Easy chicken chow mein
- Prepare
- less than 30 mins
- Cook
- less than 10 mins
- Serve
- Serves 2
- Dietary
- Dairy-freePregnancy-friendly
Cook this authentic chicken chow mein noodle stir-fry in less than ten minutes, adding any crisp seasonal vegetables you fancy.
Each serving provides 580 kcal, 49g protein, 67g carbohydrates (of which 8.5g sugars), 11g fat (of which 2g saturates), 7g fibre and 3.3g salt.
Ingredients
- 150g/5oz medium egg noodles
- dash toasted sesame oil
- 300g/11oz skinless chicken breast fillets, sliced into strips
- 2 tbsp light soy sauce
- 1 tsp five-spice powder
- 1 tsp chilli sauce (optional)
- 1 tbsp cornflour
- 1 tbsp groundnut oil
- 1 red pepper, seeds removed and thinly sliced
- 150g/5oz beansprouts
- 1 spring onion, sliced lengthways
- freshly ground black pepper
Method
Cook the noodles in a pan of boiling water for 2–3 minutes, until al dente, or according to packet instructions. Drain, then rinse under cold running water and drain again. Drizzle with a dash of sesame oil and toss through to prevent the noodles from sticking to each other.
Put the chicken strips in a bowl and season with a dash of light soy sauce, the five-spice powder and chilli sauce, if using. Mix well, then lightly dust the chicken strips with the cornflour.
Heat a wok until smoking and add the groundnut oil, then add the chicken and stir fry for 3–4 minutes, or until the chicken is golden-brown and cooked through.
Add the red pepper and stir fry for 1 minute, then add the bean sprouts and spring onion and stir fry for 30 seconds. Stir in the cooked noodles and season with the soy sauce, a dash of sesame oil and freshly ground black pepper.
Pile the noodles onto a serving plate and serve immediately.
Recipe tips
To get this recipe spot on, there are a few techniques that it's worth paying extra attention to. First, get all your ingredients ready before cooking as this recipe comes together very quickly. Next, take care not to overcook the noodles as they will become sticky and clump together. Finally, make sure the wok is really hot before adding any ingredients.
To make this chow mein even easier, you can buy ready cut strips of chicken breast from the supermarket, but check the packet before cooking as you sometimes get strips that need cutting into smaller pieces.
Light soy sauce is more savory than dark soy sauce (which is sweeter and richer). If you only have the standard type (which will just be labelled soy sauce, with no reference to light or dark), this will be fine to use as it's pretty close to light soy sauce.
Groundnut oil is perfect for this recipe as it adds a nice nutty flavour (it's made from peanuts) and has a high smoke point which is necessary for cooking at very high temperatures. Suitable alternatives include sunflower oil and vegetable oil.
