Celebrity Square Meals: Guo Yue's chicken with red peppers, peanuts and chilli

Guo Yue is renowned as a bamboo flautist and composer, and has worked on scores for films including 'The Killing Fields'. In his new book, 'Music, Food and Love' (Portrait, £14.99), he recalls his life through food over the years of the Cultural Revolution.

I am not a professional cook, but I have had a passion for cooking since my childhood in Beijing. This is a traditional dish in the hutongs [lanes], and one that my sisters cooked on the few occasions when they were able to obtain chicken.

A handful of raw shelled peanuts

Sunflower oil

Sea salt and ground black pepper

1 large chicken breast, about 150g

1 egg white

2tsp cornflower

2tsp Chinese cooking rice wine

1 spring onion, washed and finely chopped

1tsp very finely chopped fresh ginger

1 fresh, red chilli and 1 green chilli, chopped

Half a medium red pepper, deseeded and torn into 2cm lengths

Quarter of cucumber, unpeeled, cut into 2cm cubes

White caster sugar

1tbsp light soy sauce

Sesame seed oil

Heat a wok, add 2tbsp of sunflower oil and when hot, cook the peanuts for 3 minutes, stirring, until they crackle. Drain, reserve and sprinkle with salt.

Cube the chicken and, in a bowl, mix in the egg white, cornflower, salt, pepper and 1tsp rice wine. Reheat the wok, add 2tbsp oil and add the chicken, stirring until it's white. Remove to a colander.

Heat 2tbsp oil in the work until it begins to smoke. Add the spring onion, ginger and chilli. After 30 seconds add the pepper and cucumber, and 2 pinches of salt. Return the chicken plus a pinch of sugar. Stir, add the peanuts, and toss. Add the soy, a drizzle of rice wine and another of sesame seed oil. Toss and serve with steamed rice.