Chicken Chow Mein with Bok Choi

If, like me, one of the first things you learned to cook was stir fry, you`ll love this dish. This is, in my opinion, the grown up version of stir fry. It`s a bit trickier than just adding veggies and meat to a wok, but not much more. This was my first experience working with bok choi (a japanese cabbage) and have to admit that I felt like an organic superstar at the grocery store buying it. It was really delicious and gave the food a very authentic feel. The first time I made this dish though, I didn`t buy the whole bok choi (only 1 or 2 of the leaves) and was sorrily disappointed - like spinach, the bok choi leaves wilt down significantly so you really do want to buy the whole thing. Another word to the wise: don`t skimp out on the water chestnuts - their crunchiness really adds to the experience. Soooo good the next day. Bon appétit!

Ingredients:
• a thumb-sized piece of fresh root ginger
• 2 cloves of garlic
• ½–1 fresh red chilli, to your taste
• 1 large skinless chicken breast, preferably
free-range or organic
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 spring onions
• a small bunch of fresh coriander
• 1 bok choi
• 100g (2 bundles) chow mein noodles
• groundnut oil (yah... I don't know what this is... we just used regular oil...)
• 1 heaped teaspoon cornflour
• 1 x 220g tin of water chestnuts
• 2–3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 small lime

To prepare your stir-fry:
• Put a large pan of water on to boil
• Peel and finely slice the ginger and garlic
• Finely slice the chilli
• Slice the chicken into finger-sized strips and lightly season with salt and pepper
• Cut the ends off your spring onions and finely slice
• Pick the coriander leaves and put to one side, and finely chop the coriander stalks
• Halve the bok choi lengthways
• If using the mushrooms, either tear into pieces or leave whole

here are some pictures of the play-by-play from Jamie's website:



To cook your stir-fry:
1. Preheat a wok or large frying pan on a high heat and once it’s very, very hot add a good lug of groundnut oil and swirl it around. Stir in the chicken strips and cook for a couple of minutes, until the chicken browns slightly. 

2. Add the ginger, garlic, chilli, coriander stalks, mushrooms (if using) and half the spring onions. Stir-fry for 30 seconds, keeping everything moving round the wok quickly. 

3. Add your noodles and bok choi to the boiling water and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, no longer. 

4. Meanwhile, add the cornflour, water chestnuts and their water to the wok and give it another good shake to make sure nothing sticks to the bottom. Remove from the heat and stir in 2 tablespoons of soy sauce. 

5.  Halve the lime, squeeze the juice of one half into the pan and mix well. Drain the noodles and bok choi in a colander over a bowl, reserving a little of the cooking water. Stir in the noodles and bok choi, with a little of the cooking water to loosen if necessary, and mix well. Have a taste and season with more soy sauce if needed

To serve your stir-fry
Use tongs to divide everything between two bowls or plates, or to lift on to one large serving platter. Spoon any juices over the top and sprinkle with the rest of the spring onions and the coriander leaves. Serve with lime wedges

- recipe and photo cred to Jamie Oliver