Stir-fried Asian Chicken Noodle Salad, by Val Stones

Our inspiring baking expert, Val Stones, has always run an experimental kitchen at home, and this recipe is no exception. The Great British Bake Off star says you can add any veggies you like to this Asian chicken salad – our featured recipe for April as part of our Plant to Plate Calendar.

Val’s thoughts and tips:

Many years ago, my sister visited Hong Kong and learned how to make authentic Asian stir fry. I learned from her that a lot of oil is required to give the ingredients their golden colours and boost the fried flavours but if you cannot (e.g. for health reasons or personal preference) then the amount of oil stated in the recipe can be halved.

This has been a regular family meal for many years, and it’s very adaptable in that you can replace the chicken with beef and add any salad greens from your garden.

Serving suggestions and timings:

Serves: 4

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Marination time: 2-4 hours

Cooking time: 20 minutes

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp sesame seeds
• 4 medium cloves of garlic, peeled and finely chopped
• 1 inch of fresh ginger, peeled and grated
• 8 tbsp Shaoxing rice wine or dry sherry
• 4 tbsp soy sauce
• 4 tbsp hoisin sauce
• 1 tbsp of cornflour
• 5 tbsp peanut oil
• 4 chicken breasts, cut into thin slices
• 3 heads of little gem lettuce or 2 heads of romaine lettuce
• Half each of a red, yellow, and orange pepper, cut into thin strips
• 1 carrot, cut into thin strips
• 1 tin of water chestnuts, drained
• 1 tin of bamboo shoots, drained
• 50g bean sprouts
• Half an onion, sliced finely
• 1 packet of easy cook chow mein noodles
• 2 tbsp chicken stock
• 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil

Method

1. Place the sesame seeds in a frying pan and heat them up, tossing gently around the pan to prevent burning. Pour the seeds out of the pan when they begin to turn golden and set aside
2. Combine the garlic, ginger, rice wine, soy sauce, hoisin sauce and cornflour in a bowl. Add the thin slices of chicken and coat the chicken well in the marinade. Cover the bowl and place in the fridge for 2-4 hours or overnight if you have time
3. Remove the chicken from the marinade and put on a plate, reserving the marinade
4. Heat up a frying pan. Add 2 tablespoons of peanut oil and cook the chicken strips for 8 minutes, stirring continuously (they will seem quite sticky, but this is fine). Turn off the heat and set aside
5. Place the noodles in a pan and add the chicken stock. Cook for 4 minutes until heated through, then turn down the heat and stir occasionally until needed
6. Place a wok on high heat and add the remaining oil. Put the peppers, onions, beansprouts, water chestnuts, bamboo shoots and carrot strips into the oil and stir fry for 2 minutes. Add the chicken slices and continue to stir for a further 2 minutes. Add the lettuce and the reserved marinade, then stir until heated through and the lettuce is wilted. Stir in one-third of the noodles
7. To serve, share the remaining noodles onto 4 plates or bowls and top with the stir fry mixture. Scatter with the toasted sesame seeds and add a drizzle of toasted sesame oil

Build your own recipe book with the help of our ‘Plant to Plate Calendar’. With the expertise of Mark Lane and Val Stones, you can try your hand at beetroot brownies, bubble and squeak, and salmon and broccoli tart.