I ventured into our local Chinese supermarket yesterday. I was actually looking for a tin of Water Chestnuts but found a pack on Mono-sodium Glutamate (MSG) for 95p. We are aware that there were scar stories a few years ago, but everything in moderating and all that...

Ingredients:-

2 Tbsp of Cornflour
1 Tbsp of Brown Sugar
400ml of Chicken Stock
2 Tbsp of Soy Sauce (Gluten free here)
2 Chicken Breasts, cubed
100g of Brown Mushrooms, sliced
1 Small Green Pepper, sliced
225g of tinned sliced Water Chestnuts
½ Tsp of Mono-sodium Glutamate (MSG)
1 ½ Tsp fresh Ginger, minced (Home grow, it doesn’t get much fresher than that!)
4 Spring Onions, sliced
100g of Cashew Nuts
2 Cloves og Garlic, minced
1 Onion, finely diced
Oil to fry
Salt & Pepper

Method:-

(1) Mix the Cornflour, Brown Sugar, Chicken Stock and Soy Sauce to make a smooth paste.
(2) In a large flat bottomed wok or frying pan, heat 2 tablespoons oil over medium-high heat; stir-fry chicken until no longer pink. Remove from pan.
(3) Add the Onion and fry until translucent.
(4) Add the Mushrooms, Pepper, Water Chestnuts and Ginger, frying until the Pepper is tender.
(5) Return the Chicken to the Wok and stir.
(6) Add the Mono-sodium Glutamate and then the Cornflour mix.
(7) Add the Spring Onions and bring to a simmer.
(8) Cook and stir until sauce is thickened, 1-2 minutes.
(9) Add the Cashew Nuts stir in and allow to simmer for a minute or so.

We served this over Rice Noodles with a few deep fried Noodles to garnish. Dressed with a little extra Ginger and a sprinkle of Paprika. This was as near to and authentic Chinese style dish as we can imagine. We were like a pair of little kids “Oh that’s so good, nom nom nom”. Etc!!!!!