Egg Foo Yung/Chow Mein

Egg Fu Yung is a Chinese style omelette, popular in American and British Chinese restaurants, usually served with a soy based gravy. 

Chow mein is a Chinese dish of stir-fried noodles with leftover vegetables, meat or tofu, also popular in America and the UK.

I thought I'd combine both Egg Fu Yung and Chow Mein to use up some leftover cooked chicken, and some eggs that needed using.  This recipe would work well with leftover turkey after Christmas.

Serves 4

3 layers medium egg noodles

4 eggs

300g cooked chicken, turkey, pork, beef, or prawns

1 onion, peeled & thickly sliced

1 garlic clove, peeled & sliced

100g frozen peas

1 chicken stock cube

500ml recently boiled water

2 tbsp oyster sauce

2 tbsp soy sauce

1/2 tsp turmeric (optional)

1/2 tsp paprika (optional)

1 tsp sesame oil

2 tbsp cornflour

Vegetable oil for frying 

Cook the noodles according to the packet instructions.  Leave to cool in a pan of cold water.

Heat one tablespoon of oil in a wok over a medium high heat.  

Beat the eggs, and fry in the wok like a omelette for a few minutes so you have a side plate sized disk of cooked egg. Flip the egg over carefully to ensure the egg is cooked through.  Slide the egg onto a plate, chop into bite sized pieces, and wipe the wok out with a piece of kitchen paper.

Heat another tablespoon of oil in the wok over a medium high heat.

Stir fry the onion for 1-2 minutes until it starts to soften or go golden brown.  Add the peas and garlic.

Crumble in the stock cube and melt in the oil and heat.  Add 500ml of hot water, oyster sauce, soy sauce, sesame oil, turmeric and paprika.  Stir well.

Mix the cornflour with two tablespoons of cold water.  When the 'gravy' is boiling, pour in the cornflour mixture whilst stirring to thicken it.

Drain the noodles and add to the gravy together with the meat or prawns, and chopped egg.  Mix well and serve.

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Vietnamese Noodle Soup (Pho)

A little bit of leftover roast pork inspired me to make Pho (apparently pronounced 'fuh', like 'huh' but with an f)

It can be made with chicken, beef, pork, or tofu.  A lot of online recipes suggest homemade stock, and whilst authentic I made it with good quality stock cubes.  Even using stock cubes, the broth still requires a lot of spices.  I note that ready made pho broth is available in UK supermarkets, but no vegetarian option as far as I can see.

Serves 4

1 tbsp vegetable oil
3 shallots or 1 onion, peeled and finely sliced
3 garlic cloves, peeled and finely sliced
1 lemongrass stalk, halved and squashed
2.5cm piece ginger, sliced
3 star anise
1 cinnamon stick or 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp coriander seeds or ground coriander
¼ tsp Chinese five spice
8 black peppercorns
1 tsp caster sugar (optional)
1 tbsp fish sauce
1.5 litres good quality chicken (for chicken or pork pho), beef (for beef pho), or vegetable stock

4 rice noodle nests (I used wheat noodles as I didn't have any other noodles)

A handful of sliced cooked pork, chicken, or beef.  For vegetarians/vegans -a 200g block of sliced tofu, or 
1 large carrot, shredded or peeled into ribbon with a vegetable peeler
8 pak choi or Chinese Leaf leaves, cut into 2cm strips
Large bunch of fresh coriander, chopped
Small bunch of mint, chopped

4 spring onions, finely sliced 
1 red chilli, thinly sliced, or ¼ tsp dried per bowl
1 kaffir lime leaf, thinly sliced (optional)
1 lime, cut into 4 wedges

In a saucepan big enough to take 1.5 litres, fry the onion and garlic in the vegetable oil over a medium high heat for about 5 minutes until lightly brown and caramelised.

Add the stock and the rest of the flavourings.  Cover and bring to the boil, then simmer for 15 minutes.

Whilst the noodles are cooking according to the instructions on the packet, chop/shred all the remaining vegetables and herbs.

