Honey Soy Chicken & Tenderstem Noodles

Ingredients

• 500 g chicken thigh fillets, thinly sliced
• 1 tbsp rice vinegar
• 3 cloves garlic, finely grated
• 15 g fresh ginger, finely grated
• 1 tsp chilli flakes
• 3 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tbsp honey
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 200 g Tenderstem broccoli, trimmed, halved if long
• 300 g egg noodles
• 3 spring onions, thinly sliced
• 1 tbsp sesame seeds, toasted
• 1 lime, cut into wedges
• Pickled cucumber, to serve
• Fresh coriander, to serve

Method

1. Whisk the soy sauce, honey, rice vinegar, grated garlic, ginger and chilli flakes in a small bowl. That's your glaze — set it within arm's reach of the hob, because once the wok is hot everything moves fast.
2. Bring a large pan of well-salted water to the boil for the noodles — it should taste like the sea, since this is the only chance to season the noodles themselves. Cook the egg noodles to pack timing, drain, and toss with the sesame oil so they don't clump while you cook the rest.
3. Pat the sliced chicken dry on kitchen paper and season generously with salt and pepper. Wet chicken steams; dry chicken caramelises — this is the difference between mahogany and grey.
4. Get the wok screaming hot over maximum heat, then add the vegetable oil. Lay the chicken in a single layer in two batches — crowd the wok and the temperature crashes, water pours out, and you've boiled the meat instead of seared it. Leave the first batch undisturbed for 2–3 minutes until the underside is deeply golden, then stir-fry for another minute or so until cooked through. Lift out, repeat with the second batch, and add to the plate.
5. Drop the Tenderstem into the same wok and stir-fry for 2–3 minutes until bright green and blistered in patches — you want patches of char and a bit of bite still in the stem. The garlic and ginger in the glaze will hit raw heat in a moment, so keep things moving — just until fragrant, no more. Burnt garlic turns the whole bowl bitter.
6. Return the chicken to the wok. Pour the glaze straight in and let it bubble around the pan for 30–60 seconds — it'll go from thin and sloshy to glossy and clinging as the honey reduces. Toss everything together so the sauce coats rather than puddles.
7. Add the drained noodles and toss for another minute until every strand is glazed and heated through. Taste — most of the salt comes from the soy, but a final pinch of salt or a splash more soy ties it together. Adjust now, not at the table.
8. Divide between two warm bowls. Scatter over the spring onions and toasted sesame seeds, tuck a lime wedge onto each rim, and squeeze the lime juice over just before eating — the acid cuts through the honey and lifts everything you've just built.