Easy Eats: Curry Udon Noodles with Barbecued Chicken

Serves 4 / Prep time: 10 minutes / Cook time: 20 minutes

Need some inspiration for what to do with a store-bought barbecued chook? Sam Parish is here to help with a recipe that shows another way to make the ‘bachelors handbag’ prove its worth. This recipe - slippery noodles coated in an easy curry sauce with pops of broccoli and beans and finished with a fresh crunchy salad and chilli peanut crisp - is a guaranteed hit if you're looking for a midweek fakeaway.

Sam Parish's curry udon noodles with a barbecued chicken - the perfect fakeaway. Photo: Sam Parish

Ingredients

• 400g fresh udon noodles (look in the supermarket chiller for these)
• 4 spring onions, white part finely sliced, green part shredded
• Handful of green beans, thinly sliced
• 1 broccoli, stem sliced into matchsticks, top cut into small florets
• 1 telegraph cucumber, half shredded, half sliced
• 2 Tbsp curry powder
• 1 Tbsp cornflour
• 5cm piece ginger, finely grated
• 2 garlic cloves, finely grated
• ¼ cup (60ml) dark soy sauce, plus extra to serve
• 1 Tbs black vinegar
• 1 supermarket barbecued chicken
• 2 cups (500ml) chicken stock or water
• 2 tsp each sesame oil and vegetable oil
• Juice of ½ lemon
• Peanut chilli crisp, to serve

Method

Put the noodles in a bowl and cover with hot water. Set aside.

Prep all the vegetables (slice and shred the spring onion, slice the beans, chop up the broccoli, slice and shred the cucumber).

Remove chicken from bag and shred the meat (reserve bones to make a stock for another night if you can be bothered).

Combine curry powder, cornflour, vinegar and soy in a bowl. Add cold stock or water to chicken bag and shake to get all the juices hiding below. Combine with curry mixture.

Heat oils in a frypan over high heat add white shallot, broccoli, green beans and cook for 2-3 minutes or until slightly softened and aromatic. Add the shredded chicken and curry liquid, bring to the boil then cover, reduce to low and cook for six minutes or until broccoli is tender.

Drain the noodles and add, folding them into the sauce until they are well-coated.

Toss shredded cucumber and green spring onion tops in a bowl and squeeze over lemon. 

Divide the noodles between bowls and top with cucumber salad, extra soy, and chilli crisp to serve.

Photo: Sam Parish

Sam Parish is a Christchurch-based chef, writer and food stylist. Her food philosophy is ‘maximum of flavour, minimum of fuss’ (MOFMOF), which means she’s all about cooking smarter, not harder. She’ll be sharing delicious, fast, family-friendly food ideas every Wednesday (after road-testing them on her own whānau, of course).

Sam’s first book Cook Me is out now.