The UK is on Coronavirus lockdown, the bars and restaurants have closed, lots of us have been made furlough from work and the general public are ransacking the supermarket aisles like that Babylon scene from the new Zombieland film.

This, my friends, presents us with a number of problems: ingredients are harder to come by, disposable income isn’t quite so disposable and the Chinese takeaway withdrawals are REAL. Last night, I came up with a solution though – with stuff that’s probably already sitting in your kitchen – and I think you’re going to like it…

Shredded satay chicken Chinese takeaway-style (but make it healthy & cheap)

Easy, cheap Chinese takeaway style chicken and egg fried recipe — *If you’re sceptically thinking that those chopsticks were purely for photographic purposes then you would be absolutely correct*

For this easy-peasy, cheap-as-chips chicken satay Chinese takeaway style recipe, you’ll need:

(Serves 2)

2 chicken breasts
Concentrated beef stock (optional)
2 garlic cloves
Tbsp olive oil
About 5-7 large button mushrooms
Half a head of broccoli
Tbsp crunchy peanut butter
1/2 tsp turmeric
2 tablespoons of teriyaki or soy sauce (optional)
1/4 cup of honey
1 clementine (an orange would work just as well)
1 pouch of Tilda microwave egg fried rice (if you’re lazy like me)
Salt ‘n’ peppa

(I used mushrooms and broccoli because that’s what I had in my fridge but feel free to change the veggies or the protein up. Perhaps you’ve got some red meat or pork that needs using up instead)

How to make the magic happen:

Preheat your oven to 200° (fan)
While that heats up, chop up your broccoli into florets and finely slice your mushrooms. You could just chop your mushrooms like a normal human being here but I’m a massive baby who can’t eat them any other way. Bleurgh.
Put 2 chicken breasts on a baking tray and drizzle with about a tablespoon of concentrated stock (I use the Knorr bottled beef stock). If you haven’t got any concentrated stock in your cupboard then honestly, just a bit of salt and pepper will be fine.
Make into a loose tinfoil parcel and cook for about 25-35 minutes, or until cooked through but still juicy – depends on the size of the breasts. Oo-er.
Once they’re done, move to a plate and shred with two forks then pour over any cooking juices left in the foil parcel.
Put your broccoli on to boil or steam.
On the shredded chicken, pour on the honey, teriyaki/soy (if you’ve got some knocking about) and squeeze over the juice of a clementine or orange if you’ve got some that need using up. Otherwise, it will be totally fine without it.
Melt the peanut butter in a microwaveable bowl (be careful not to burn) and then pour onto the shredded chicken mix.
Toss it all together and then set aside to marinate while you tend to the veggies.
Thinly slice one of the garlic cloves and fry on a medium heat in a tbsp of olive oil until slightly golden.
Chuck in your mushrooms and broccoli with some black pepper and fry for about 5minutes, or until they start to soften.
If you do have some concentrated stock to hand, you could drizzle over about a teaspoon at this point and stir through but again, no problem if not.
Chuck the shredded chicken mix (and all its juices) into the same frying pan and add the turmeric to taste, any salt and pepper to taste and mix together.
Mince the remaining clove of garlic and add to the pan – mix again.
Leave the mixture to thicken on a medium-high heat for about 7-10 minutes, stirring regularly while you microwave your rice, set the table and pour yourself a glass of the good stuff.
Serve and scoff!