Chicken Stir-fry

Prep Time: 0:15
Cook Time: 0:15
Serves: 2

Ingredients / Shopping List

100g fresh Chinese or Thai rice noodles
1 onions
1 red pepper
1 clove garlic
2 cm  root ginger
1 red chilli
2 tablespoons cooking oil
2 skinless chicken breasts
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
 

Prep to Cook:  Stir-fry pan, spatula, vegetable knife, chopping board, garlic press, bowl

Prep:  Peel the onion and cut into half.  

Slice very thin wedges from each half and separate strands of onion.  Retain in bowl
 
Lay chicken breast and slice from the thin end to make strips
 
Crush the garlic, peel ginger root and grate and prepare the chilli
 
Slice the chilli lengthwise and remove seeds.  Slice then dice the chilli flesh.
 
Prepare the red pepper, cut off the top stem and the base then remove seed pods
 
Remove excess flesh holding the seed pods in place and slice the peppers really thinly.
 
Heat the oil in the stir-fry pan and drop in the onions, stir to coat the onions with oil.
 
Add the chicken and stir to separate the meat strands
 
Add the ginger, garlic and chilli and stir again.  Keep the pan temperature hot.
 
Cook until all the chicken looks white, about 8 minutes.
 
Add the strips of red or orange peppers and stir.  Let them begin to soften.
 
Finally add the rice noodles and stir them in.  Cook for a further 4 minutes
 
Serve immediately.
 
Check it out!

This is a good recipe to develop your knife skills. Stir-fry is a quick method of cooking and can be used to create a meal in a pan.  It is best to prepare it in smaller batches than to try and make a very large mix.  Choose cooking oil that withstands high temperature such as rapeseed or corn oil.

Recipe Science

Cooks Know How:  Chicken breast is low in fat and high in protein. If it is sliced thinly it can be cooked quickly but it needs some oil to help retain moisture and tenderness.  Make sure all the chicken changes colour to white.  Flavours from the garlic, ginger and chilli will easily be absorbed by the chicken.  Colour is added by the use of vegetable, in this case the red pepper.  Because the cooking is rapid all the ingredients must be very finely sliced.  Once the ingredients are in the pan they need to be stirred to prevent browning on the pan base and ensure the heat is distributed and cooks everything through. Fine rice noodles are a good choice for adding to a stir-fry because they are made from rice flour and quickly reheat. They are gluten free and therefore this dish is suitable for people who have Coeliac dietary requirements.