Pad Thai Is No Longer A PFD For Me

I love Thai food.  Spicy, Sour, Sweet and salty all at once, its like a day at the spa for my mouth.  I just can’t ever make it successfully at home.  I think it’s just a general unfamiliarity of ingredients and the fact that I typically don’t follow a recipe.  Thai night, for me,  has always lived up to its potential…for disaster.

Last night I tried again…after scoring a package of Thai noodles from Trader Joe’s yesterday.  All the rice noodles I have tried previously were, gummy, weird, just not right.  But these noodles were just what I was looking for.  I used ingredients I typically always have on hand and, guess what?  Everyone ate it!  Some of us even ate it for breakfast, Ahem.

- Heidi

P.S. Next time I will remember to take the picture BEFORE we eat it all.

Pad Thai, now just living up to its potential.

8 oz. package of Thai Noodles, I used Trader Joe’s

2 TBLS. Sriracha sauce, or your favorite red chile sauce

Juice from 2 limes

1/4 C. soy sauce

1/2 tsp. sesame oil

2 tsp. anchovy paste (I keep a tube of this in the fridge.  You could probably use fish sauce instead)

2 TBLS. brown sugar

2 TBLS. peanut oil

1 LB. chicken thighs, skinless/boneless, sliced into 1/4 inch strips

2 cloves garlic, crushed and chopped

1 PKG. bean sprouts

1 Bunch scallions, white and green parts, sliced into 1/2″ pieces

1 egg, beaten

1/2 C. fresh cilantro, chopped.

1.  Cook the noodles according to the package.

2. In a small bowl, whisk together the Sriracha, lime juice, soy sauce, sesame oil, anchovy paste and brown sugar.

3.  Heat the peanut oil in a cast iron skillet, or your favorite pan for this sort of thing, over a medium-high heat.  Add the chicken and cook throughly, stirring occasionally.  Turn down the heat to a medium flame and add the garlic.  Continue stirring until the garlic has released its aroma, don’t let it brown.  This only takes about a minute.  Add the bean sprouts and the scallions to the pan.  Let cook for about a minute, just until everything is nice and hot and the scallions soften just a bit. 

4.  Now is time for the egg.  I make a hole in the middle of the pan by pushing all of the other ingredients to the sides.  I turn up the heat and pour in the egg.  I give it about 15 seconds, and then mix the egg, keeping it in the center.  I do this until about half the egg is cooked.  Then, I mix everything in the pan together and continue to cook until the egg is done, which is pretty quick.

5.  Add the drained noodles, Sriracha sauce and the cilantro.  You can serve with chopped peanuts on top if you have them, which I did not.