Cooking on a Budget: This chicken stir-fry will feed a family of four for less than £5

Authentic Chinese sauce brand Lee Kum Kee and celebrity chef Ken Hom CBE have created a new series of Chinese Wisdom-inspired recipes.

The recipes have been created to help us make healthier, more affordable seasonal home-cooked alternatives to takeaways and ready meals at home.

Ken Hom said: “New research shows that Brits love Asian food and want to spend less, though they can feel intimidated about where to start when it comes to Asian cooking.

“So, I’ve developed five new seasonal recipes, inspired by Chinese Wisdom, as a healthier and more affordable alternative to takeaways and ready meals, helping you to enjoy bigger flavours for less with Lee Kum Kee.”

Chinese Wisdom holds the belief that our bodies should always be in balance and harmony. This can be done by eating nourishing foods, which are warming, cooling, or neutral, depending on what our body may need or benefit from at that point in time.

Essentially, this Chinese Wisdom simply encourages us to be more present and in tune with our body, nourishing it with exactly what it needs so that we may live happy, balanced, healthy and fulfilled lives.

All recipes use seasonal ingredients and have been developed as a healthier, more affordable alternative to takeaways or ready meals.

They come in at £1.20 per person or less, and each meal is designed to feed a family of four, costing less than £5, based on prices from Sainsbury’s.

Ken’s stir-fried pepper chicken with mangetout

(Serves 4)

Ingredients

• 320g pack chicken mini breast fillets (£2.39)
• 2 tsp Lee Kum Kee Premium Light Soy Sauce (4p)
• ¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper (1p)
• 2 tsp cornflour (1p)
• 1 red, yellow or orange pepper, cored (48p)
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil (5p)
• 75g mangetout, trimmed (48p)
• 1 tbsp Lee Kum Kee Sichuan Style Hot & Spicy Stir Fry Sauce (15p)
• 150ml water

Method

1. Cut each mini chicken fillet in two or three pieces and place in a bowl. Add the Light Soy Sauce, pepper and cornflour.
2. Mix well until the chicken is coated in the mixture, then allow to marinate for 15 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, cut the peppers into 2cm thin strips.
4. Heat wok or large frying pan until it is hot.
5. Add half the oil and when it is very hot and slightly smoking add the chicken and stir fry for three minutes. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the chicken to a plate.
6. Clean the wok or pan, re-heat it and add the remaining oil. When it is hot, stir fry the peppers for two minutes.
7. Add the mangetout to the wok and stir fry for one minute more.
8. Finally return the chicken to the wok or frying pan, along with the sauce and water, stir frying to mix everything together.
9. Serve with fine egg noodles.