Stir-fry Prawns with vegetables and noodles

A really easy and colourful dish!  Serves 3. 

Ingredients

• 250g jumbo king prawns
• Small brown onion, chopped
• 2-3 florets of broccoli, split into small pieces
• 8 button mushrooms, quartered
• Yellow pepper, sliced
• 2 carrots, peeled and sliced
• Tablespoon of mirrin.
• 2 tablespoons light soy sauce
• Tablespoon of sunflower oil.
• Noodles

Note: The timing for this recipe is the crucial element. You need to ensure that the prawns go in to the pan to coincide with the noodles cook time. Pre-cooked prawns only need 3 mins cooking time, so if you have 3 minute fine noodles, it is easy to set them going at the same time. Raw prawns will need 4-5 minutes, so put them in just before you start the noodles. 

Method

• Chop all the vegetables, and put in a small frying pan with the oil. Stir fry for around 4-5 minutes until the onions start to soften, but the broccoli and carrots still have some bite. 
• Put the noodles into a pan of boiling water and cook according to instructions. 
• At the same time, add the prawns to the frying pan vegetables with the mirrin and soy sauces. Put on the pan lid and lift it off to move the prawns around once or twice. 
• If the prawns are raw (grey coloured) then cook gently until they just turn pink, but no longer. (Usually 4-5 minutes).
• If they are pre-cooked (pink), then cook the prawns gently for 2-3 minutes to heat them through. 
• Season with salt and black pepper, serve with the noodles, pouring the resulting light broth from the bottom of the pan over the top.

Five spice chicken and rice

This is a variation on my soy chicken and vegetable rice dish, (May 2015). It takes hardly any time to prepare and cook - 25 minutes at most. As with the soy chicken recipe, it’s easy to scale up the ingredients as you will see.

Ingredients

Three large chicken breasts, approx. 400g in total, (defrost if frozen)
One onion, chopped
Red pepper, chopped
Soy sauce (I use light soy, but the choice is yours)
Sunflower or olive oil
160g Basmati rice
Two big pinches of Chinese 5 Spice
Small scattering of chilli flakes
Salt.

Method

• Cut the chicken breasts into strips, cutting across the breast, put in a bowl and pour over enough soy sauce to colour the meat and have a bit ponding in the bottom of the bowl. Sprinkle Chinese 5 Spice over the chicken and leave.
• Chop the onion and slice the red pepper.
• Switch on the kettle to boil water for the rice.
• Heat up around 2tbsp of the oil in a frying pan, add the onion and pepper, stir frequently and when they  start to soften, remove from the pan and keep on one side.
• Meanwhile, start cooking the rice. Tip about 1.5 litres of boiled water from the kettle into your saucepan, (it saves time) and bring back to a rolling boil. At that point, tip in the basmati rice, bring back to the boil and simmer on a medium heat for 13 minutes exactly. No stirring, just leave it while you get on doing the rest of the meal.
• Turn up the heat under the frying pan. Tip in the chicken and the soy sauce from the bowl. Stir quickly to stop it burning, then once the meat starts to colour, turn down the heat to a low setting. Tip the onion and pepper back into the pan, add a sprinkle of chilli flakes, put on the pan lid and simmer while the rice cooks in the other pan. Stir occasionally. Add salt to taste and ensure the mixture doesn’t dry out.
• Once the rice is ready, drain it into a colander or sieve and pour half a kettle of hot water (boiled but not boiling) over the rice. Leave the rice to drain for a minute or two then return it to the rice pan. Put the lid back on to keep the heat in.
• Check the frying pan. The chicken should be cooked through.
• Serve in shallow bowls, rice first with chicken on top. 

Soy chicken and vegetable rice

It’s that day of the week immediately before you do your weekly shop and the fridge is looking a little bit empty. For me, this is usually a Tuesday and I’m looking to make something quick and easy from the contents of my freezer and the kitchen cupboards. 

This supper is a hit with my family and is good for using up left-over vegetables from the fridge. It takes hardly any time to prepare and cook and can be served in a bowl to save on the washing up. It’s also easy to scale up the ingredients as you will see.

Ingredients

Three chicken breasts (defrost if frozen)

One onion, chopped

Soy sauce (I use light soy, but the choice is yours)

Frozen peas - handful

Sunflower oil

160g Basmati rice

Coriander leaf – a liberal scattering

Small scattering of chilli flakes

Salt

Crushed black pepper

Any/all of the following – whatever is left in your fridge:

Red or yellow pepper, chopped

Mushrooms, sliced, or quartered if bigger than button-sized

Broccoli head, split into quite small florets (even a small amount of left over broccoli can go a long way in this recipe)

Carrot or two, peeled and thinly sliced

Sweetcorn niblets – out of the can or handful of frozen

Method

• Cut the chicken breasts into big cubes, put in a bowl and pour over enough soy sauce to colour the meat and have a bit ponding in the bottom of the bowl.

• Chop up all the fresh vegetables including the onion.

• Switch on the kettle to boil water for the rice.

• Heat up around 2tbsp of sunflower oil in a big frying pan, add the onions, stir frequently and when they start to soften, add all the other veg. Keep the veg moving occasionally and fry on a medium heat for a couple of minutes until they start to cook.

• Meanwhile, start cooking the rice. Here’s how I get lovely rice – tip 1.5 litres of boiled water from the kettle into your saucepan, (it saves time) and bring back to a rolling boil. At that point, tip in the basmati rice, bring back to the boil and simmer on a medium heat for 13 minutes exactly. No stirring, just leave it while you get on doing the rest of the meal.

• Tip the onion and other vegetables out of the pan and keep on one side.

• Turn up the heat under the frying pan. Tip in the chicken and the soy sauce from the bowl. Stir quickly to stop it burning, then once the meat starts to colour, turn down the heat, tip the onions and vegetables back into the pan, add the frozen peas and/or sweecorn, put on the pan lid and simmer while the rice cooks in the other pan. Stir occasionally. Add salt, pepper, sprinkle of chilli flakes and coriander leaf. The soy sauce, frozen peas and the pan lid should ensure the mixture doesn’t dry out.

• Once the rice is ready, drain it into a colander or sieve and pour half a kettle of hot water (boiled but not boiling) over the rice. Leave the rice to drain for a minute or two then return it to the rice pan. Put the lid back on to keep the heat in.

• Check the frying pan. The chicken should be cooked through. Tip the contents into the rice pan.

Mix it all up, serve into shallow pasta-style bowls and enjoy.