EMMA DUNN speaks to a chef who will be rushed off his feet tonight for the start of Chinese New Year

IF EVER there was a day to break your New Year’s resolution to ditch the takeaways, it’s today.

If the urge to nibble on a salty prawn cracker, delve into a big portion of chicken chow mein or take a bite out of some crispy duck pancakes has been all too much, let yourself go and tuck in for Chinese New Year.

Millions of people across the globe will be tucking into noodle and rice dishes to mark the start of the Year of the Horse.

And James Huynh, who runs Oriental Aroma in Royal Wootton Bassett, will be serving up hundreds of Chinese food favourites this evening both in his restaurant and for takeaway.

“This is the biggest celebration event of the year,” said James, who has owned the restaurant for eight years.

“We’re expecting it to be very busy here throughout the night.”

James, who is also head chef at the restaurant, is originally from Vietnam but moved to England in 1978.

He trained as a chef when he was young, and was a waiter and chef in other restaurants before starting his own business.

James said there are some basic rules to remember with Chinese cooking.

“The most important thing about Chinese food is the variations of flavours and colours of the actual ingredients,” said James.

“With Chinese food, you have a basic sauce, for instance sweet and sour. Then when you add various ingredients to that base sauce it becomes a different dish. If you add water chestnuts and chillies it becomes kung po. If you add peppers, onions and chillies it’s szechuan.

“It is very much a similar principle in Indian cooking.”

The chefs prepare the vegetables and other ingredients for the dishes before the customers come in, but they are not cooked until orders are made.

The most popular starter at the restaurant is pan-fried crispy chilli pepper bean sprouts, and the most popular Chinese main course is sweet and sour.

James said the secret to good Chinese food is in the presentation.

“Many people eat with their eyes before they actually eat the food. To prepare a good meal you need to establish what the customer wants too.

“Some might want extra spice and some might not want it too spicey,” he said.

“Most importantly it is good to be nice and colourful with your presentation, with different variations so it makes them say ‘wow’. Then because they eat with their eyes they are more likely to like it.

“Of course the flavour has got to be right as well. Sweet and sour is popular. The different vegetables like onions, peppers and pineapple add colour to the dish.

“Some businesses make it more sweet and others make it more sour but we have a balance.”

Oriental Aroma serves about 200 meals a night every Friday, including takeaway, and it is the same for Saturdays.

James said restaurant cooking is completely different to making dishes at home.

“The unique thing about the restaurant is that we use a burner. The heat is so immense that it takes two-and-a-half minutes to cook a dish. Obviously it takes longer if you are preparing food for more people,” he said.

“Cooking a chow mein, for example, is very different in the restaurant. It would take a lot longer at home. The burner means we can make the wok extremely hot.

“We coat the wok in oil so it doesn’t stick when we put the ingredients in. Once the ingredients are in we keep flipping them by moving the wok around. This stops the food from burning as it cooks very quickly.”

Chinese New Year is the longest festival in the Chinese calendar.

Celebrations traditionally run from Chinese New Year’s Eve, the last day of the last month of the Chinese calendar, to the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day of the first month.

A lion dance is a traditional part of the celebrations, and James used to have one at the restaurant up until about five years ago.

“We had a lion dance up until about five years ago but recently because of the recession times are hard and people are looking after their pennies,” he said.

“It is very difficult for them to accept a cost which would cover our overheads to fill the place with entertainment.”

James invited hundreds of schoolchildren into the restaurant in the three days before Chinese New Year to raise funds for Prospect Hospice.

He taught them about Chinese cooking and how to use chopsticks.

Tonight, there will be entertainment, including a disco and karaoke, at Oriental Aroma from 11pm until 4am.

l For more information or a menu visit www.orientalaroma.co.uk or phone 01793 854545.