Chicken Fried Noodles (雞炒麵)

The children (and I, and husband) love noodles, especially the Nissin sesame ramen, which have formed many a comfort snack in years gone by. When we were at university, I would buy a box of 30 as a token of love for then-boyfriend (now husband), in beef or pork, every term. Before that, he was eating Batchelor's Super Noodles..... As I write, I'm panicking slightly as there is only one packet left in the house. Bags and bags of rice vermicelli, mung-bean vermicelli., udon, shrimp noodles, cup noodles etc., but only one packet of Nissin sesame ramen.

We try to go for dim sum, but it isn't as often as I would have hoped. Maybe as they get older, it will become easier, and they aren't too adventurous at the moment. So dim sum for the children tends to consist of steamed custard buns, egg tarts, maybe some congee, some cheung fun rice rolls, and 肉絲炒麵, fried fine noodles with shredded pork and stir-fried greens. Whilst I sit happily eating my chicken feet, curried whelks and the rest of what makes a marvellous lunch experience.

On Sunday night I had a final defrosted chicken breast to use up, so I promised the children I'd do noodles, I was going to do mung bean vermicelli, but soaked them for too long and ended up with a mush that fell through the colander. I used Blue Dragon medium egg noodles instead, which were soaked in boiled water for about 5 minutes. Taste the noodle to make sure they've softened adequately, then try and get rid of as much water as possible before frying them. Ideally there would have been a better noodle:other stuff ratio, but I was down to my last nest of dry noodles too!

 

Ingredients

• 2 nests of dried medium egg noodles (or use fresh noodles as an alternative)
• 1 chicken breast, sliced thinly
• 3-4 dried shiitake mushrooms, reconstituted for a couple of hours in boiling water (keep the water) and sliced thinly
• 1/4 Chinese leaf, sliced into 1/3rds widthways then sliced lengthways to give thinnish slivers
• A shake of sesame seeds
• 1 dessert spoon of yellow bean sauce
• 2 spring onions, sliced finely
• Sunflower oil for frying

Chicken Marinade:

• Light soy sauce
• Lea and Perrins Worcester sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon of sugar
• 2 cloves of garlic, bashed with the flat of a cleaver
• 2cm cube of peeled raw ginger, grated finely

Serves 2

 

Instructions

• Marinade the chicken - place the sliced chicken in a bowl, add a couple of shakes of the light soy sauce and the Lea and Perrins, the sugar and the garlic. Take the grated ginger and squeeze the juice into the bowl. Mix to combine, cover and marinade for at least 30 minutes
• Boil the kettle and pour the boiling water over the dried noodles. Cover and leave for 5 minutes. Test a piece to make sure it is completely softened, and drain the noodles when ready
• Heat 2-3 tablespoons of oil in a wok or non-stick frying pan. When the oil is very hot, add the chicken and stir-fry rapidly, so that the chicken browns and takes on a lovely colour
• Add the sliced shiitake mushrooms to the pan and continue to stir-fry for a few minutes
• Add the Chinese leaf to the pan and stir-fry until the leaves start to go glossy and soften
• Turn the heat up to very high and add the noodles to the pan. Stir-fry quickly, so that the noodles start to crisp up a little and take on some colour
• Add a little of the mushroom-soaking water, and 1 dessert-spoon of yellow bean sauce and mix into the noodles, continuing to stir-fry for a few minutes
• Add the sesame seeds and chopped spring onions, then continue to stir-fry until the spring onions are cooked through
• Remove from the heat, drizzle over a few drops of sesame oil, and serve immediately

Chicken fried noodles (雞炒麵)