London lunch box: a recipe inspired by Masterchef winner Tim Anderson's Nanban

Laoise Casey creates cheap, easy-to-cook lunch boxes inspired by things she has eaten in some of London's best restaurants and cafes #Nanbanlunchbox
The London lunch box: chef Laoise Casey has created a recipe inspired by Tim Anderson's Nanban pop-up restaurant (pic: Laoise Casey)
Laoise Casey19 August 2014

Nanban lunch box: noodle salad with chicken

Last week, Laoise Casey remembered her first experience eating at Gauthier Soho. This week, she considers the food cooked by a former Masterchef winner, Tim Anderson:

This week’s lunch box takes us (virtually, sadly) to southern Japan but, in fact, Brixton. Chef Tim Anderson hosts his Nanban pop up at the Market House in Brixton during August and I will have the pleasure of working alongside him in the kitchen.

Working with Tim I quickly note how much he loves cooking. His passion for southern Japanese cooking is contagious in the kitchen and this week’s lunch box just had to be a Nanban one. One of Tim’s signature dishes is the chilled noodle soup, reimen. Reimen has Korean origins and is popular in the Japanese city of Fukuoka as an alternative to the famous hot pork broth ramen during the hot and humid summer months. To make things a bit quicker for you at home we came up with a simplified version of his noodle salad.

For an extra treat you could try making Tim’s tea-pickled eggs, although this salad works well without them too.

Preparation time: 5 minutes

Cooking time: 15 minutes

Cost to make per portion: £2.45

What you will need:

For the tea-pickled egg, if using:

1 duck egg

1 star anise

5g lapsang souchong tea

25ml soy sauce

25ml rice vinegar

For the salad:

2 chicken thighs

35ml soy sauce

1 tsp corn flour

1 garlic clove, thinly sliced

1 small piece ginger, thinly sliced

1 tbsp sesame oil

1 spring onion, thinly sliced

4 thin slices of scotch bonnet chillies

60g thin noodles

1 tsp sesame seeds

Equipment:

Water to boil

Bowl

Sieve

Saucepan

Wok (or a heavy based pan)

Cook the duck egg in boiling water for 7 minutes. Refresh in ice cold water and peel.

Make the pickle liquor by steeping the tea in 150ml boiling water for 15 minutes, strain and add the soy sauce and rice vinegar. 1 star anise is added to the egg pickle liquor when you add the soy sauce and rice vinegar. Pickle the egg overnight or 24 hours if possible.

Preheat the oven to 190C.

Mix 25ml of the soy sauce, corn flour, garlic and ginger and marinade the chicken in it in a bowl.

Heat a wok over a high heat. Add the sesame oil. Add the scotch bonnet chilli slices and cook for one minute. Add the chicken skin side down and cook until the skin is golden brown. Finish cooking the chicken in the oven for 10 minutes until cooked through. Add spring onion.

Meanwhile, cook the noodles in boiling water for 2-3 minutes.

Proudly place your beautiful pickled tea egg on top of the noodles.

Add a sprinkle of sesame seeds and dipping soy sauce on the side to finish.

Check out Tim Anderson’s pop in the Market House Brixton running until the end of August, 443 Coldharbour Lane, SW9 8LN; market-house.co.uk

Follow Laoise Casey on twitter @cuisine_genie

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