When the noodles are cooked, drain and divide between four large bowls.  Divide and arrange the pak choi, carrot, meat/tofu/mushrooms (the mushroom slices can be browned in a non stick frying pan over a high heat to give a little more depth of flavour) on top of the noodles, followed by the coriander, mint, spring onions, chilli, and kaffir lime leaf if using.

Pour the hot stock over the four bowls when the 15 minutes is up, and serve immediately with a quarter of lime to squeeze over.

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Chicken, Sweetcorn, & Egg Noodle Soup

A quick filling soup made with leftover cooked chicken (or Christmas turkey). Vegetarian and vegan alternatives are detailed at the end of the recipe

Serves 4

3 litres chicken stock

3 nests rice noodles 

340g tin of sweetcorn or 1 mug frozen sweetcorn

2cm root ginger

1 large garlic clove

300g shredded cooked chicken

1 egg, beaten 

4 spring onions, chopped

Sesame oil

Chilli Oil

Liquidise the sweetcorn, ginger, and garlic with the water from the tin, or some warm chicken stock to thaw the frozen sweetcorn.

Bring the chicken stock to the boil. Add the liquidised sweetcorn and the noodle nests.  Cover, bring back to the boil, then turn down to a simmer. Cook the noodles according to the packet instructions. I used Aldi Brown Rice Noodles which say take 5-10 minutes to cook, and in the end took 7 minutes.

Stir in the shredded chicken, turn up the heat a little, and bring back to the boil.  When bubbling, dribble over the beaten egg.  Leave for a minute for the egg to cook in the hot soup then divide into four bowls.  

Sprinkle a chopped spring onion over each bowl and drizzle with sesame oil and chilli oil to serve.

A vegetarian version can be made with vegetable stock and grated firm tofu instead of chicken.  And a vegan version can be made with vegetable stock, tofu, and 2 tbsp cornflour mixed with 2 tbsp cold water stirred in instead of egg to thicken the soup a little. 

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Singapore Chow Mein Noodles

I ordered Singapore Vermicelli last time we had a birthday Chinese takeaway. So the next time I made a stir fry, I thought I'd try Singapore Noodles.  I prefer rice noodles, but I find them hard to stir fry without going sticky, so this was made with egg noodles

Serves 4

4 layers of noodles

1 tbsp mild curry powder

¼ tsp turmeric

1 tsp caster sugar

1 tbsp sesame oil

3 tbsp low-salt soy sauce

2 tbsp sunflower or vegetable oil

600g sliced stir fry vegetables (if slicing your own vegetables include an onion, and then a rainbow of colourful vegetables - red pepper, carrot, pak choi/cabbage, mushroom, sweetcorn, beansprouts)

250g protein (optional), choose from 200g firm tofu, 2 free range eggs, or 250g cooked prawns

1 red chilli, sliced (optional)

Cook the noodles according to the instructions on the packet.  Leave in cold water once cooked until ready to use.

Mix curry powder, turmeric, sugar, sesame oil, soy sauce and 1 tbsp water in a small bowl.

If using egg, beat the eggs in a mug.  Heat 1 tbsp oil in the wok/large frying pan over a medium high heat. Swirl the oil around when hot, and pour in the egg, cooking it like an omelette.  Turn the egg over after a couple of minutes and cook the other side.  Take out when cooked, chop into bite sized pieces, and leave to one side.

If using tofu or prawns, heat 1 tbsp of oil in the wok. Heat 1 tbsp oil in the wok over a medium high heat. Grate the tofu if using.  When the oil is hot, stir fry the grated tofu or prawns for a few minutes until slightly brown. 

Add another tbsp of oil after you've removed the egg, or when the tofu/prawns have been stir fried.  When hot again, add the rest of the vegetables and stir fry for 3-4 minutes until softened and starting to brown in places. 

Drain the noodles and add to the wok, along with the sauce mixture and egg. Stir-fry for a further 3-4 mins, mixing thoroughly and reheating the noodles.  

