This is a great takeawayish recipe, all the tastes and textures of a traditional Chinese, but with extra crunch and veggies. Use skinless boneless chicken thighs for really juicy tender chicken, much better than chicken fillets. You can make this a vegetarian main meal by swapping out the chicken for extra veggies like courgettes and extra peppers. The real ish ingredient is pale dry sherry, also called fino sherry. This is the closest Western equivelant to Chinese sxhaosing wine which is a traditional rice wine.

Ingredients

  • 500 g skinless boneless chicken thigh or breast fillets, diced into bite size pieces
  • marinade:
  • 1 tblsp cornflour
  • 2 tblsp soy sauce
  • 1 tblsp oyster sauce
  • 2 tsp sugar
  • vegetables:
  • sunflower oil, for stir frying
  • 2 onions, sliced into thin wedges
  • 2 cloves garlic, crushed
  • 1 tblsp grated ginger
  • 1 green pepper, sliced
  • 2 celery sticks, diagonally sliced
  • 6 spring onions, diagonally sliced
  • 150 g mushrooms, thinly sliced
  • 0.5 chinese leaf cabbage, finely shredded
  • 300 g ready to use noodles
  • sauce:
  • 4 tsp cornflour
  • 2 tblsp cold water
  • 2 tblsp dry sherry
  • 250 ml chicken stock
  • 2 tblsp soy sauce

Method

  • Combine the chicken, cornflour, soy sauce, oyster sauce and sugar in dish. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour to marinade the chicken.
  • Heat a little oil in a wok till very hot. Stir fry the chicken in batches for 4-5 minutes until nicely browned and cooked through. Set aside in a clean bowl.
  • Add more oil to the wok and soften the onion. Add the garlic, ginger, green pepper, mushrooms and spring onions and stir fry for 3-4 minutes. Add 2 tablespoons of water to create steam and cook the veggies without the need for more oil.
  • To make the sauce, dissolve the cornflour in the cold water and whisk well. Combine all the sauce ingredients and add to the wok.
  • Add the cabbage and bring to the boil till the sauce thickens and the cabbage begins to wilt.
  • Return the chicken and break in the noodles and heat through.
  • Taste and season to taste. Go easy on the salt as soya sauce and chicken stock are both salty.

Notes

Recipe from Rozanne Stevens' cookbook, Delish, available in all good book stores