Chicken Chow Mein

As with all stir fries, you need to prepare the meat and vegetables and measure out the other ingredients before starting as the cooking process is very quick and you need to be ready to put the ingredients in in a hurry.

1. First prepare the vegetables.
   
2. Next, marinate the chicken.  Slice the chicken into thin bitesize pieces.
   
3. Put the marinade ingredients into a bowl large enough to accommodate the chicken and give them a whisk with a fork or whisk to combine.  Then add the chicken and give it a good mix in the marinade.  Set it aside for 10-15 minutes or so.
   
4. While the chicken is marinating, cook the noodles.  Bring a large pot of water to the boil and, when boiling, put the dry noodles in.  Turn the heat off and leave the noodles to steep in the water for 4 minutes.  Give them a good stir and prod with a fork to break them up during this time.  When the four minutes is up, drain them through a colander and put them back into the pot with the sesame oil and give the noodles a good turn so they are coated in the oil.  This will help prevent them from clumping together.
   
5. Now to stir fry.  Heat a wok or large frying pan over a high heat and add the groundnut (peanut) oil.  When it is smoking, add the chicken and stir fry for 2-3 minutes.  The chicken should be golden brown on the outside and almost cooked on the inside.
   
6. Add all of the vegetables and the garlic (Many recipes call for the garlic to be added before the chicken but I find that if I do, it often burns and tastes bitter) and continue cooking for a further 2 – 3 minutes or so until the vegetables are softening but still have a little crunch to them.
   
7. Finally, add the noodles and the soy, sugar and remaining sesame oil, mixing everything together well to distribute the meat, vegetables, soy and sesame through the noodles evenly.