Vietnamese-Style Chicken & Mango Noodle Salad

Before you start cooking, take your chicken out of the fridge, open the packet and let it air

Heat a large, wide-based pan (preferably non-stick) with a drizzle of vegetable oil over a medium-high heat

Once hot, add the chicken thighs with a pinch of salt and cook for 10-12 min, turning occasionally until golden, crispy and cooked through (no pink meat!)

(Doubled your protein? Use 2 pans!)

Whilst the chicken is cooking, boil a kettle

Peel and finely chop (or grate) your garlic

Peel (scrape the skin off with a teaspoon) and finely chop (or grate) your ginger

Cut your red chilli[es] in half lengthways, deseed (scrape the seeds out with a teaspoon) and chop finely

Meanwhile, add your fine egg noodles to a large bowl, cover them with boiled water until fully submerged and stir for 10 sec until the noodles separate

Set aside to soak for 4 min, or until softened

Once softened, drain the noodles, run them under cold water for 10 sec until slightly cooled, then set aside to drain further

Whilst the noodles are softening, combine the chopped garlic, chopped ginger, sriracha (can't handle the heat? Go easy!), rice vinegar and soy sauce with 3 tbsp [4 1/2 tbsp] [6 tbsp] vegetable oil – this is your dressing

Wash your lettuce, then pat it dry with kitchen paper

Tear the outer lettuce leaves into rough, bite-sized pieces and shred the inner core

Strip your mint leaves from their stalks and chop them roughly, discarding the stalks

Chop your coriander finely, including the stalks

Top, tail and peel your mango[es]

Stand the mango[es] upright and very carefully slice the flesh away from the stone[s]

Tip: If you feel resistance against your knife, it means you are hitting the stone

Chop the mango flesh into small bite-sized pieces, discarding the stone[s]

Add the torn lettuce, drained noodles, chopped mango and most of the chopped chilli (not a fan of spice? Just add a little!) to a large bowl with the dressing and give everything a good mix up – this is your noodle salad

Transfer the crispy chicken to a clean board and shred apart into roughly bite-sized pieces using two forks – this technique is known as 'pulling'