Serve with sliced chilli if you like some spice!

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Homemade Teriyaki Sauce

In an attempt to cut down my teenage son's dependance on ultra processed foods to assist him bulking up at the gym, I have been trying to make more homemade condiments.

A bottle of this Teriyaki Sauce now sits in the fridge for him to pour over noodles when he needs a quick snack. The recipe is from BBC Good Food

350ml water

85g light brown soft sugar

70ml light soy sauce

1 large garlic clove, crushed

4cm piece ginger, peeled and finely grated

1 tbsp cornflour

1 tbsp rice wine vinegar

Heat the water, sugar, soy sauce, garlic and ginger in a small saucepan. I put roughly chopped garlic and (unpeeled) ginger into a liquidiser first, hence the 'bits' in my final sauce. 

Heat gently, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Bubble gently for 5 minutes until the sauce is glossy and slightly thickened. 

Combine the cornflour with 1 tbsp water and quickly whisk through the boiling sauce whilst still on the heat. 

Whisk through the rice wine vinegar, adding a splash of water if too thick. 

Pour into a clean jar and leave to cool at room temperature.  This sauce keeps in the fridge for up to a week.

My son pours it over stir fried beef, pak choi, and noodles. We pour it over pan fried salmon with noodles or rice.

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Bosh's Vegan Spicy Peanut Butter Ramen

Always on the look out for quick ramen recipes for my teenage son, and Bosh's vegan Spicy Peanut Butter Ramen and on Facebook reels fits the bill.

The Bosh recipe calls for cooking the noodles first, adding a little of the noodle water to make a thick sauce, and using the noodle seasoning instead of stock.  I tweaked this a little to make a more filling noodle soup.

Serves 1

1 layer of noodles

1 tbsp unflavoured oil

2 garlic cloves

1 tbsp sesame seeds

1 tbsp chilli flakes

1 tsp peanut butter

1 tbsp vinegar

1-2 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp maple syrup

Vegetable stock cube

500ml boiling water

Handful chopped greens (optional)

Heat the oil in a small saucepan. Stir in the garlic and chilli, and turn off the heat.

Stir in the peanut butter, vinegar, maple syrup, crumbled vegetable stock cube, sesame seeds, soy sauce, and 500ml boiling water.  

Add the noodles and cook for 4-5 minutes, or the recommended cooking time.

Serve

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Quick Spicy Peanut Butter Noodles

It's 6pm New Year's Day, I was out until 3.15am, OH will be cooking dinner at 7pm on his return from visiting his elderly mother, and my 14 year old son announces he's going out to a friend's in an hour and  needs feeding.  

We have a portion of cooked egg noodles in the fridge, and there's a 'express ramen' recipe on Instagram I've been meaning to try.

Serves 1

1 serving of cooked noodles

Half a pak choi, thinly sliced (optional)

1 egg

1 tbsp crunchy peanut butter

1 tbsp maple syrup

1 tbsp soy sauce

1 tsp sriracha or sweet chilli sauce

1 spring onion, finely sliced 

Vegetable oil, for greasing

Cook the noodles according to the instructions on the packet, together with the pak choi if using.

Whilst the noodles are cooking, beat the egg and pour into a lightly greased creme brûlée dish or microwaveable noodle bowl. Microwave for 1 minute. Leave until cool enough to handle then tip onto a chopping board and dice.

Mix the peanut butter, maple syrup, soy sauce and chilli sauce in the bowl you are going to eat the noodles out of.  Add the chopped egg and spring onion.

Drain the noodles, reserving a couple of tablespoons of the cooking water. Toss the noodles with the rest of the ingredients in the bowl, adding a tablespoon or two of the reserved cooking water to make the sauce a little looser.

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Chicken (or Turkey) Noodle Soup

This BBC Good Food Chicken Noodle Soup is so easy, and will work just as well with seasonal turkey leftovers. 

