Sesame chicken and vegetable noodle bowls with coconut broth

I blame David Chang for this obsession I have with saucy, soupy noodles lately. Ever since watching the first season of his absolutely brilliant series “The Mind of a Chef”, I have been craving noodles almost daily. Just when I think I’m over it, I remember him slurping the perfect Ramen noodles in Japan and I’m right back there, hankering after my own slurping experience. I don’t really think that craving will ever be satisfied and I’m kind of pleased about that.

You see, noodles and noodle dishes are just so very versatile. Of course, they work mainly with Asian flavours but to think of all the possibilities would take hours. In this noodle bowl, I’ve included sweet, sticky sesame chicken (using exactly the same recipe as I did for my Sticky sesame chicken pieces), an array of steamed vegetables, egg noodles and a delectable coconut broth to add that saucy slurp that is so necessary when eating noodles. The broth is made from the left-over sticky sauce the chicken was cooked in and I simply added some coconut milk. This broth you guys, I could drink it (and in fact I did just that while I was waiting for the noodles to cook.)

So here’s how you do these bowls: You cook the noodles, chicken, veg and broth. You put it all out in pots/bowls/plates of your choice and your guests put together the bowl of their choice. They get to add as much or as little of what they want and this results in a really social, casual way of entertaining, which is after all my favourite way of doing things. Add a few icy beers and you’re golden!

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Sesame chicken and vegetable noodle bowls with coconut broth

Course Asian, Dinner, Noodles

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes

Total Time 50 minutes

Servings 4 -6

Author Alida Ryder

Ingredients

for the sesame chicken

• 8 skinless chicken thighs
• 1/2 quantity of the sweet sesame chicken glaze

for the coconut broth

• left-over sauce chicken was cooked in
• 2 cups coconut milk
• 1 cup chicken stock
• squeeze of fresh lime

for the noodle bowls

• 400 g egg noodles cooked
• vegetables of your choice steamed (I used julienned carrots, bok choy and sugar snap peas)
• sesame seeds
• sliced fresh chillies
• fresh coriander leaves

Instructions

• To make the chicken, pre-heat the oven to 200°c and line a baking tray with foil.
• Combine all the ingredients for the glaze in a bowl.
• Place the chicken thighs on the prepared baking tray then pour over the glaze and place in the oven.
• Allow to bake for 20-25 minutes until the chicken is cooked through.
• Remove the chicken from the oven then allow to cool before shredding the meat and tossing with another 2-3 tablespoons of the glaze it was cooked in.
• Combine any remaining glaze with the coconut milk and chicken stock in a small saucepan then bring to a gentle simmer to heat through. Season to taste and add the lime juice.
• To assemble the bowls, place a generous amount of noodles in each bowl then top with steamed vegetables, shredded chicken and pour in some of the broth.
• Scatter over a few sesame seeds, chillies and coriander and serve immediately.