SATAY CHICKEN with VERMICELLI

I got the inspiration to make this dish from a recipe entitled ‘Lemon Grass Chicken with Chilli Dipping Sauce’. Now, if you read below, you will see that I did not use lemon grass or chilli (the only ingredient that remained the same between the two recipes was chicken!). I actually was not in possession of either of those ingredients and had I been I doubt I would have been in the mood to prepare them, being 8pm on a slothful Friday night. Instead I turned to one of my favourite quotes; ‘necessity is the mother of invention’ (anyone who has seen Little Women will get this reference) and I unearthed a bottle of satay sauce in my fridge. Using this as the base sauce with a dash of onion, garlic and sesame oil was delicious when paired with the fresh rice vermicelli noodles, cucumber and carrot. So simple! 

INGREDIENTS

• 400g chicken breasts, cut into 4cm pieces
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1 green onion, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, finely diced
• 2 tablespoons peanut satay sauce 
• 1 lebanese cucumber, sliced into thin strips
• 1 small carrot, sliced into thin strips
• 125g rice vermicelli noodles 
• 1 tablespoon sesame seeds 

COOKING 

1. Heat sesame oil in a wok on low-medium heat and swirl to coat. Add chicken pieces and cook, stirring constantly, until chicken is white in colour. Add green onion & garlic to the wok and stir for a few minutes or until chicken is light brown in colour and is cooked through. Add peanut satay sauce to the wok and stir for 1 minute, coating the chicken. 

2. Meanwhile, place noodles in a medium saucepan and cover with boiling water. Stand for just 1-2 minutes or until noodles are tender and then drain well. 

3. Serve noodles with cooked satay chicken on top and cucumber and carrot on the side or mixed together. Serve with sesame seeds sprinkled on top of chicken. 

x E