My boyfriend dubbed this ‘a fancy pot noodle’ – which is essentially what this is! This is one of our fave packed lunches as its full of flavour and so fun to eat.
You will need a kilner jar… however you could take it in some Tupperware and transfer to a bowl when you get your destination :).
*FYI I’m using chicken but you can totally make this veggie/vegan and use tofu instead of chicken and vegetable stock.
So I bought ingredients for 3 people for 5 days, so scale up or scale down depending on how many you are feeding!
Ingredients
Rice noodles – 2 packets (I get these)
Bag of carrots
Beansprouts – 2 packets
Red onions x 3
Spring onions – pack x 2
Chicken thighs – skinless and boneless – 2 packets (to allow top up half way through the week)
Kale – 1 bag
Chicken Stock – 15 cubes (1 per person per day)
Red Chilli – 1-2 (optional)
Lime – cut into wedges (optional)
Coriander – (optional)
Marinade – enough for 1 packets of thighs (double if cooking both packets at same time)
Cinnamon – 1/4 teaspoon
Chinese Five Spice – 1 teaspoon
Soy Sauce – 1 tablespoon
Cayenne Pepper/Chilli Powder – 1/2 teaspoon
Half a lime – zest and juice
Garlic Clove – 1 grated
Method
So most of this can be done on a Sunday ready for the week, all I would suggest is cooking extra chicken on a Wednesday and making fresh noodles daily (but this takes literally 5 minutes). You might also want to cook beansprouts the night before also (but again this takes 5 minutes!).
Put all of the marinade ingredients into a bowl, add the chicken thighs, stir to coat, cover with clingfilm and pop in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
Now – let the chopping/grating commence!
Finely chop the red onion and the spring onions and grate a load of carrots (you want about a tablespoon of each kind of onion a day (I did tell you i’m an onion-a-holic) and a small handful of grated carrot a day).
*I only did enough for 2 days hence why this picture doesn’t seem like a lot!
Wash the kale and get rid of any super tough bits.
I then put each of the above ingredients in a bowl ready to store in the fridge to put together every evening (unless you are pre-packing a weeks worth in which case well done you and also I wish I had that fridge space!!).
Heat a teaspoon of oil (sunflower or groundnut preferable) in a frying pan and fry a handful of beansprouts for 3-5 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside.
Boil the kettle and once boiled add a days worth of noodles (about half of one block if you buy the ones I recommended, otherwise 3 nests) in a bowl and fill with the boiling water. Cover the top and leave for about 3 minutes, then drain.
Heat the oven to about 180 degrees Celsius (fan) and put the chicken on a baking tray and in the oven for 30-40 minutes. Remove and set aside for it to cool down.
Slice into thin strips.
Now it is time to build your noodle pot:
In the bottom of your jar, fill with a handful of kale, a handful of grated carrot and some spring and red onion. Add some chopped chilli if you fancy (I recommend big time). Add a few beansprouts and then stuff your noodles in. Top with the chicken! If you’re taking this to work wrap some chopped coriander and a lime wedge in some foil to take with you so you can enjoy this with some fresh herbs and a squeeze of lime (particularly good if you have chilli!). And don’t forget your stock cube!!
When you are ready to eat open the stock cube and push down into the bottom of the jar or sprinkle over the top. Boil the kettle and pour into the jar until it covers everything. Give it a bit of a stir and leave for 2 minutes. et voilà!
I really really hope you give this a try and do let me know if you do and what you thought – it is one of my all time favourite lunches and so easy to transport.
Love A, x
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