Recipe: Asian-inspired Chicken and Noodles
Asian-inspired Chicken and Noodles
-or-
ASIANISH CHICKEN NOODLE DISH TYPE THING
First up, this recipe uses peanuts. So. You know. If that's an issue, go ahead and turn back. Or make it without (don't forget to skip the peanut oil!), but I can't guarantee full deliciousness in that case. If you're a peanut-eater, however, here's what we're going for: chunks of chicken soaked with sweet-tangy-salty-spicy sauce, tossed in egg noodles with bell pepper, onions, and yummy crunchy peanuts. You could probably add any veggies you imagine would go-- like carrots, sugar snap peas, bean sprouts, whatever. But you'll have to remember things like cooking ahead if it has a long cook-time.
This recipe fed my family (four) nicely, with some leftovers, but the good news is that the leftovers heated up beautifully in the microwave-- so even if it's just you, you can think of this as cooking a few meals at a time.
SAUCE
As usual, I forgot to measure when making this sauce-- twice. But that's okay. I'm going to give you my best guess, but you should mess around with it. If you want more acid, add some more vinegar! If you want more sweetness, add more honey. The point is to get all the flavors in there in whatever combination you want. Here's my best guess for what I did:
- 1/2 cup of honey
- 1/3 cup soy sauce
- 1 lime-- zest and juice (remember to strain the juice and avoid the pith, or icky white stuff, when zesting)
- 1 teaspoon rice vinegar
- 1/4-1/2 teaspoon toasted sesame oil (you want to just barely taste it)
- 1/2 teaspoon juice off of the minced garlic jar, or maybe squeeze one or two cloves in the garlic press
- juice from ~3 inches of ginger root-- cut into chunks, peeled, soaked in a bit of water (for maybe 1/2 hour), and squeezed in the garlic press
- ~1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
Then just add a bit of honey, a bit of soy sauce, whatever you need to, until it tastes right to you. It's okay that there won't be enough to cover the chicken, because you'll want to stir it while it's in there anyways.
(This sauce is also pretty good on those pot stickers you get in the jumbo frozen bags. Or I imagine it would make for a good mayonnaise? SO MANY POSSIBILITIES.)
CHICKEN
The easy part is that we're looking for about four or five chicken breast halves. Ish. Depending on the size, how much you want, etc. Just. What you want x about four. Whatever. I'm bad at committing to precise recipes, but I swear it turns out delicious.
I'm using the frozen pre-grilled stuff. They even sell it cut into cubes. I'm lazy, okay? If you want to do it honest, I'd say you should just do a basic sort of a chicken breast bake. Like on a pan in the oven and don't burn it level of basic. Maybe some salt and pepper, idk. Or grill it, if you want.
The point is, right now we should all be in possession of some cooked chicken breast. Cut it into cubes about one or two inches across (or laugh mockingly because you bought it pre-cubed), and put it into a container (like tupperware) with the sauce. If it's still frozen, that's just fine-- or maybe even better, because as it thaws it seems to get all sorts of friendly with the flavors it's in there with. Seal it up and stick it in the fridge, and just stir it every few hours. Or maybe leave it overnight and then stir it up well in the morning and leave it there the rest of the day. At this point, the hard stuff is basically over.
VEGGIOSITY
In my case, this means onion and bell pepper (orange, which is my favorite, but use whatever you prefer). Like I said, you can add whatever you want, but the idea remains about the same. Wash and cut the veggies, and aim for sort of longish pieces. Think veggie noodles. I also chopped up an onion leaf, but I think the same effect could be achieved with a couple scallions or a handful of chives. (Also, WE'RE GROWING ONIONS THIS YEAR YOU GUYS. IT'S SORT OF EXCITING.) So, if you're going for an authentic Anne dish, that would be:
- 1 bell pepper, sliced into strips
- ~1/2 cup of onion, chopped (I used the frozen kind, but I think 1 small onion would work just fine)
- ~1/3 cup chopped onion leaf/scallion/chives
THE COOKING PROCESS
This is honestly the easiest part. First, cook a pot of egg noodles, or whatever sort of noodle you'd like. I'm really a fan of the egg noodles about 3/4 of an inch across and a few inches long. They're labelled as "extra-broad" for me. So, just cook them in the whole salted boiling water situation, and, when they finish, drain them. Aim for them to be a little al dente (that's non-mushy but no longer crunchy).
