in our home kitchens never get as hot as they do in restaurants, where they have a lot of power under them – so dishes like this won’t be as perfect as they could be. Unless you’ve grown up stir-frying, it’s hard to get it right too. All those different elements cooked in one pan? You have to think about how much time each one needs. Nevertheless, I have, over the years, managed to do chicken and egg fried rice in a way that works, at least for the family on a weeknight. I cook the dish in stages and do the eggs in a separate pan, otherwise I end up with rice and scrambled eggs. I don’t even think about making this with freshly cooked rice (it will just get sticky). I use Chinese chilli bean paste in other dishes too, so don’t feel buying it is a waste of money. The alcohol is my own thing (goodness knows what Ken Hom would think) but I love its flavour with ginger. You can …