Colm O'Gorman's Indonesian black pepper chicken - with a secret sauce that's easy to make

Black pepper chicken is a stir-fry dish, flavoured with garlic, onion, sweet soy sauce and lots of black pepper. This is a simple and straightforward dish to make

Black pepper chicken is a stir-fry dish, flavoured with garlic, onion, sweet soy sauce and lots of black pepper.

I can remember a time when takeaways here in Ireland were limited to chip shops and burger joints, and when pizza was a curiosity. 

I vividly remember the first time I tasted Chinese food when Wexford’s first Chinese restaurant, The Lotus House, opened on South Main Street in 1978. Back then sweet and sour chicken balls were the height of sophistication and seemed wildly exotic to 12-year-old me. A takeaway was a rare treat then, and I loved getting to try new dishes from The Lotus House.