No Calorie Noodles and the 5:2 Diet

Name: 5-2 Diet Stir Fry Chicken and Watercress with Shirataki Noodles
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 6 min
Total time: 26 min
Ingredients: 100 g Chicken breast; 150 g Shirataki noodles; 2 cloves Garlic (finely chopped); 1 Shallot (Peeled and finely sliced); 1 bunch Watercress (Around 150 grams); 1 teaspoon Light (low salt soy sauce); 1 Chilli (De-seeded and finely chopped); 1 piece Fresh ginger (about 2cm/1inch peeled and finely chopped); 1 handful Fresh Coriander (chopped); 1 teaspoon Sesame seed oil; 1 tablespoon Mirin or wine vinegar; 1 teaspoon Honey

May 24, 2013 by Fiona Maclean 29 Comments

Stirfry Chicken with Shirataki Noodles – a 5:2 Diet Recipe:

There’s something rather fishy about the idea of noodles with no calories. Actually these DO have calories but, just 5 calories per 100 grams, so almost not worth bothering about. And, they do smell a little fishy when you open the packet. They are sold in a weird kind of liquid – and it’s not not noodles that smell fishy but the liquid which is used to preserve them. Anyone who uses London-Unattached as a resource for 5:2 diet recipes will know that I’ve I’ve posted about shirataki or konjac noodles before, but as I’ve been using them I’ve learnt a few useful lessons that I’d like to pass on. And I hope you’ll find them as useful as me.

Today’s recipe is for a simple 5:2 diet stirfry that I’ve made for several years. I’ve adapted it a bit to help with some of the issues I’ve found using shirataki noodles and I’ve also prettied it up with some coriander flowers. But that has more to do with the fact that my coriander plant has seeded. You could use strips of spring onion or sesame seeds instead if you haven’t ~~neglected~~ managed to get your coriander plant to flower yet.

Here are four useful tricks that will help you enjoy these VERY useful noodles

Soak them and rinse them very well. The sort I have (which came from Holland and Barrett) seem to be best suited to being put in a large bowl, covered with about a litre of boiling water and left for five minutes. Then drained off in a sieve and rinsed with another litre or so of water.
What ever dish you are using the noodles for, make sure you have plenty of liquid sauce. The noodles themselves are flavourless so you need to stir them in at the end of cooking and mix them well with the rest of your stirfry, rather than making a pretty nest
Shirataki noodles are fine and slippery. You need smallish pieces of vegetables and meat or fish to mix into the dish, or you’ll end up with big clumps of noodles.
Consider making a sauce that is just a bit stronger than you might normally use. The tasteless noodles need a bit of extra kick, whether that is from chilli, soy or herbs and spices.

5-2 Diet Stir Fry Chicken and Watercress with Shirataki Noodles

Prep Time

20 mins

Cook Time

6 mins

Total Time

26 mins

Course: Main

Cuisine: Asian

Servings: 1 -2

Author: Fiona Maclean

Ingredients

100 g Chicken breast
150 g Shirataki noodles
2 cloves Garlic finely chopped
1 Shallot Peeled and finely sliced
1 bunch Watercress Around 150 grams
1 teaspoon Light low salt soy sauce
1 Chilli De-seeded and finely chopped
1 piece Fresh ginger about 2cm/1inch peeled and finely chopped
1 handful Fresh Coriander chopped
1 teaspoon Sesame seed oil
1 tablespoon Mirin or wine vinegar
1 teaspoon Honey

Instructions

Slice the chicken breast into thin strips and marinade in the soy, garlic, ginger and mirin for 20-30 minutes
Boil a kettle of water and soak the noodles in hot boiling water for 5 minutes, while you make the stirfry
Heat the oil in a wok till just smoking
Aadd the chicken, shallot, garlic, chilli and ginger. Reserve the soy/mirin liquid for later
Stir fry for 1-2 minutes over a high heat
Reduce the heat slightly and add in the watercress. Stir fry for one further minute
Meanwhile, drain the noodles and rinse through with more boiling water
Add the drained noodles and the soy/mirin mixture to the pan then stir in the honey and coriander
Season with salt and black pepper to taste and garnish with fresh coriander flowers.

I’ve used watercress here. It was something of an experiment, but one that worked rather well, though a whole bag of watercress was really only just enough. You could substitute baby spinach or pak choi if you prefer – or a mix of the two. The good thing about most leafy green vegetables is that they have virtually no calories, so this dish works really well for the 5:2 diet. By using zero calorie noodles, there’s enough ‘room’ to make a really good sauce by including a little honey and by frying in sesame oil, both of which I think make a big difference to the taste of the dish. And, you know, this dish is low enough in calories (about 250 calories in total including the noodles) to eat the lot yourself if you are very hungry…or share and have a side salad.

The noodles do mean that you can adapt most of your own stir-fry recipes for the 5:2 diet without too much effort. Just check the calories and avoid adding large quantities of pre-made stir fry sauces which can really wreck your diet – most of them will add around 100 calories per serving!

My other recipes with shirataki noodles include a spicy seafood stirfry and this beef stirfry. And I have an adapted sweet and sour chicken recipe which uses stevia to sweeten the sauce and would also work well with shirataki noodles for a 5:2 diet fast day. Good luck with your dieting. My next fast day is Sunday and I’ll be hoping to come up with something yummy to make for my own supper then.