As The Ivy turns 100, chef Mark Hix recalls the dish customers would order without even looking at the menu

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Back in my days at Le caprice I inherited a dish called bang bang chicken which Chris Corbin discovered in a Chinese restaurant in Earl’s Court.

He experienced a particularly disgusting example but with a bit of jiggery pokery it became a Caprice classic that never came off the menu (customers would order it without even looking at the menu).

It made its way onto the Ivy menu when we opened because we rightly figured the cross-over of regulars would never forgive us if we left it off. This year it’s the Ivy’s 100th birthday and head chef Gary Lee still has it on the menu, with a few up-to-date tweaks from the original recipe.

I recently put it on the menu at the Tramshed because the fairly small chicken and steak menu needed a spicy, addictive starter; and also as a tribute to 100 years of the Ivy.

Bang bang chicken (SERVES 4)

You can use smoked chicken or leftover roast chicken. The level of spiciness obviously depends on the chilli sauce you use so I’ll leave that up to you.

For the sauce:

  • 80g peanut butter, smooth or crunchy
  • 2-3 tsp Linghams sweet chilli sauce or another brand of your choice
  • 1tbsp sesame oil
  • 1tbsp vegetable oil
  • 1/2 smoked chicken (weighing 1.2–1.5 kg) or leftover roast chicken
  • 1 carrot, peeled and shredded into 2cm strips
  • 1 spring onion, peeled and shredded into 2cm strips
  • ¼ cucumber, seeded, cut into 2cm lengths and shredded
  • A piece of white radish (4cm) peeled and shredded
  • 5-6 mange tout, shredded rice vinegar
  • 1-2tsp sesame seeds, black and white, lightly toasted

Method:

  • Empty the peanut butter into a bowl and place it over a saucepan of hot water for 5–10 minutes to soften. Remove it from the heat and whisk in the chilli sauce.
  • Add both of the oils gradually until the sauce can be easily poured. Depending on the type of peanut butter used not all the oil may be required.
  • Remove the skin from the chicken and take the meat off the bones. Cut it into 2cm shreds and put it to one side.
  • Arrange the vegetables on a serving dish, sprinkle with the rice vinegar, if you are using it, pile the chicken on top and pour over the sauce generously. Pretend you’re in the Ivy while you eat it.