Serves 4 as a main dish

4 tablespoons olive oil
4 poussins, 500-600g each
75g butter, melted
8 heads small pak choi
2 tbsps dark soy lauce
sea salt and freshly ground pepper

For the sauce

1 red pepper, chopped
1 yellow pepper, chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
1tbsp caster sugar
3 tbsps classic vinaigrette

First make the sauce. Sauté the peppers in the oil for about 5 minutes until softened. Deglaze with the vinegar and add the sugar, stirring until dissolved. Whizz to a fine purée in a blender with the vinaigrette. Rub through a sieve. Season and set aside.

Preheat the oven to 200C, Gas 6. Heat 2 tbsps of the oil in a large frying pan. When hot, add the birds, two at a time, and brown all over. Place the birds in a roasting tin, open out their legs and trickle over the melted butter through a sieve.

Season. Roast for 15-20 minutes, basting at least twice. Spoon the juices inside the birds as well if possible. When cooked, remove from the oven and set aside. You can serve the birds whole or using a very sharp knife, remove the breasts from the bone in one piece. Cut through the thigh joint and remove the legs. Then loosen and pull out the thigh bone leaving the drumstick.

Trim the pak choi neatly and sauté whole in the remaining oil for about 3 minutes. Deglaze with the soy sauce and season with pepper only. To serve, place the chicken on top of the pak choi. Reheat the sauce and spoon over.

· Originally, this recipe appeared as part of the feature Mad for it: Lynn Barber meets Gordon Ramsay