500ml chicken or vegetable stock (or Miso soup mix)

2 tbsp sweetcorn, canned or frozen

2-3 mushrooms, thinly sliced or a handful of sliced greens (pak choi, cabbage, kale) 

1 handful chopped cooked chicken or turkey

1 tsp chopped fresh ginger

1 garlic clove, finely chopped

Serving of rice, wheat or buckwheat noodles

2 spring onions, shredded

2 tsp soy sauce, plus extra for serving

Chilli flakes, to taste

 

Simmer the noodles, along with sweetcorn and mushrooms or greens in the stock until cooked according to the instructions on the packet.

When cooked stir in the remaining ingredients and tuck in.

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Veg Rich Noodle Soup

Ditch flavoured instant noodles for quick healthier veg rich homemade version, loosely based on Wagamama's Chicken Ramen but more veg.

Serves 1

1 portion of dried noodles (egg noodles, rice noodles, soba noodles etc)

500ml recently boiled water

1 low salt chicken or vegetable stock cube

1 cm piece of ginger finely grated or chopped

1 garlic clove, peeled and crushed

Half a mug of frozen sweetcorn

1/4 tsp chilli flakes

Small handful of cooked chicken or tofu, or fry an egg to serve on top

1 spring onion, finely chopped

1 small carrot, peeled and cut into ribbons with the peeler

1 tbsp soy sauce

Cook the noodles for the recommended cooking time on the packet in 500mlof water together with the crumbled stock cube, sweetcorn, ginger, garlic and chilli.  

Put the rest of the ingredients in a a bowl and pour over the noodles and stock when the noodles are cooked.

If the noodles only require soaking in hot water, bring the stock ingredients to the boil.  Put the dry noodles in the soup bowl with the remaining ingredients and pour over the boiling stock. Cover and wait the time on the packet.

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Protein Packed Noodles

These protein packed noodles are my son's lunch today whilst out at a drama workshop

Serves 1

1 bundle soba noodles

1 spring onion, finely sliced

1/4 cucumber, grated

50g smoked salmon trimmings

1 tbsp crunchy peanut butter

1 tbsp miso paste

1tbsp rice wine vinegar

1 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp mirin

1 tbsp sesame oil

1/8 tsp hot chilli flakes

Cook the noodles according to the instructions on the packet. Drain and leave in cold water.

Mix the sauce ingredients in a small bowl, then stir in the cucumber, smoked salmon, spring onion and cold noodles.

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Pad Thai, Stir Fried Noodles

This recipe is a bit of a combination of a recipe from Chiang Mai Thai Cookery School I spent couple of days at in 1998, and a Jamie Oliver recipe 

Serves 4

4 rice noodle nests
3 tbsp sunflower oil
2 tbsp chopped garlic

4 shallots, peeled & finely sliced

400g firm tofu, cubed

250g cooked peeled prawns (leave out if vegetarian)

2 eggs beaten

300g beansprouts 

4 tbsp tamarind sauce 

4 tbsp fish sauce

1/2 tsp hot chilli flakes 

4 tbsp dried mint

4 tbsp peanuts, crushed

Cook the noodles following the instructions on the packet. Traditionally Pad Thai uses wide rice noodles but in addition to these sticking together too much when I cook them, vermicelli type rice noodles are much easier to come by. Leave soaking in chilled water until ready to use.

Heat the oil in a wok over a medium high heat.  Stir fry the garlic and shallots for a minute or so.  Add the tofu, stir then add the prawns, Stir fry for a minute or so, boiling off any water. Pour in the beaten egg and stir around until it scrambles. Add the beansprouts, stir around and then add the drained noodles.  Once the noodles are hot, stir in the rest of the ingredients and serve piping hot (the crushed peanuts were added in the topping above as I have one family member who doesn't like them).

NB Aesthetically (and probably nutritionally), I feel this recipe could do with a bit more colour/green. The Chiang Mai Cookery School recipe does suggest chives or cabbage, and I do think a some spring greens could have been added after the garlic & shallots if I  had had some.

