Denise Welch's crispy chicken and coconut noodles recipe
UK TV star Denise Welch shared this crispy chicken and coconut noodles recipe with Beder UK, the mental health charity, for the new Eat With Beder cookbook, which helps raise awareness around mental wellbeing and suicide prevention.
Denise says: “If I could give my younger self some advice, it would be: 1. The unwelcome visitor always leaves. 2. Try and ride it out. 3. Don’t self-medicate. 4. Talk to anyone who will listen. These days I look after my mental health by staying sober, nurturing my marriage, and eating well. That last one doesn’t cure depression but eating badly does compound it.”
Ingredients
For the noodles- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 3 cloves of garlic, minced
- 4 spring onions, finely sliced
- 5 cm fresh ginger, grated
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 0.5 tsp gochugaru or chilli flakes
- 400 ml tinned coconut milk
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 pak choi, halved lengthways
- 180 g dried ramen
- 2 chicken breasts
- 40 g plain flour
- 1 egg, beaten
- 50 g panko breadcrumbs
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 2 jammy soft-boiled eggs, halved
- 2 spring onions, finely chopped
- 1 pinch of sesame seeds
- 1 pinch of chilli flakes
- 1 drizzle of chilli oil
Details
- Cuisine: Japanese-inspired
- Recipe Type: Noodles
- Difficulty: Medium
- Preparation Time: 20 mins
- Cooking Time: 25 mins
- Serves: 2
Step-by-step
- Put the oil into a medium saucepan over a medium heat and add the garlic, spring onions and ginger. Fry for 1-2 minutes until fragrant and starting to soften. Add in the tomato paste and gochugaru or chilli flakes and cook for 30 seconds. Pour in the coconut milk, soy sauce and 250ml of boiling water and stir to combine, then take off the heat and set aside until needed.
- Put the chicken breasts between two sheets of parchment and bash with a rolling pin to flatten until they are an even 1-2cm thickness. Put the flour, egg and breadcrumbs into 3 separate bowls. Season the chicken breasts with salt and then dip them into the flour, then the beaten egg and finally the breadcrumbs until fully coated. Heat the oil in a large non-stick frying pan and fry the breadcrumbed chicken for 5-6 minutes on either side until golden brown and cooked through.
- Once the chicken is almost cooked, bring the coconut milk broth you made earlier to the boil and then turn the heat down to a simmer. Add the pak choi and ramen, then cover and simmer for 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally until the pak choi is soft but still has a bite and the ramen is cooked.
- Slice the crispy chicken diagonally into strips. Ladle the ramen noodles, pak choi and broth into bowls, place the chicken on top and finish with your desired toppings such as soft-boiled eggs and spring onions. Sprinkle over some sesame seeds and chilli flakes, then drizzle with chilli oil if you like.
Recipe extracted from Eat With Beder by Razzak Mirjan (Meze Publishing, £24.99). Photography by Kimberley Espinel.
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