Super noodles

Sticky chicky noodles

I've never really bothered all that much about oriental food - Chinese, Thai, etc - because it's not my favourite kind of food and I had no idea how to cook it. Just recently, however, I've taken more of an interest for one reason and another and I've learnt a few recipes. Nowadays I'd say I'm pretty good at noodles!

One of my favourite recipes is one I found in Delicious magazine and have slightly adapted for my own tastes. So here you go:

First of all, mix together about four dessert spoonfuls of soy sauce, the juice of one lime, a teaspoon of chopped ginger (from a jar, in 'new Delia' style!), a few crushed chilli flakes and four dessert spoons of honey. Add to this two smallish breasts of chicken cut into smallish strips and leave it to do its business for ten minutes or so. Then transfer it to an ovenproof dish and put in the oven (medium hot) for about 15-20 minutes.

Next fry some suitable vegetables with a little bit of groundnut oil in a big frying pan or wok. I usually go for either a pre-prepared packet of sliced cabbage and leek or a bag of 'generic stir-fry vegetables' (I'm so Delia!). But if I was starting from scratch I'd use very finely sliced savoy cabbage, red onions, carrots and courgettes.

Separately cook some fine egg noodles and as soon as they're ready add them to the frying pan with the vegetables. When the chicken is ready, take the dish out of the oven and carefully pour or spoon the sauce over the noodles and vegetables. Leave the chicken in the dish for a while (in the oven to stay warm) and give the noodles a thorough jiggle around to make sure the sauce has covered everything. Serve massive plates-full of the noodles with the chicken placed on top, with a nice glass of fruit juice or guava Collins!

Ooh, and hey: remember I said I'd suggest some recipes for dinners that could also create leftovers for lunch? This one's the daddy!