Prawn or Chicken Chow Mein

Serves 2-4   Cooking and prep time 50 minutes

Ingredients

1/2 packet medium dried egg noodles or 3 nests

2 boneless chicken breasts

Marinade:

1 tbp dark soy sauce

1 tbp light soy sauce

1 tsp oyster sauce 

2tbp sesame oil

1/2 tsp corn starch

Salt /pepper to taste

Sauce:

1/4 cup water or chicken stock

1 tbp  dark soy sauce

1 tbp  light soy sauce

1 tbp oyster sauce

1 tbp cornflour

4 tbp water

1 tsp sugar

Vegetables:

30g beansprouts (optional)

1/2  onion

2 spring onions

50g mangetout

50g mushrooms (optional)

1 red bell pepper (optional)

150 g broccoli (optional)

2 tbp sesame oil

2 cloves of crushed garlic

Ground white pepper and salt to taste

 

Method

1. Cut chicken into thin strips and marinade (for at least 20-25 minutes, ideally4 hours), in dark and light soya sauce, oyster sauce and corn flour and refrigerate.
2. Make the sauce by adding 1 tablespoon of corn starch, 4 tablespoons of water, whisking in the chicken stock with oyster sauce, soya sauce, salt and pepper. Set this aside.
3. Boil a pan of salted water and add to it the noodles. Boil for only a couple of minutes, then drain and run through cold water to stop the cooking process and set aside.
4. Prepare the vegetables. cut them into small thin slices like match sticks, slice and dice the onions
5. Heat sesame oil in a pan and fry the noodles until golden. Fry in batches if necessary then remove from pan and set aside.
6. Heat another 2 tbp of sesame oil and fry the onions, a little salt and pepper and meat (chicken or prawns). Let it brown a little. Then stir fry until cooked.
7. Remove from pan and replace with the crushed garlic and other vegetables, with a little more salt and pepper and stir fry. Add in a couple of tbp of sesame oil if needed.
8. Return all the ingredients to the pan and stir fry with the sauce mixture, after giving it a quick whisk.
9. Stir quickly to thicken.
10. Add the noodles, stir fry everything together and serve hot.

 

Top Tip

Chow Mein simply means fried egg noodles. The recipe involves frying the noodles in a pan separately and then adding the sauce after. If you prefer crispier noodles, fry them longer in a little more oil than the recipe states.

Serve with prawn crackers.