Stir-fried chicken with shungiku & shitake mushrooms

INGREDIENTS

2 chicken breasts, cubed

1 tbsp soy sauce

6 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 red chilli Large ‘thumb’ of fresh ginger, finely chopped

12 drops sesame oil

1 dessertspoon tamarind paste ½ cup hot water

2 tbsp oil

1 small onion, chopped

1 carrot, thinly sliced

2 courgettes, split down the middle

and sliced

6 shitake mushrooms, sliced

1 handful each of fresh basil and

coriander leaves Fresh, young chrysanthemum leaves,

about 2 dessert bowls, loosely packed

METHOD

Marinate the chicken in the soy sauce, finely chopped garlic, chilli, ginger and 6 drops of sesame oil for half an hour. Soak the tamarind paste in the hot water, mush it up and set aside. Heat the oil in a wok or frying pan, add the onion, carrot, courgettes and mushrooms and a few drops of sesame oil, and stir-fry for about 5 minutes. Add the chicken pieces and marinade and stir-fry until the chicken is almost cooked. Add the tamarind paste-water mix, the chopped basil and coriander, cook for another minute or so, then add the chrysanthemum leaves. Cook until leaves are bright green and just tender (less than a minute). If using stems, cook these first, then add the leaves. Serve with noodles or rice.

Jenny Somervell ran her own specialist herb nursery. She now tends a half-acre herb garden, and she and husband Ken love to undertake cooking experiments.