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Yakisoba, Japanese Stir Fried Noodles

Yakisoba is a Japanese stir fry noodles dish with pork and vegetables, and it’s seasoned with a sweet & savoury sauce similar to Worcestershire sauce.  We made a vegetarian version swapping pork for tofu.

Serves 4

4 layers medium egg noodles

1 onion, peeled and finely sliced

1 large carrot, peeled & grated

1 bunch spring onions, chopped into 1 cm lengths (optional)

4 large mushrooms (optional)

4 large cabbage leaves, shredded

500g pork belly, sliced into bitesized pieces, leftover roast pork, or tofu

2 tbsp sunflower oil

1 large clove of garlic, peeled and crushed (optional) 

2cm ginger, finely grated (optional)

5 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

2 tbsp oyster sauce

2 tbsp ketchup

1 tbsp soy sauce

2 tbsp sugar

Start by mixing all the sauce ingredients together in a small bowl and leave to one side.

Cook the noodles according to the packet instructions then leave in cold water until ready to fry.

Prepare all the other ingredients.

Start by frying the pork (if using) in the sunflower oil in a wok or large frying pan until no longer pink.  Tip on to a plate, wipe out the pan and heat another 2 tbsp sunflower oil.

Swirl it around the coat the sides of the wok.  Then in quick succession add the garlic and ginger, stir once, the add carrot, cabbage, mushrooms, then spring onions.  Splash in a few tablespoons of the noodle cooking water and cover the pan, leaving the vegetables to steam and soften for a few minutes.

When the vegetables are cooked to your liking (we like them crunchy, kids like them soft) mix in the cooked noodles and cooked pork and reheat. Once hot, stir through the sauce and serve.

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Courgettes in a Japanese Style Teriyaki Sauce

 

First stab at diminishing my courgette glut, with Japanese flavours in an attempt to win over the courgette hating Japanese food obsessed teen Big Boy.

Serves 4 as an accompaniment

4 courgettes, grated or julienned

1 tbsp sunflower oil

2 tbsp runny honey

4 tbsp light soy sauce

1 tbsp rice wine (or apple cider) vinegar

1 large garlic clove, peeled & crushed

4cm ginger, finely grated

Heat the oil in a large frying pan over a medium high heat. When hot add half the courgette and spread out to a single layer fry for a few minutes. You want them to fry rather than steam. After a few minutes push the courgettes the pan to the side and add the rest of the courgettes, spread out as much as possible and continue frying, stirring from time to time.

Whilst the courgettes are cooking mix the sauce ingredients in a mug.

The courgettes are ready when starting to go translucent, limp, and tender, although you can continue to fry until lightly brown (if there is to too much liquid in the pan) or serve with still a bit of crunch. When cooked to your liking, turn the heat down to low and stir through the sauce and you're done.

Serve either hot or cold.  I served ours with mixed through noodles, and as a side for the sceptics.  If I can win over Big Boy I will stir it through Japanese rice for packed lunches when he returns to school.

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Quick Tom Yum Noodle Soup

Bored of sandwich, and finding some mushrooms in the fridge that needed eating,I thought I'd make a quick filling version of a Tom Yum Soup.

Serves a greedy 1

50g mushrooms, thinly sliced
1 tsp red curry paste
1 nest of rice noodles
1 stock cube

Juice of 1/2 a lime

1 tsp fish sauce

Chopped coriander (optional)

Cook everything, apart from the coriander, together in a lidded pan for as long as the noodles need cooking. Once cooked serve and sprinkle with coriander before tucking in.

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Thai Chicken Noodle Soup

Been meaning to try this on the family for a while.  And a lockdown with limited resources seemed the perfect opportunity. It was met with "When can we have this again?" which I take to mean they like it.

Serves 5

200g rice noodles
2 handfuls cooked chicken, picked off cooked carcasses
1 can coconut milk
1 tsp green thai curry sauce, or more to taste
2 cans recently boiled water
2 chicken stock cubes
5 kaffir lime leaves, shredded
2 tbsp fish sauce
2 handfuls frozen sliced green beans or peas

Cooking the rice noodles according to the instructions on the packet.  Drain off the boiling water when cooked and leave to stand covered in cold water to stop them cooking any further.

