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Wok in the vicinity

Yearning for Chinese, Rahul Verma tries out a popular haunt in East Delhi

BON APPETIT! Flaming Wok provides an opportunity for families who are in love with Chinese cuisine to get together Photo: Rajeev Bhatt

Chinese cuisine is like comfort food for me. My relationship with Chinese food started when I was a small boy in half pants. My mother took me to Jimmy's Kitchen in Calcutta, and I became an instant fan of prawn-fried rice (which I remember eating with dollops of ketchup!).

Then, when I was a young man, Aka Saka in Defence Colony and Ginza in Connaught Place were my favourite haunts. We used to go there just for their sweet-and-sour pork and Chinese chop suey. When I was staying in central Delhi, I had some meaningful moments with the roasted chicken that was a speciality of Ichiban in the Pandara Road Market. These were all neighbourhood Chinese restaurants - nothing glitzy, but offering wholesome, tasty food.

These days, a small restaurant near I.P. Extension takes care of my sudden yearnings for Chinese cuisine. This is a place called Flaming Wok and is on the first floor of the Madhu Vihar market They do home-delivery, and are pretty popular with residents of I.P. Extension. A new branch has opened up in K-1 block in Chittaranjan Park .

What's mandatory?

For many years, I couldn't have Chinese without ordering a plate of shredded lamb with hot garlic sauce. This became such a problem with my co-diners that some of them stopped going out with me. These days, I can't order food from Flaming Wok without the mandatory crispy lamb (Rs.120). This is truly good - spicy pieces of dry lamb with a sweet-and-tart taste.

Last week, I had cooked fish for some friends and remembered at the last moment that a couple of them had problems with bones. So I ordered two plates of chilly chicken Szechwan (Rs.130 a plate) from Flaming Wok. The dish consisted of small pieces of succulent boneless chicken in a red, hot sauce.

Last winter, we had some good food from Flaming Wok. Whenever the temperature dipped, we ordered some soup - usually hot and sour with chicken (Rs.70) - and a chicken stew with baby corn, mushrooms and broccoli (Rs.120). The stew is light and a little starchy, but much loved by people at home.

Once or twice, we - my friends and I - have even ordered food for a big party from Flaming Wok, and the experience has been worth repeating. One of the reasons why this works out well is that the portions are pretty impressive. One plate of chicken Szechwan, for instance, is enough for three good eaters.

Also worth trying out is their Thai fare. The chicken in a green curry is a bit hot but has a nice lemony-coconuty flavour.

Flaming Wok may not serve the kind of Chinese food that you get in Beijing or Shanghai, but it does very well for all of us in and around I.P. Extension. This is our Wok the Talk.

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