Chicken chow mein
Works in the UK and the US. This version uses UK words and measures (hob, grams, gas marks); the US version uses stove, cups and °F. · US version of this page
Stir-fried noodles with chicken and crunchy vegetables in a soy and honey sauce – fast, hot wok cooking with raw chicken handled safely.
- Serves 4
- About 35 min
- Hob
- Best for: KS3 (ages 11–14)
Ingredients
- 250 g medium egg noodles – contains gluten, eggs
- 300 g skinless chicken breast fillets
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1 tbsp fresh ginger, peeled and grated
- 2 carrots
- 1 red or yellow pepper
- 4 spring onions
- 150 g white cabbage, finely shredded
- 3 tbsp soy sauce – contains soya, gluten
- 1 tbsp runny honey
Need a different amount? Use the recipe finder to change the servings.
Equipment
- red (raw meat) chopping board
- second chopping board for vegetables
- 2 knives
- peeler
- garlic crusher
- grater
- large saucepan
- colander
- wok or large frying pan
- wooden spatula
- small jug
- food thermometer
Safety first
- Wash your hands with soap for at least 20 seconds, tie back long hair and put on a clean apron.
- Ask about allergies before anyone cooks or tastes. This recipe contains: gluten, eggs, soya.
- Keep raw meat away from ready-to-eat food: use a separate board and knife, and wash hands, boards and knives in hot soapy water after touching it.
- Never wash raw chicken – it splashes bacteria around the kitchen.
- Carry knives pointing down, put them down flat, and never leave one in the washing-up water.
- Turn pan handles inwards and keep the area around the hob clear.
Allergens: Cereals containing gluten, Eggs, Soya. Always read every label and ask about allergies before anyone cooks or tastes.
Method
- First, on the vegetable board, peel the carrots and cut them into thin sticks. Slice the pepper and spring onions. Crush the garlic and grate the ginger.
- Mix the soy sauce and honey in the small jug.
- On the raw-meat board, with its own knife, cut the chicken into thin strips. Do not wash raw chicken. Wash your hands, the board and the knife in hot soapy water.
- Teacher-led: Cook the noodles in a pan of boiling water as the packet says, then an adult drains them in the colander and tosses them with a few drops of oil so they do not stick. (4 min)
- Teacher-led: Heat the oil in the wok over a high heat. Stir-fry the chicken, keeping it moving, until golden. (6 min)
- Teacher-led: Cut the thickest strip in half: cook until there is no pink meat, the juices run clear and it is steaming hot all the way through – a food thermometer in the thickest part should read at least 75 °C.
- Teacher-led: Add the garlic, ginger, carrot, pepper and cabbage and stir-fry until just tender but still crunchy. (3 min)
- Teacher-led: Add the noodles, sauce and spring onions and toss everything together until hot. Serve straight away. (2 min)
What this recipe teaches
Knife skills: the claw grip, Mixing, Handling raw meat and fish safely, Boiling and simmering, Shallow frying and stir-frying, Checking food is cooked safely. Steps marked “Adult” are always done by an adult; steps marked “Teacher-led” are done by an adult for primary-age children and closely supervised for older pupils.
Nutrition per serving
| Energy | 1713 kJ / 409 kcal |
|---|---|
| Fat | 9.4 g |
| of which saturates | 0.9 g |
| Carbohydrate | 57.8 g |
| of which sugars | 12.8 g |
| Fibre | 5.5 g |
| Protein | 27.2 g |
| Salt | 2.58 g |
Worked out from the raw ingredients (optional ones and pinches not counted) using CoFID 2021 (McCance and Widdowson’s Composition of Foods Integrated Dataset, Public Health England). Brands vary – check labels.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0: McCance and Widdowson’s The Composition of Foods Integrated Dataset 2021, Public Health England.
Eatwell Guide groups in this recipe: Fruit and vegetables; Potatoes, bread, rice, pasta and other starchy carbohydrates; Beans, pulses, fish, eggs, meat and other proteins; Oil and spreads. Learn about the Eatwell Guide.
Foods high in fat, salt or sugar sit outside the Eatwell Guide – enjoy them less often and in small amounts.
Curriculum links
- KS3 D&T – Cooking and nutrition: “cook a repertoire of predominantly savoury dishes so that they are able to feed themselves and others a healthy and varied diet”
- KS3 D&T – Cooking and nutrition: “become competent in a range of cooking techniques [for example, selecting and preparing ingredients; using utensils and electrical equipment; applying heat in different ways; using awareness of taste, texture and smell to decide how to season dishes and combine ingredients; adapting and using their own recipes]”
Try the interactive lesson
Step by step: a quick safety check, questions marked by Classfern, timers for each cooking step, then an honest look at how it went – a teacher or parent judges the cooking, and learners rate their own work. Photos of the finished dish stay at home.
Use the code your teacher gave you – never your name. Progress is kept on this device.