Sticky Ginger Chicken

This is a good, simple oriental dish which is full of flavour but sufficiently unthreatening that all the family enjoy it.  I have a long list of attempted but failed Chinese recipes that just don’t quite have the same flavour punch as when I’m eating out.  Maybe it’s those secret ingredients on the high street (salt, more salt and MSG) but this manages to remain healthy and flavourful!   It also works nicely with rice.

Ingredients

• A thumb-sized piece of fresh ginger
• 1 tablespoon of light soy sauce
• 3 tablespoon of sweet chilli sauce
• 1 lime
• 4 skinless chicken breasts
• 7 ounces / 200g pak choi
• noodles
• sesame oil

Method

Peel and finely grate the ginger.

Finely grate the lime zest.

In a bowl, mix the grated ginger, chilli sauce, soy sauce, and the freshly squeezed juice of the lime and its zest.

Make four diagonal cuts across each chicken breast.

Add the breasts to the bowl, making sure the breasts are all fully coated with the mixture. Leave this to marinade for 30 minutes.

Pre-heat the oven to 190°C / 375°F / gas mark 5.

Line a baking tray with greaseproof paper or foil.

Place the chicken breasts on the lined tray and pour over the rest of the marinade.

Cook for 25 minutes until baked through and caramelised.

Cut the pak choi leaves in half if they are large. Steam them for 3 – 5 minutes until they are softened.

Cook noodles according to the packet instructions and drain.

Once the chicken has cooked, slice it on a diagonal, put it in a bowl with the noodles and toss together with any leftover sauce.

On each plate, make a bed of noodles and dress with a few drops of soy sauce and sesame oil.

Place the pak choi on top of the noodles and finally the chicken breasts on top.

Tips

If you don’t use ginger on a daily basis there is always a risk it will go off quickly and become fibrous. One way to make it last longer is to put it in a paper bag and store it in the vegetable crisper of your fridge. But if you need to store it for longer, try cutting the ginger into chunks small enough to fit into a bottle or a jar and cover with enough dry sherry. Then put this in the fridge. Never freeze ginger. Defrosting will ruin its texture and flavour.

Try rice as a substitute for noodles.

Trivia

Ginger is one of the three most popular ingredients in Chinese cuisine along with spring onions (scallions) and garlic.