Bring the coconut milk, water, stock cubes, curry paste, and kaffir lime leaves to the boil in a covered pan.  Add the vegetables and bring back to the boil.  Add the chicken and noodles and bring back to the boil one more time. Add the fish sauce before serving.  Sprinkle with chopped coriander if, unlike me, you have any.

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Vegan Vegetable Laksa

Watercress Laksa

Having made and frozen some vegan Thai Yellow Curry Paste recently, I've been having a lot of vegetable laksa over the last few weeks.  It's a quick, filling lunch with optional superfood ingredients.

1/2 tbsp yellow curry paste
500ml boiling water
1 organic vegetable stock cube, crumbled
1 large handful of greens (today's was made with watercress, but I've made it with shredded cauliflower leaves, kale, spinach, cabbage etc)
1/4 onion, finely sliced
1 nest of rice noodles (optional)

If making with noodles cook the noodles in the water and stock cube according to the packet's instructions, adding the curry paste, and vegetables at the end to wilt.   Place onion into a large soup bowl and pour over the hot stock and vegetables.

If not having noodles you may wish to wilt tougher greens like cabbage in the boiling stock on the hob.

More delicate greens like watercress and spinach can be put straight into a soup bowl with the all the other ingredients and simply wilted with the boiling water and stirred gently to combine the curry paste and crumbled stock cube.

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Vegan Sweet & Sour Noodles

I posted a vegetarian version of this recipe a few years ago, sticking closely to the recipe I was taught on a Thai cookery course in Chiang Mai.  However, the original recipe has fish sauce in, which is not vegan (nor strictly vegetarian).

Below is the recipe I normally make, without fish sauce, and with the vegetables more commonly found in my fridge.

Serves 4-5

1 onion, peeled and thinly sliced

2 garlic cloves, peeled & crushed

1 large carrot, peeled and grated

5 large cabbage (spring greens, kale) leaves, finely shredded220g pineapple chunks (keep the juice)

1 tbsp cooking oil

4 layers of rice or egg-free noodles

1 handful peanuts or cashews (optional) 

       

Sauce

2 tbsp sweet chilli sauce

2 tbsp vegetarian oyster sauce

2 tbsp soy sauce, or sweet soy (kecap manis) if you can find it

6 tbsp tomato ketchup

50ml reserved pineapple juice + water or stock

1 chopped red chilli (optional) or 1 tsp hot chilli flakes

Cook the noodles according to the instructions on the packet.  Drain when cooked and leave in cold water to stop them cooking and sticking.

Mix the sauce ingredients together in a bowl apart from the juice/water.

Prepare the vegetables and have close to hand.

Put the oil into a wok and fry the garlic for a minute or so over a high heat.

Add the onion and stir fry. Add  carrot and cabbage for a few minutes. Pour in a splash of noodle water and cover if you can to steam the vegetables  for a few minutes until the cabbage starts to go limp, and (sadly) lose a little of it's vibrant colour.  

Drag handfuls of the dripping noodles into the wok.  Don't worry about the extra water, its all good. Add the nuts and pineapple chunks, together with the sauce ingredients. and stir to combine. Add as much or as little of the reserved juice/water to make it the consistency you like and heat until piping hot, stirring to ensure the thick sauce doesn't catch. Serve immediately.

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Roast Chicken Assam Laksa Noodle Soup

I'm pleased, even if I say so myself, with my Roast Chicken Assam Laksa.

Assam Laksa is a 'sour' soup, usually soured with tamarind or lime, unlike the sweeter coconut milk laksas more commonly made by UK TV celebrity chefs.

The roast chicken was in fact from the Saucy Hoisin Chicken Thighs I made earlier in the week, but could easily come from the Sunday Roast.

A vegan version could easily be made substituting the chicken with butternut squash or sweet potato.

