Chicken Chow Mein
- A thumb-sized piece of fresh root ginger
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 1/2-1 fresh red chile, to your taste
- 1 large skinless chicken breast fillet, preferably free-range or organic
- Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 2 scallions
- A small bunch of fresh cilantro
- 1 bok choy
- Optional: 4 shiitake mushrooms
- 4 ounces (2 bundles) chow mein noodles
- Peanut or vegetable oil
- 1 heaped teaspoon cornstarch
- 1 x 8-ounce can of water chestnuts
- 2-3 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 small lime
- To prepare your stir-fry:
- Put a large pan of water on to boil.
- Peel and finely slice the ginger and garlic.
- Finely slice the chile.
- Slice the chicken into finger-sized strips and lightly season with salt and pepper.
- Cut the ends off your scallions and finely slice.
- Pick the cilantro leaves and put to one side, and finely chop the cilantro stalks.
- Halve the bok choy lengthways.
- If using the mushrooms, either tear into pieces or leave whole.
- To cook your stir-fry:
- Preheat a wok or large frying pan on a high heat and once its very, very hot add a good lug of peanut oil and swirl it around.
- Stir in the chicken strips and cook for a couple of minutes, until the chicken browns slightly.
- Add the ginger, garlic, chile, cilantro stalks, mushrooms (if using), and half the scallions.
- Stir-fry for 30 seconds, keeping everything moving around the wok quickly.
- Add your noodles and bok choy to the boiling water and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, no longer.
- Meanwhile, add the cornstarch, water chestnuts, and their water to the wok and give it another good shake to make sure nothing sticks to the bottom.
- Remove from the heat and stir in 2 tablespoons of soy sauce.
- Halve the lime, squeeze the juice of one half into the pan, and mix well.
- Drain the noodles and bok choy in a colander over a bowl, reserving a little of the cooking water.
- Stir in the noodles and bok choy, with a little of the cooking water to loosen if necessary, and mix well.
- Have a taste and season with more soy sauce if needed.
- To serve your stir-fry:
- Use tongs to divide everything between two bowls or plates, or to lift on to one large serving platter.
- Spoon any juices over the top and sprinkle with the rest of the scallions and the cilantro leaves.
- Serve with lime wedges.
root ginger, garlic, fresh red chile, chicken breast fillet, salt, scallions, cilantro, choy, shiitake mushrooms, noodles, peanut, cornstarch, water chestnuts, soy sauce, lime
Taken from www.cookstr.com/recipes/chicken-chow-mein-2 (may not work)