Chicken and pine nuts stir-fry

The main ingredient in Italian pesto sauce, they add a mild nutty flavour to Asian salads and even cooked dishes.

Keep pine nuts fresh by storing in airtight containers - they last up to a month in the fridge, and up to three months in the freezer.

To bring out the flavour, roast the nuts in the oven or toast in a heavy skillet, stirring constantly until they turn golden.

The high oil content in pine nut turn them rancid quickly. So always smell and taste them before buying, to ensure they are fresh.


Pine nuts - Part 1.

Sweet, spicy and crunchy.

Ingredients (serves 2 to 4):
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup pine nuts
4 dried red chillies
2 cloves garlic, crushed
3 spring onions, cut into 5cm strips
400g chicken thigh or breast, sliced into pieces
2 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp kecap manis

Method:
1. Heat the oil in a wok till it starts to simmer. Fry the pine nuts for 20 seconds, remove and drain on kitchen towels. Fry the dried chillies for 20 seconds, then remove and drain.
2. Turn off the heat, remove some oil, leaving about 3 tbsp in the wok. Heat the oil until it starts to smoke. Add the garlic, spring onions and chicken, and stir-fry for 4 minutes, or until the chicken is nearly cooked.
3. Add the pine nuts, dried chillies, fish sauce and kecap manis, and stir-fry for another minute. Remove from the wok and serve hot with steamed rice.

Tips:
For a spicy kick, add fresh red chillies at the last step of cooking.

Recipe source: Simply Her magazine (Jun 2008)