This is one of our all time favourite meals. The story attached to the photo above is a good one. We had invited close friends around for dinner the night the Olympics started. I was preparing an asian inspired feast and wanted to use the beautiful set of plates that my Mum had painted for Ron and I on the occasion of our wedding. (A post and photos about these plates to follow for those of you who are interested!) The menu was simple but delicious, spring rolls to start (remember last night's party food!) followed by Pork Sang Choi Bao then Vietnamese Lemon Chicken and fortune cookies to finish. I made both the Pork and the Chicken dishes ahead of time so I just needed to steam the rice and reheat to serve.

The 8th of the 8th month is a special day in my family, its my mother's birthday and it was also the day that I decided to do a pregnancy test after waiting four or five days for a period that I thought was going to show up. Ron and I were both thrilled and excited and called my Mum to give her the best birthday present we could think of! We decided that although we really wanted to share the news with the friends coming to dinner, we would hold off a while because we knew that they were also trying to get pregnant and it might be hard news to handle. Little did we know that the 8th of the 8th, 2008 was an auspicious day for both couples, we found out a few weeks later that they had also done a pregnancy test that day and found out they were expecting and we are now a week apart!

So, want to celebrate special news, make this Chicken dish, just wanting a delicious, quick meal, make this Chicken dish, we love it!

Vietnamese lemon chicken with rice

(quantities feed 2 adults for dinner and 1 portion for taking to lunch the next day)

500g chicken, diced
2 lemons, rind finely grated and juiced
4 spring onions, finely chopped
a sprinkling of dried chilli
a handful of finely chopped peanuts/cashews
a selection of stirfry veg (I use frozen so sue me!)
(also very good with just steamed green beans)
1 tablespoon brown sugar, mixed with,
1 tablespoon fish sauce, mixed with
1 tablespoon oyster sauce in a cup.

Marinate the chicken in the lemon juice, rind, spring onions and chilli for a few hours. This makes it easy to prepare ahead of time.
Heat the wok up extra hot and fry the mixture in a little cooking oil in batches until golden and cooked through. Add the stirfry veg, cook and then add the mixed sauces, cook until heated through.
Serve over jasmine rice with the nuts scattered on top.