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Friday, April 26, 2013

Chicken Pad Thai

While waiting for my voices to speak to me, I started rummaging through my pantry and tried to concoct something exciting while also trying to stray from Indian.  Otherwise I would have made yam curry and naan.  I'll probably make that tomorrow, no worries.
So I'm very familiar with all the different existant Thai curries, but I've never ventured into Pad Thailand.  I don't know why, I'm just naturally drawn to curry, so I never researched the Pad Thai business that seems to be a favorite among all my Thai restaurant goers.
Tonight's the night, and the list of ingredients is so intriguing I just had to experience the outcome.
Serves 3-4
Ingredients:
1/2 lb (250g) Thai flat rice noodles
2 large chicken breasts, cubed
1.5 Tbsp soy sauce (or GF alternative)
3-4 cloves garlic, grated
1 tsp ginger, grated
1 green and 1 red chili, chopped
4 green onions, chopped with whites separated from greens
1 carrot, peeled and grated
2 eggs
handful bean sprouts (omitted)
1/3 cup chopped peanuts
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
Pad Thai Sauce:
1/3 cup chicken stock
3 Tbsp rice vinegar
1 Tbsp lime juice
1 Tbsp molasses
2.5 Tbsp brown sugar
2 Tbsp fish sauce
1 Tbsp soy sauce (or GF alternative)
1/4 tsp cayenne
1/8 tsp white pepper
Directions:
1.  Marinate the chicken in the 1.5 Tbsp soy sauce and set aside.
2.  In a bowl, mix all the Pad Thai Sauce ingredients together and set aside.
3.  Cook the noodles in a large pot of boiling water for 6 minutes.  Drain, rinse in cold water, and set aside.
4.  Heat the oil in a large wok or heavy based pan, then add the garlic, chili, ginger, carrots, and the white parts of the green onion and stir fry 1 minute.
5.  Add the chicken and stir fry 5 minutes, adding some of the pad thai sauce to deglaze, 1-2 Tbsp at a time.  You don't want it to dry out.
6.  Make a hole in the center of the wok by pushing the chicken and veggies to the side and crack an egg in the center.  Wait 2 minutes before scrambling so it is cooked through, then mix it with the rest.  Repeat for egg number 2.
7.  Drop in the cooked noodles, and stir fry, tossing and adding the pad thai sauce.  Add the peanuts little at a time.  Keep doing this until the noodles are deliciously chewy and mouth wateringly delicious (about 10 minutes).
8.  Fold in the green part of the green onions and the bean sprouts before serving.

Serve with a wedge of lime.
Don't forget to bust out your sexy chopsticks to correctly enjoy this dish.

I would never have thought to put those pad thai sauce ingredients together, but they work very well.  It is perfectly spicy, although I had to add a Thai chili to adequately rip my face off.  Everything was perfect.
The original recipe has half chicken and half shrimp, but I had to make do with what I had on hand.  I'm sure it would be lovely with shrimp as well!

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