Chinese New Year: Year of the Rat

WITHOUT WANTING to open old wounds, the fact is that apart from pubs lucky enough to have a strong Polish or Czech customer base, the failure of the home nations to make the finals of the European Championships is pretty dire news for the trade.

While we're not suggesting that hurling and synchronised swimming will ever replace football in the hearts of the pub-going public, the Beijing Olympics are Britain's main chance of sporting glory this summer, and will put the focus squarely on all things Chinese.

February 7 marks the start of the Year of the Rat, and with celebrations traditionally lasting for 15 days, Chinese New Year is a chance for pubs to expand their menu repertoire with a few Oriental specialities.

If it goes down well with customers, then come the summer an authentic Chinese menu - easy to prepare and serve during sporting events - and a few British medal hopefuls could give pubs a much-needed boost. Many Chinese dishes suit the season perfectly, especially lighter dishes such as chicken and seafood.

Knowing where to start with Oriental food can be a daunting prospect, but there is support available from suppliers. Michael Lam, owner of Maidstone's Asian fusion bar kalaRED, says: "Although we prepare all our food from scratch, pre-prepared dishes are available from most suppliers and the quality is surprisingly good.

"There are a few simple rules to keep you on the straight and narrow when cooking Chinese food and the types of dishes available allow great creative flexibility.

"The important thing is not to get too bogged down in authenticity. You'll hear the term 'pan-Asian' everywhere at the moment, a catch-all phrase for the many types of Asian cuisine: Chinese, Japanese, Thai, Malay etc. What is important is selecting foods which will prove popular, are easy to prepare and offer an attractive profit margin."

Many popular and readily-available vegetables, such as broccoli, carrots, and baby sweetcorn, accompany Chinese dishes perfectly. However, pubs can also easily throw in Pak Choi - sometimes called Chinese cabbage - beansprouts, seaweed, sliced ginger and water chestnuts, all of which are widely available.

One sound piece of advice is not to copy the range of dishes featured in Chinese restaurants. Instead, concentrate on bringing a few favourites into their local.