For the salad:
2 or 3 large handfuls of pea shoots
Mixed bag young, small salad leaves
A few handfuls sprouted seeds or cress
For the chicken:
2-inch knob fresh ginger
1 small red chile
2 teaspoons Chinese five-spice powder
2 cloves garlic
2 tablespoons peanut oil
14 ounces (400 grams) chicken, diced
1/2 teaspoon superfine or palm sugar
Juice from 1 lime
Prepare the salad: Wash the pea shoots and salad leaves and spin or shake them dry.
Peel the ginger and grate it to a pulp, scraping every bit from the grater into a mixing bowl. Finely slice the chile, add it to the ginger, then stir in the five-spice powder. Peel and crush the garlic, then add it to the ginger. Pour in the oil and mix thoroughly. Add the chicken to the ginger mixture and toss the ingredients together.
Get a wok or frying pan really hot. Add the diced chicken and its dressing to the pan and let it cook over a high heat for 6 or 7 minutes, stirring from time to time, until it is cooked through. (A lid will help the chicken to cook right through.) Add the sugar, stir-fry for a further minute, then add the lime juice and salt generously.
Add the pea shoots and salad leaves to the wok, toss for a few seconds till they have started to wilt and darken, then tip everything into bowls. Scatter with the sprouted seeds or cress and serve immediately.
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Reprinted with permission from Notes from the Larder by Nigel Slater, copyright © 2013. Published by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of Random House LLC.