Serves 1

500ml boiled water
1 layer of egg or rice noodles
1 low salt stock cube
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp red or green thai curry paste (vegan versions are available)
1 tbsp tamarind juice or 1 tbsp lemon juice + 1 tsp sugar
Small handful of shredded chard, spinach, kale, or savoy cabbage
1 small handful of chopped cooked chicken, or grated vegetable alternative
1/2 tbsp dried mint or 1 tbsp chopped fresh mint
1/4 of a small onion, very finely sliced

Boil the noodles for 5 minutes in the water together with the stock cube, curry paste, tamarind juice (or lemon & sugar), turmeric, and vegetables.

Whilst this is cooking, place the cooked chicken in the bottom of a deep soup bowl with the sliced onion and mint.

When the noodles are cooked just pour over the ingredients in the bowl and eat.

Other laksa recipes:-
Quick & Easy Kale & Squash Laksa Noodle Soup (Vegan)
Penang Sardine Assam Laksa

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Saucy Hoisin Chicken Thighs

Sprout requested a Chinese meal in her long list of birthday food (longer than her present list).  I think she means a meal out, but I thought I'd try a homemade version to keep her sweet until we get round to eating out.

Serves 4
8 chicken thighs, skin on and bone in
4 tbsp hoisin sauce
2 tsp sesame oil
2 tbsp sweet chilli sauce, or honey
2 tbsp dry sherry (optional)
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar (optional)
1 tsp Chinese five-spice powder
2.5cm fresh ginger, grated
2 garlic cloves, peeled & grated

Garnish
4 spring onions, finely chopped (optional)

Cut a couple of diagonal slashes through the skin, about 1cm deep, into each chicken thigh.  Mix together all the remaining ingredients in a high sided oven dish and massage the marinade into the chicken thighs.  Arrange the chicken thighs skin side up in the oven dish, wipe down the edges of the dish, and cover and leave in the fridge for 2 hour or even overnight.

Roast uncovered in a oven preheated to 200C for about 40 minutes, basting a couple of times during the cooking.  The chicken is cooked when the juice runs clear when you poke a sharp knife into the thickest part of the thigh towards the bone (a little hard to see with such a dark sauce I know).

Serve with rice or noodles.  I'm not usually one for garnish but, with hindsight, this dish needed some tangy spring onion to offset the sweet stickiness of the sauce.  I also served this with steamed shredded Savoy cabbage, tossed in a little grated garlic, sesame oil and light soy sauce, that even my cabbage hating Big Boy ate.

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Hoisin Noodles with Pork &/or Vegetables

I have a large jar of hoisin sauce in the fridge, leftover from bbq ribs.  As I also had 3 small cooked pork chops leftover from this weekend, I thought I'd marry the two up.  It could of course be made without meat, with more vegetables and/or tofu.

Serves 4

4 layers of noodles
200g cooked pork or firm tofu (optional)
1 tbsp sunflower oil
1 large carrot, grated
4 cabbage leaves, shredded (if not using meat or tofu)
1 small bunch of spring onions, finely chopped
1cm root ginger, grated

Sauce Ingredients
1 large garlic clove grated
3 tbsp hoisin sauce
2 tbsp sweet chilli sauce
2 tbsp sherry
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp crunchy peanut butter

Cook the noodles according to the instructions on the packet.  When cooked rinse in cold water until cool and leave standing in water until needed.  Prepare all the other ingredients whilst the noodles are cooking.

In a large frying pan or wok, large enough to be able to mix all the noodles and other ingredients easily, heat the oil over a high heat.  When smoking add the ginger and garlic, stir, and then add the onion and cabbage if using.  Stir quickly for a minute or so then add the pork/tofu and spiring onions and stir fry for a few more minutes.

Turn down to a medium heat. Add the noodles straight from the pan to the frying pan.  The dripping water off them is good!  Mix everything together in the pan and cover if possible to heat the noodles through.  If you hear sizzling, add a little more noodle water.  Mix together the sauce ingredients in a small bowl.

When the noodles are warmed through stir in the sauce and mix thoroughly. Serve immediately.

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