Short of screaming-hot Thai Food....

I don't know about y'all, but occasionally I get an itch for one dish or another and I can't shake it. That is how I have been feeling about eating some Pad Thai since I have returned home from Brazil. So I pulled out my trusted recipe I found and altered a while back.

I was once super intimidated about trying to cook things that I wasn't familiar with. Then I finally realized that as long as I am tasting it while I cook, I won't mess it up so badly that it will be uneatable. I hope y'all like it as much as I do.

Southern Pad Thai with Chicken

Ingredients:

9 oz pad Thai rice noodles (click on link to see what these look like)

3/4 lbs boneless chicken thigh or breast, cut into small pieces or strips

1.5 Tbsp soy sauce

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 fresh red or green chili, sliced

1 thumb-size piece fresh ginger, grated

4 green onions, sliced

1 egg

2-3 cups bean sprouts

1/3 cup dry-roasted unsalted peanuts or cashews, ground or roughly chopped with a knife

1 fresh lime, sliced into wedges

2 Tbsp. vegetable oil

Garnish with Thai Chili Sauce or Sirracha

Pad Thai Sauce:

1/3 cup good-tasting chicken stock

3 Tbsp. rice vinegar (or substitute white vinegar)

1 Tbsp. lime juice

3-4 Tbsp. brown sugar

2 Tbsp. fish sauce

1 Tbsp. soy sauce

1 Tbsp. paprika (if you like it spicy)

1/8 tsp. white pepper

Preparation:

Place prepared chicken in a bowl and toss with 1.5 Tbsp. soy sauce. 

Set aside.

Combine 'pad Thai sauce' ingredients together in a cup, stirring well to dissolve sugar. Set aside.

**Note that this sauce needs to taste sweet first, then sour and then salty to create good pad Thai.** 

Bring a large pot of water to boil. Dunk in rice noodles and switch off heat. 

Allow noodles to soak approximately 6 minutes, OR until soft enough to bend easily, but still firm and 'undercooked' by regular standards (They will finish cooking later in the wok). 

Drain and rinse noodles briefly with cold water to keep from sticking. Set aside.

Heat a wok or large frying pan over medium-high heat. 

Coat with oil, then add the garlic, chili, ginger, and half of green onion (or just the white parts), reserving remaining for later. Stir-fry 1 minute to release the fragrance.

Add chicken and stir-fry 3-4 minutes, or until cooked. 

**If pan becomes dry, add 1-2 Tbsp. of the pad Thai sauce, just enough to keep ingredients frying nicely.**

Push ingredients aside and crack egg into center of pan. Stir quickly to scramble, then combine.

Add prepared noodles plus 3-4 Tbsp. of the pad Thai sauce. 

Using two utensils, lift and turn noodles to stir-fry and combine with other ingredients. 

Continue frying in this way, adding more of the sauce every minute or two, until all sauce has been added and the noodles are chewy-delicious and a little bit sticky (8-10 minutes). 

When sauce has been absorbed and noodles are cooked, fold in the bean sprouts (you want them to stay crispy).

Remove from heat and taste-test, adding more fish sauce until desired taste is achieved (I usually end up adding 1-2 Tbsp. fish sauce, but I like mine on the salty side). 

Portion out onto individual plates and add a lime wedge on the side. 

Before eating, top with remaining green onion and squeeze over the lime wedge, then finish with a generous sprinkling of chopped/ground nuts. 

For those whole like it extra spicy, serve with Thai chili sauce on the side, and enjoy!

I love this dish. No, it isn't the end all be all of Thai food. Actually, from everything I have read, most restaurants in Thailand don't serve Pad Thai because they can't complete with the street cart vendors who only make it and make it amazingly. Also, the full name of the dish is Kway Teow Pad Thai which suggests the dish has a Chinese origin, although the ingredients are definitely Thai. 

Husband doesn't care for shrimp or tofu, otherwise you would see them as ingredients as I like them in my Pad Thai. I like to sear each piece of chicken individually if I have the time as it keeps the inside juicy and the outside a little crisp. When I use Tofu, I will press out the juices of an extra firm block then marinade it with a bit of Pad Thai Sauce. If you want to attempt to make this a bit more of a well rounded meal, shredded carrot and chopped broccoli are great additions.

Until the next dish...

** Today's title is from Guy Fieri who once said "Short of screaming-hot Thai food, everything can be suitable for kids too". This dish is totally kid friendly, just substitute veggies they will eat into it.**