When did you first get the cooking bug?
On my grandmother’s knee when I was five years old. Then when I was 11 and I first moved to the US my mother was away a lot, so I had to cook for my dad – he’s a really bad cook.

You didn’t train as a chef, where did you learn your expertise?
My mother used to teach me a few dishes at a time before she went away. And then I learnt as I went along when I set up my company; Fuge Ltd [creating healthy, nutritious Chinese food items for shops].

You have an eclectic cultural background; do you think that has helped you experiment with your cooking?
Yes – my mum was always improvising, her cooking was traditional Chinese but it really depended on whether she could get her hands on the ingredients she wanted. She is really experimental and I’ve inherited this!

Where do you get your inspiration for new recipes?
When I shop around for ingredients at the Chinese supermarket, Asia trips abroad, eating with my family in Taiwan, visiting night markets and then sometimes a recipe will pop into my head when I’m driving, or dreaming.

What would you say are your major food influences?
Traditional Chinese but modernised – how to make dishes easy and simple without losing elements of cultural and traditional roots.

You traveled around China in 2007 was that an inspirational experience?
110%! I always learn when I travel in China.

Do you enjoy being creative in the kitchen?
Absolutely, sometimes I stare at what I have in the fridge, freezer and store cupboard and then I’m like – let’s do it!

Do you ever fuse your Chinese recipes with food from other cultures?
Yes, mostly South East Asia and Japanese. I love Japanese food – it influenced Taiwan a lot.

Do you ever modernise traditional recipes?
Yes I do sometimes, I make the methods shorter and use less ingredients.

Do you think quality ingredients are the basis to exceptional food?
Quality ingredients make up 70 percent of any dish and then the rest is skill. I learnt this from Toto – the godfather of Chinese cooking in Hong Kong – and he’s absolutely right.

Your BBC series Chinese Food Made Easy had a cult following, were you looking to get into the media?
My friend Fiona Cho, who I worked with a few years ago gave me my break – she recommended that I go on Great Food Live to try and publicise my noodles, so I went for a screen test, made a buckwheat noodle salad and the rest is history.

How have you coped with your new celebrity status?
What celebrity status? I’m just a normal human being, happy to be working and really chuffed that people enjoy my food and my kind of cooking.

In the series you took up the challenge of showing the British public how easy it can be to cook Chinese cuisine, what reaction did you get?
Great feedback! I had such fun; I had so many unforgettable experiences that will stay with me for a very long time. I love it when people are sceptical and then they try and see how you see it and then love it. It’s beautiful when that happens. It’s unbelievably satisfying – the best!

Indian and Italian dishes have become staples in the nation’s kitchens, why do you think Chinese home cooking is less widespread?
People think it’s complicated and you need hundreds of ingredients. Once you have a staple store cupboard, the rest is easy.

Do you think the popularity of often unhealthy Chinese takeaways have exacerbated this situation?
There are some good ones and really bad ones and as a nation, I think people are more aware of what they put in their bodies. Generally Chinese food doesn’t receive the recognition or accolade as it should and that’s a shame because it is complex in terms of cooking techniques, flavours and pairing of ingredients with the traditional philosophy of Yin and Yang cooking. Chinese takeaways do not highlight the breadth and the possibilities of Chinese food. Home-style Chinese food is only one part – there is street food, different regional food, fusion Chinese food, festival food. After all there are over 34 regions in China each with differing climate, produce, customs and language so there is plenty yet to be discovered and learned, this is what I would like to make people more aware of.