Okay, but back up, to when the noodles are still cooking. Put a splash (maybe a tablespoon?) of oil in a nice big frying pan (I'm fond of peanut oil, but I imagine canola oil would do just fine-- any of the unflavored cooking oils, really), and toss in the chopped onions on medium or medium-low heat. Let them cook down a bit, and then add the bell pepper. You can turn the heat up really high just for a bit, to get some browning on, but then back it off again. Once the veggies are starting to look yummy and soft and not raw, dump in the chicken and the sauce.
NOTE: WE ARE DUMPING IN THE SAUCE BECAUSE THE CHICKEN WAS ALREADY COOKED. DON'T FORGET THAT MARINADE USED ON RAW MEAT IS A NO-NO.
Stir it around, heating the chicken and coating everything. When there's a little steam rising, toss in the chopped onion leaf/scallion/chives, and a small handful of peanuts. If I had to guess, I'd say maybe half a cup? It depends on how much you like peanuts. Be sure to stir, because you don't want the peanuts to burn.
The sauce, meanwhile, should be reducing and looking stickier. Once you decide that yep, that looks sticky (One way to tell is that, if you tilt the pan slightly, it's a bit sluggish to flow downhill, and maybe looks like it's going at more of a fast-paced ooze), drop in the noodles. Hopefully they just came off the heat, but if your timing is off, well, they're about to get reheated anyways. Just toss the noodles around in the pan with everything else for maybe a minute or two, keeping the heat fairly low. The idea is that, not only is everything going to be hot, but the sauce is sticking to the noodles and soaking in. And now you're done!
This made around five servings for me, but I think you could call it closer to eight small servings or six proper servings if you had better self control. My brother decided he wanted more sauce, so maybe making another batch of that would be helpful, but my parents and I thought it was fine the way it was, so who knows?
Now, the TL;DR/"Anne, you are distracting me from my cooking!" version:
(See above for clarifications)
INGREDIENTS
- 1/2 cup of honey
- 1/3 cup soy sauce
- 1 lime-- zest and juice
- 1 teaspoon rice vinegar
- 1/4-1/2 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic juice
- juice from ~3 inches of (soaked) ginger root
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 4-5 precooked chicken breast halves (or equivalent amount)
- 1 bell pepper
- 1 small onion or ~1/2 cup frozen
- 1/3 cup chopped onion leaf/scallion/chives
- 1 bag egg noodles
- 1 tablespoon peanut oil (or similar)
- 1/2 cup peanuts
- 1/2 cup of honey
- 1/3 cup soy sauce
- 1 lime-- zest and juice
- 1 teaspoon rice vinegar
- 1/4-1/2 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
- ~1/2 teaspoon garlic juice
- juice from ~3 inches of (soaked) ginger root
- ~1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
Chop 4-5 precooked chicken breast halves into 1-2 inch cubes; put into sauce container, leave to soak, stirring occasionally.
Slice 1 bell pepper, chop 1 small onion (or use 1/2 cup pre-chopped), chop 1/3 cup onion leaf/scallion/chives.
Cook 1 bag (usually claims six servings) broad egg noodles or similar noodles; drain.
Meanwhile, sauté onions in frying pan with 1 tablespoon peanut oil (or similar oil); add bell peppers and briefly increase heat to produce browning, then reduce heat back to medium-low.
Pour in chicken and sauce, continuing to stir. Add onion leaf/scallions/chives and ~1/2 cup of peanuts. Continue stirring. When sauce begins to look reduced, add drained noodles. Reduce heat to low, and stir for a couple minutes, until combined. Serve hot.