Project Cookbook #1 – Donna Hay’s Off The Shelf

Recipe chosen:

Chilli Cashew Chicken Noodles

• 200g dried rice noodles (I used a packet of Fantastic Fresh Rice Noodles)
• 2 tablespoons peanut oil
• 2 onions, sliced into wedges (I just diced one large one)
• 4 large red chillies, deseeded and chopped (I used two large red chillis which I pickled in vinegar last year)
• 1/4 cup sugar (I used a tablespoon)
• 4 chicken breasts, sliced (I used 2)
• I red capsicum, deseeded and sliced
• 3/4 cup roasted cashews (I used almonds as we were out)
• 2 tbsp fish sauce
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• coriander leaves (you can see from the picture my coriander plants are bolting, so I used flowers!)

Procedure (condensed)

1. Cook noodles.
2. Fry onion, chilli and sugar in the oil. Set aside.
3. Stirfry chicken until browned, then add capsicum, nuts, sauces and lemon juice.
4. Add onion mixture, noodles and stir in together to warm through.
5. Serve sprinkled with coriander.

This was quick and easy to prepare (about 20 mins from go to woah). It was quite tasty and spicy but lacked a depth of flavour. Maybe caramelising the sauce a bit more would have helped with this, or even adding another level with something like kaffir lime leaves. Extra soy helped a little. There was also too much onion, and the almond substitution didn’t qute work.

The verdict: lip tingling spiciness, but needed something else. Worth playing around with to balance the flavours for an easy after-work dinner.