Good Chinese food aims to balance the five basic tastes of sweet, sour, pungent, bitter and salty. This recipe illustrates four of these tastes brilliantly. The saltiness of soya sauce tempered by sweet and sour notes and rounded off by the pungency of Chilli explodes in a wonderful combination of flavour that is unsurpassed. Great as a family meal or for entertaining friends, this dish was made to become a firm favourite