Chicken pad thai

There’s no need to ring your local Thai takeaway – make this classic noodle dish in a jiffy!

Preparation time 15 mins Cooking time 20 mins Serves 4

500g chicken breast fillets, cut into thin strips (see Cook’s tips, page 92)

1 Tbsp kecap manis

(sweet soy sauce)

240g store-bought pad thai paste 2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice

2 Tbsp fish sauce

1 tsp sesame oil

250g rice stick noodles

(5mm thick) 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive

oil light in flavour

1 red onion, thinly sliced

1 carrot, cut into matchsticks 100g snow peas, cut into 1cm pieces 2 cups bean sprouts

4 free-range eggs, beaten

3 green shallots or garlic chives,

sliced into 3cm lengths, to serve Finely chopped red chilli, to serve Lemon wedges, to serve Crushed peanuts or

cashews, to serve

Dried chilli flakes, to serve

STEP 1 Put chicken, kecap manis and 2 tablespoons of the pad thai paste in a large bowl. Toss well and set aside to marinate. Put remaining pad thai paste in a medium bowl and stir through lemon juice, fish sauce, sesame oil and 1 tablespoon of water.

STEP 2 Put noodles in a large heatproof bowl and cover with hot (but not boiling) water. Set aside for 10 minutes or until just softened.

STEP 3 Meanwhile, heat a wok over a high heat until just starting to smoke. Pour in 2 teaspoons of the oil then add half of the chicken. Stir-fry for 5 minutes or until cooked through. Set aside in a bowl. Add 2 teaspoons of the remaining oil to wok and stir-fry remaining chicken. Set aside.

STEP 4 Add 2 teaspoons of remaining oil to the wok and stir-fry onion, carrot and snow peas for 2 minutes. Return all chicken to wok. Drain noodles and add to wok along with pad thai paste mixture. Stir-fry for 1 minute, tossing well to coat. Stir in half of the bean sprouts. Set aside in a bowl.

STEP 5 Put remaining oil in wok then add beaten egg. Cook, scraping egg mixture from edge of wok into centre to allow raw egg to fill gaps, for 2 minutes or until all egg has set. Transfer egg to a serving platter and top with noodle mixture. Scatter with shallots or garlic chives, chilli and remaining bean sprouts.

STEP 6 Serve chicken pad thai with lemon wedges, peanuts or cashews and chilli flakes.

Chicken pad thai