Ingredients

• 3 tbsp crunchy peanut butter
• 2 tbsp tahini
• 3 tbsp soy sauce
• 3 garlic cloves
• grated
• 2.5cm/1in piece fresh ginger
• grated
• 2 tbsp honey
• 1 tbsp Sriracha hot sauce
• 1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
• 750g/1lb 10oz fresh udon noodles (or 3 x 250g/9oz pouches)
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 3 large skinless
• boneless chicken breasts
• thinly sliced
• ½ tsp Sichuan peppercorns
• crushed
• 2 carrots
• peeled and cut into thin strips
• 200g/7oz mangetout
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 4 spring onions
• finely sliced on an angle
• 100g/3½oz caster sugar
• 50ml/2fl oz red wine vinegar
• 1 tbsp chilli oil
• 2 tbsp finely chopped mint leaves
• 50g/1¾oz roasted peanuts
• roughly chopped
• ½ cucumber
• finely sliced

Directions

• For the peanut sauce
• mix all the ingredients together in a bowl with 3 tablespoons of water until evenly combined. Set aside.
• For the chicken noodles
• bring a pan of salted water to the boil. Add the noodles
• bring back to a simmer and cook for 1–1 minutes
• or until tender. Drain in a colander
• keeping back some of the cooking water. Cool the noodles under cold running water and set aside.
• For the chilli dressing
• dissolve the sugar in the wine vinegar in a small pan over a low heat
• stirring often. Increase the heat
• bring to the boil
• and simmer for 3–4 minutes. Take off the heat and stir in the chilli oil. Allow to cool completely
• then stir in the mint.
• For the chicken noodles
• heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large wok over a high heat until smoking. Add half of the chicken with half of the Szechuan peppercorns
• and stir fry for 2 minutes
• or until it is browned all over and just cooked. Remove and set aside on a plate. Repeat with the remaining chicken and peppercorns (but don’t use any more oil).
• Once all the chicken is cooked and set aside on a plate
• add the remaining oil to the wok and return to a high heat. When it is smoking
• add the carrots
• mangetout and sesame oil and stir-fry for 1 minute.
• Add the spring onions
• noodles
• peanut sauce and chicken to the wok
• along with a few tablespoonfuls of the reserved noodle cooking water
• and stir-fry for 3–4 minutes. Add half of the peanuts and mix well.
• Serve in warmed bowls
• topped with more peanuts
• sliced cucumber and a drizzle of chilli dressing.