Wagamamas Cha Han

When in London I have to have my ‘Wagamama’ fix and normally go for the Ramen but the Cha Han is my second favourite dish on the menu and one of there most popular dishes. Wonderfully versatile it is basically a rice and chopped veg stir fry. Don’t feel guilty buying ready chopped asian vegetable packs in the supermarket, I do it occasionally it’s okay. You can adapt this recipe to you liking see below for suggested swops or additions. Vegan, Vegetarian or Omnivores – this recipe has your mid week cooking back! Think ‘Chinese Braai’ of the 80s here folks.

Chicken Thigh Meat:

When it comes to any animal protein cut, the more it works the more flavour it has, think sirloin vs fillet or in this case thigh meat vs breast meat.  The darker coloured chicken thighs is where the flavour lies. We are opting for  boneless and skinless here which we ideally are cut into similiar smaller sizes because we want the meat to cook quickly. You can use chicken breast but  I would urge you to marinade the breast meat before hand in a bit of lime juice, ginger and olive oil. I tend to cut the breast into strips rather than cubes and chicken breast.

Yakitori Sauce

Is a soy-based dipping and basting sauce which goes with everything. Traditionally it contains Sake a Japanese wine, and it is quite easy to source. You can off course buy ready made Kikkoman Yakitori sauce BUT it has all sorts of things in it, which is okay, but I dont’ like the addition of yeast and sugar in it) – see here for my own recipe

Woks

It took me a long time to replace my IKEA wok which I inherited from who know who. I opted for this one by Yuppiechef and I am fairly happy, I would prefer the wok to be lighter  (hard to tip the food in a bowl with one hand) but I assume the trade off is that it ‘sits’ better on the heat.

Additions:

• chopped chilli
• kimchi
• pickled asian veggies
• chopped coriander

Swops

• brown rice for jasmine rice

preferably a wok* or a large pan

• 2 cups cooked rice of choice (I love brown rice with some wild rice in it)

Omnivore Protein

• 4 boneless, skinless chicken thigh meat *
• 8 cooked, peeled prawns (opt)

Vegetarian Protein

• 2 eggs, beaten

Vegan Protein

• gmo-free tofu cut into bite sizes

Vegetable suggestions (the world is your oyster here)

• 1 cup chopped Pak Choi
• 1/2 red pepper sliced in slivers
• 1/2 cup sweetcorn (mielies, frozen is perfect)
• handful of mangetout/sugarsnaps, finely sliced
• handful of mushrooms, finely sliced
• 3 spring onions, trimmed and finely sliced

The Sauce

• 2 tablespoons yakitori sauce (recipe here)
• 2 tablespoons light soya sauce
• 2 tablespoons sesame oil or vegetable oil

• Cook one cup of your rice of choice, you can do this a day before and keep in the fridge.
• Combine the chicken or tofu with the yakitori sauce and marinade for at least 30minutes, overnight is even better!
• Remove the chicken or tofu, reserving the marinade and cut the meat into thin slices.
• Heat a wok or large frying pan over a medium heat for 1-2 minutes, we need this pan hot guys, add your oil.
• We are going to work quickly here: Add the prawns (if using), tofu or/and chicken, sweetcorn, mangetout, mushrooms and spring onions and stir fry over a med heat for about 5 minutes, until the vegetables are just starting to wild and the chicken is cooked.
• Add the egg and continue to stir fry until its scrambled.
• Add the rice and season with salt, leftover marinade and soy sauce and continue to stir fry until everything is mixed evenly and the rice is heated through.
• Divide between bowls, sprinkle with some garnishes (chopped coriander, chopped chilli, chopped spring onions)