Charlie's chilli chicken noodles
An easy, tasty chiicken noodle recipe from regular contributor Charlie Edmunds - the winning entry in last year's Not-Pot-Noodle challenge!
Charlie says: "The joy of this recipe is that you can make it with fresh ingredients or dried flavourings - fresh feel nicer but dried are cheaper and easier to control - two fresh chillis from the same packet can vary hugely. If you have a chilli plant on your windowsill then remember that the longer you leave the chillis on the plant the spicier they will be - if you leave them until they're really dark red and wrinkly be prepared for some heat!"
Ingredients (for 2 people, or for one dinner and one lunch if you have a microwave handy)
2 chicken breasts
1 red pepper
1 onion
2 blocks fine egg noodles
Chilli (1 tsp dried flakes or 1 fresh red chilli)
Garlic (1 tsp dried garlic or 2 cloves fresh)
Ginger (1/2 tsp dried powder or a smallish chunk fresh)
Soy sauce and sweet chilli sauce to serve
* Put a little bit of oil in a frying pan or wok, put on the heat.
* Cut up the chicken into small pieces (same-sized for even cooking), put in hot wok. Stir.
* While this cooks chop up the onion and pepper - wash your knife and chopping board first with hot soapy water if you don't have a spare.
* If you're using fresh, chop the chilli, garlic, and ginger as finely as you can. If you have a garlic crusher the garlic flavour will come through more strongly. Don't try to crush the ginger unless you are
really strong!
* Put the kettle on to boil.
* When the chicken is cooked (cut a piece open if you're not sure) add the chilli, garlic, ginger, a glug of soy sauce, and stir to coat. Add a splash of water here if using dried ingredients.
* Add the pepper and onion and cook.
* Put the noodles in a saucepan, add hot water from the kettle, boil for 4 mins or according to instructions.
* Drain noodles, add to wok and stir if there is space.
* Serve in bowls, with more soy sauce and sweet chilli dipping sauce.
Warning: my boyfriend has been addicted to these ever since I showed him how to make them, and has been using ever-increasing amounts of chilli.