Aussie chef John Torode likes to recall his granny’s fearless cooking habits, as if to prove his outback credentials.

“She used to like the parson’s nose. She’d eat that bit and throw the rest of it away.”

Just to explain, the ‘parson’s nose’ is the fleshy bit at the tail end of the bird, and John, needless to say, is exaggerating. But clearly the sharp lessons he learned as a boy have made him the chef he is today.

His new book, John Torode’s Chicken And Other Birds (Quadrille, £20) explains exactly how to use your chicken to the full. But if you don’t get round to buying it, here are John’s cooking tips in a nutshell.

“Don’t overcook it, don’t forget to season it, and don’t always stick to the recipe rather than working it out yourself. And always use fat. If you don’t use enough fat, then it won’t cook.

“You might as well just spray a piece of cardboard with chicken flavouring.”

Here’s one of his favourite chicken recipes.

Pumpkin And Chicken Soup With Beansprouts And Coriander

Serves 6.

Ingredients: 300ml vegetable oil; 50g fresh chillies, thinly sliced; 50g garlic, thinly sliced; 50g shallots, thinly sliced; 100g red curry paste; 30g palm sugar; 1 large butternut squash, peeled and cut into 4cm chunks; 2 x 400ml cans coconut milk; 175ml coconut cream; 1tbsp Thai fish sauce; 2tbsp lime pickle; 3 lemongrass stalks, crushed; 4 chicken breast fillets, cut into strips or chunks; 500g precooked mung bean noodles or egg noodles; 100g fresh beansprouts, picked; 1 small bunch coriander, picked.

Method: Heat the oil in a wok and add the sliced chillies. Cook slowly over a gentle heat until all the moisture from the chillies has evaporated (at which point the oil will stop bubbling), then raise the heat slightly, so that they caramelise and crisp up – without turning too dark.

Remove and repeat the process with the garlic, then the shallots. Set them all aside.

Drain off all but 80ml or so of the oil. Add the red curry paste to the wok and fry for two minutes, then add the palm sugar and let it cook with the curry paste for four minutes, until sticky and fragrant.

Add the butternut squash, stir well and cook for two to three minutes. Pour in the coconut milk and coconut cream, then add the fish sauce, lime pickle and lemongrass. Bring to the boil and cook for 20-30 minutes over a medium heat until the squash is soft but not mushy.

Add the chicken, return to the boil and cook for five minutes but no longer. Put your precooked noodles in a bowl and pour boiling water over them to reheat. Leave for two minutes, then drain. Divide the noodles among serving bowls and add a few pieces of squash per portion.

Pour in the remaining soup and garnish with the fried chillies, garlic and shallots, plus the beansprouts and coriander.