Asian marinated guinea fowl with noodles

Are you tired of eating chicken week in, week-out?

Guinea fowl is available all year round and is a great alternative to chicken, with a taste learning towards pheasant. Excellent simply roasted with your usual Sunday lunch trimmings, or you can mix things up with this Asian influenced recipe.

As guinea fowl is slightly drier than chicken, marinating the bird before cooking helps to tenderise the meat and keep it moist. I used this simple WomanandHome asian influenced marinade.

This dish turned out to be lots of firsts for me. First time spatchcocking a bird. First time using lemon grass, and first time using pak choi.

If you’re also a spatchcock newbie, I’d recommend taking a look at this simple 2 minute video from the BBC before attempting anything. Then arm yourself with a good pair of kitchen scissors and a sharp knife. If you have the right tools the process is very simple. My knife however was slightly blunt so at times it turned into a bit of a hackathon, but I won in the end!

Tip: Don't discard the backbone, it'll be great in a stock!

As for lemongrass, I learned a few things about this also – whole lemongrass can be used in stews and curries (removed before eating), or chopped and used in marinades, which is what we’re going to do here. Again, a sharp knife helps as the woody stalk can be difficult to cut through with a blunt one… (I think what I need to take away from this experience is to buy new knives!).

We’re also welcoming pak choi to the family! I’ve eaten it several times at Asian restaurants but never prepared myself. It can be stir fried in a few minutes so it was a no fuss addition to the noodles , providing a burst of vitamic C, A and fibre.

Serves 2

You’ll need:
1 guinea fowl, spatchcocked and cut into 4 pieces

For the marinade
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 tablespoon light soy sauce
2 teapsoon sesame seed oil
2 tablespoon groundnut oil
1 lime; zest and juice
2 sticks lemongrass
1 tablespoon chilli sauce
2 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
2 inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
1 green chilli, roughly chopped
Black pepper

For the noodles
2 nests of noodles (rice, udon work well)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon fish sauce
2 tablespoons light soy sauce
1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
1 red chilli, sliced
2 garlic cloves, chopped
small bunch of spring onions, sliced
4 small pak choi, leaves separated

To serve
1 lime, halved

Method:
Once you’ve mastered cutting up your guinea fowl into 4 pieces, place them in a bowl. 

Mix together the marinade ingredients and pour over the guinea fowl, ensuring to mix well so all the meat is coated. Cover with cling film and place in the fridge for at least 3 hours, or overnight.

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees c / 350 degrees f

Heat a frying pan with a little olive oil and sear the guinea fowl skin side down for a couple of minutes.

Place in a small roasting tin and put in the oven for 40 mins until cooked. 

Remove and leave to rest for 10 mins.

Just before the guinea fowl is done, cook your noodles in a pan of lightly salted, boiling water.

Re-heat the frying pan you used to sear the guinea fowl, adding a little extra olive oil if needed.

Add the chilli and garlic and fry for a couple of minutes, then add the spring onions and pak choi leaves.

Cook for a few minutes, allowing the pak choi to wilt down. 

Once the noodles are cooked and drained, add to the pan along with the sauces and stir fry for a couple of minutes, ensuring the ingredients are evenly coated.

To serve, put the noodles in a circular shape on the plate and place the guinea fowl pieces on top. Squeeze fresh lime juice over the meat to taste.