wok on...

...in the kitchen!
dad was away with work the other day and as usual mum and i were trying to decide on something to have for dinner.
lucky for us Ching was on hand (in book form) to guide the way to a delicious meal!

we decided to go for a chicken and cashew nut chow mein and let me tell you...it was YUM!

for the chicken

1 free-range egg

1 tbsp cornflour

pinch sea salt

500g skinless chicken breast fillets, sliced

300ml groundnut oil

for the stir fry

1 onion, sliced

1 yellow pepper, de-seeded, sliced into strips

1 red pepper, de-seeded, sliced into strips

1 carrot, peeled and cut into stripes

3 tbsp chicken stock

2-3 tbsp light soy sauce

2 large spring onions, sliced

4 tbsp roasted cashew nuts

sea salt and ground white pepper

ready cooked egg noodles

 

start by mixing the egg, cornflour and salt in a bowl until combined. at this stage my experimentation head took over and i decided to mix in a small amount of Chinese 5 spice. this is completely optional but i found it gave the chicken a bit of warmth!

pour this over the chicken and make sure to get every little bit of the chicken covered.

"Wok on, oil in" as Ching would say. for this recipe i went for my trusted non stick wok because it has a flat bottom and is steadier than my new one.

allow the oil to heat to a high heat, a great test for this is to throw in a small chunk of bread, if it just sits there the oil is not hot enough, if it sends the oil into a bubbling frenzy...its ready!

next gently place the chicken into the oil, make sure to place it in away from yourself as you will find it will start to spit hot oil everywhere. i did the chicken in 3 batches as my non stick wok is quite small and i didn't want a mass blob of chicken.

once the chicken is golden remove from the oil with a slotted spoon and place on kitchen towel to get rid of any excess oil.

 

drain all but 2 tablespoons of the oil from the wok and place back on the heat. throw in the garlic, ginger and chilli and give it a quick stir. quickly throw in the onion for a minute or so then add the peppers and carrot and stir fry until they have softened slightly. throw the chicken back in the wok and stir fry for a few minutes.

next add the chicken stock and the soy sauce, allow it to simmer for a few minutes.

at this point add the noddles, cashew nuts and a hand full of spring onion. stir fry for a few more minutes to allow the noddles to loosen up. season to taste and serve!