Ginger and garlic chicken stir fry
- Prepare
- less than 30 mins
- Cook
- 10 to 30 mins
- Serve
- Serves 4
There’s no need to buy bottles or sachets of sauce for a stir fry when you can make this homemade version so easily. The key with any stir fry is to get everything chopped and ready before you begin.
This recipe is served with rice because it's harder to find noodles that aren't ultra processed. If you prefer noodles, try soba or rice noodles which typically don't have additives.
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp cold pressed rapeseed oil (see tip)
- 4 boneless, skinless chicken thighs, trimmed of fat and thickly sliced
- 2 peppers, any colour, deseeded and sliced
- 1 large carrot, peeled and diagonally sliced
- 100g/3½oz small broccoli florets (see tip)
- 175g/6oz baby corn, trimmed and cut in half lengthways
- 8–10 spring onions, trimmed and diagonally sliced
- freshly cooked rice, to serve
For the sauce
Method
To make the sauce, put the soy sauce in a bowl and stir in the cornflour until smooth. Add the orange juice, honey, ginger and garlic and mix well together. Set aside
Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large frying pan or wok over a medium–high heat. Add the chicken and stir fry for 4 minutes or until lightly browned and cooked through. Transfer to a bowl and return the pan to the heat.
Add the remaining oil, peppers, carrot, broccoli and baby corn. Stir fry for a further 4–5 minutes, or until all the vegetables are just tender. Return the chicken and any juices to the pan.
Mix the sauce again and stir into the pan, along with the spring onions, and stir fry for 1 minute more, or until the sauce is thickened and glossy. Serve with rice.
Recipe tips
The easiest way to trim any fat from chicken thighs is using kitchen scissors, but you can also use a sharp knife. If you don’t fancy using thighs, swap for 2–3 boneless skinless chicken breasts, sliced, or use chicken mini fillets, cut in half.
Cold-pressed rapeseed oil is made with minimal processing and has a milder flavour than extra virgin olive oil. You could also use cold pressed sunflower oil but it is harder to get hold of.
Naturally brewed dark soy sauce is widely available. Check on labels for soy sauce made using minimal processing. It should only contain water, soybeans, flour and salt.
You can use any vegetables you like for this recipe – just ensure they are prepared so they cook quickly alongside any other vegetables. Any root vegetables will take longer, and you are best adding leafy greens such as pak choi, shredded cabbage or spinach towards the end of the cooking time.
Sliced mushrooms and cashew nuts can be used instead of the chicken for a vegetarian stir fry.
For a little more ‘heat’, add pinch of dried chilli flakes or chopped fresh chilli along with the sauce.
