Express Chicken & Peanut-Chilli Udon Noodles

Ingredients

• 500g chicken breast, cut into strips
• 4 packets fresh udon noodles
• 2 cups julienned carrot
• 2 spring onions
• 1 lemon
• 4 tsp minced garlic (replaces garlic paste)
• 2 tbsp sesame seeds
• 4 tbsp peanut butter
• 1/2 tsp chilli flakes — staple
• 3 tbsp sesame oil
• 4 tbsp soy sauce (replaces soy sauce mix)
• 2 tbsp kecap manis (replaces "sweet soy seasoning")
• 2 bags baby spinach (wilted into the noodles, not raw)
• 4 tbsp crushed peanuts
• 2 heads bok choy, roughly chopped
• 1 head broccoli, cut into small florets
• 2 cloves garlic, sliced

Method

1. Cook udon + carrot in a large pot of boiling water 2-3 min, gently separating; drain, rinse.
2. Sauce: large bowl with garlic, sesame seeds, peanut butter, chilli flakes, sliced spring onion. Heat sesame oil until just smoking, pour over. Add soy + squeeze of lemon; mix.
3. Toss chicken strips with kecap manis; pan-fry in 2-3 batches, 4-5 min each, until browned and cooked.
4. Asian greens: heat a splash of oil, add the sliced garlic, then the broccoli florets and bok choy with 2 tbsp water; toss with a lid on 3-4 min until bright green and just tender.
5. Toss noodles, carrot, spinach and a splash of water through the peanut sauce — use your biggest bowl or the noodle pot, it's a lot of volume. Top with chicken + crushed peanuts, greens alongside.

Notes

Serves 4 (cook once, eat two days). Meat ~500g per recipe per house rule (~125g/serve). Est ~705cal/42g protein per serve; original HF 693cal/47.6g. Veg sweep: carrot + spinach only came to ~115g/serve, so the house Asian greens side (bok choy + broccoli, garlic pan-tossed) is now a required component, taking it to ~200g veg/serve; calories +50 and protein +2. The baby spinach bags stay — they are a single-ingredient pack and are wilted into the hot noodles, not eaten raw. Carrot, lemon, garlic, peanut butter, sesame oil and soy sauce lost their staple markers and gained search hints.