Paul's special chicken hokkien noodle stir-fry

(serves 8)

One of the secret talents that Paul has is that he is a sauce-man. He tells me that sauce is all about the right balance of flavours; sweet, acidic, salty then you add depth and the kick. This is something that i seem to gloss over and am still trying to develop the tastebuds for. I do secretly admire how he has a way of giving a bit of a kick to an ordinary recipe, or keeping you guessing what exactly is in it... This sauce i asked/made him share with me as we had made it a couple of years in a row at our Ninja noodle bar and it was a big hit! It's a pretty complicated sauce for a stir-fry but does add that extra bit of depth and little bit of a chilli kick at the end! 

Prep time: 30 min + 2hrs marinade time
Cooking time: 10-15min

Ingredients
600g chicken thigh fillet
1 onion
1 capsicum
1 carrot
1 broccoli
6-8 medium mushrooms
4 cloves garlic
1kg hokkien noodles

Chicken marinade
1/2 C soy sauce
1 tsp salt
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp cornflour
3 cloves garlic, finely diced

Sauce
5.5-6 T soy sauce
2T oyster sauce
1.5 T sweet soy sauce
1 T dark soy sauce
1 T hoisin sauce
1 T Xiaoxing rice cooking wine
1/2 T sesame oil
2 pinches chicken stock
1/2 tsp cajun seasoning
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp chilli oil

Method
1. Cut the chicken into bite-size pieces and marinade in garlic, soy sauce, salt, sugar and cornflour. Leave for 1-2hrs.
2. Cut the onion, capsicum, carrot, broccoli and mushrooms into bite-size pieces. Finely dice the garlic.
3. Soak the hokkien noodles in cold water for 5 minutes to remove the oil, drain.
4. Prepare the sauce by combining all the ingredients and stirring well.

5. Heat the wok on high heat, add 1/2 T oil then add the garlic, onion and chicken and stir-fry for 3min.
6. Add the carrots, and broccoli and 2 T water and put the lid on and steam for another 2-3 minutes.
7. Add the capsicum and mushrooms and stir-fry for another 2 minutes. Add in 1/3 of the sauce and toss.

8. Add in the noodles and the remaining sauce and toss for another 3-4 minutes until noodles are soft.
NB. If the wok is too full already, then remove half the vegetables and plate them up on top of the noodles.

9. Serve warm, with sesame seeds!

Paul's chicken and vegetable hokkien noodle stir-fry
Ninja noodle bar 2014