Strips of chicken and a selection of tasty vegetables stir-fried with Thai seasonings and accented with crunchy crushed peanuts.

1 cup jasmine rice

3 tablespoons fish sauce

2 tablespoons lemon juice

2 teaspoons sesame oil

1 teaspoon brown sugar

2½ tablespoons peanut or canola oil

12 oz (360g) skinless chicken breast fillets—cut into thin strips

1 green pepper (capsicum—julienned

2 cloves garlic—finely chopped

2 teaspoons Thai red curry paste

2 tomatoes—-diced

½ cup peas

2 scallions (spring onions)—thinly sliced on the diagonal (reserve a little for garnish)

a small handful of cilantro (coriander) leaves (reserve a little for garnish)

2 tablespoons crushed roasted peanuts

COOK the rice. MIX together the fish sauce, lemon juice, sugar and sesame oil in a small bowl. HEAT a wok or large frying pan over a high heat then add 1 tablespoon of the oil. STIR-FRY the chicken for 3 minutes then remove from the wok and set aside on a plate. ADD the remaining oil to the hot wok and stir-fry the green pepper for 3 minutes. ADD the garlic and red curry paste and stir-fry for 30 seconds until the curry paste has dissolved. ADD the tomatoes and peas and stir-fry 1 minute. ADD the sauce mixture, scallion and chicken and heat through. STIR through the cilantro and peanuts and serve over rice garnished with the reserved scallion and cilantro.

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