Chicken chow mein

Step 1

Use a potato peeler to remove the skin from the ginger. Discard skin, then carefully grate 1 tbsp from the root. Put in a bowl, crush in the garlic, and add the ketchup, oyster sauce, soy sauce and 3 tbsp water. Stir.

Step 2

Use a sharp knife to cut the pepper into quarters on a board. Remove the seeds and stalk, then slice diagonally into strips. Cut the ends from the spring onions, and cut the green and white of the onion lengthways. Open the bag of beansprouts. Cut the chicken into bite-size pieces.

Step 3

Boil a large pan of water on the hob. when the water is boiling, drop in the noodles, turn off the heat and set the timer to 4 mins. when the time is up, drain in a colander or a large sieve in the sink. ask an adult to help you.

Step 4

With everything prepared, you can now start cooking. Heat the wok – it’s hot enough when it starts to smoke. add the oil and chicken. Use a wooden spoon to keep moving the chicken around the wok until it is half white, half pink. add the pepper and stir-fry for a further 1 min.

Step 5

Pour the sauce into the wok and stir well until bubbling.

Step 6

Add the noodles, beansprouts and spring onions a handful at a time, then toss into the sauce until it is well coated, stirring constantly until the beansprouts wilt. Serve in bowls – an easy way is to use tongs.