Lemongrass Chicken Noodle Salad

Step 1

Remove the tough outer leaves of the lemongrass and discard. Bash with the lemongrass stalk with the back of your knife to bruise it and release its flavour, then finely chop. Add to a mortar and pestle. Add ginger, garlic, turmeric and brown sugar. Bash all ingredients together until it becomes a paste. Mix in fish sauce and oil. Alternatively, place all ingredients in a small food processor and blend until it becomes a paste.

Step 2

Pat chicken dry with paper towels. Combine chicken with lemongrass marinade in a bowl and leave to marinate for at least 15 minutes on the bench. If you have time, leave chicken to marinate for a few hours or overnight in the fridge (but ensure chicken is at room temperature when ready to cook).

Step 3

Bring a medium-sized pot of water to the boil. Meanwhile, prepare all the vegetables.

Step 4

Heat a drizzle of oil in a wok or large fry pan on high heat. Add marinated chicken and cook for about 5 minutes until well browned and just cooked through. Add coconut milk and use a wooden spoon to scrape any pan brownings from the bottom of the pan (there’s lots of flavour here!). Let the coconut milk bubble for a minute or so and reduce down. Turn off the heat.

Step 5

Cook noodles in boiling water for about 3 minutes or until just cooked through – be careful not to over-cook the noodles. Drain well and toss with coconut milk while noodles are still hot (this helps prevent them sticking together). Use scissors to snip noodles in a few places to shorten the strands (this makes for easier eating).

Step 6

Toss noodles with chicken and all it’s juices and marinade from the pan, beans, carrot, cucumber, cherry tomatoes and peanuts. Mix all dressing ingredients together and drizzle over noodles just before serving.

Step 7

To serve, divide between plates and scatter over lots of fresh herbs. Garnish with extra peanuts.