Chicken Pad Thai Lovers

[Starscream]

I know a lot of you seem to love this. Never had it before, myself, but want to try it out. Which of these recipes would be best?:

http://www.cooking.com/Recipes-And-M....aspx?rid=2633

http://www.kraftfoods.com/kf/communi...cipe_id=312150

http://thaifood.about.com/od/oodleso...kenpadthai.htm

Or do you have your own recipe that you are willing to post?

[poker]

My girl is Thai and approved of this:

Ingredients:

Serves 2

8 oz. Thai rice noodles (or enough for 2 people), linguini-width, available at most Asian/Chinese stores
1 to 1 1/2 cups raw chicken breast or thigh meat, sliced

Marinade for Chicken:
1 tsp. cornstarch dissolved in 3 Tbsp. soy sauce
4 cloves garlic, minced
3 cups fresh bean sprouts
3 spring (green) onions, sliced
approx. 1 cup fresh coriander/cilantro
1/3 cup crushed or roughly chopped peanuts (or other nuts, such as cashews)
1/4 cup chicken stock
1/8 tsp. ground white pepper (or substitute freshly-ground black pepper)

Pad Thai Sauce:
3/4 Tbsp. tamarind paste dissolved in 1/4 cup warm water (look for tamarind at Asian/Chinese or Indian food stores)
2+1/2 Tbsp. fish sauce (Golden Boy brand if you can find it)
1-3 tsp. chili sauce (depending how spicy you want it)
3 Tbsp. brown sugar (not packed)
OTHER: oil for stir-frying, and wedges of lime for serving

Preparation:

Bring a large pot of pot to a boil, then remove from heat. Dunk in your rice noodles. Allow the noodles to soak while you prepare the other ingredients. Note that you will be frying the noodles later, so you don't want to over-soften them at this point. Noodles are ready when they are soft enough to be eaten, but are still firm and a little "crunchy". Drain and rinse through with cold water. Set aside.

Make the Pad Thai Sauce by combining the sauce ingredients together in a cup. Stir well to dissolve both the tamarind paste and brown sugar. Set sauce aside.

Note: this may seem like a lot of sugar, but you need it to balance out the sourness of the tamarind - this balance is what makes Pad Thai taste so tangy-terrific!

Place chicken slices in a small bowl. Pour the marinade (2 tsp. cornstarch dissolved in 2 Tbsp. soy sauce) over the chicken. Stir well and set aside.
Warm up a wok or large frying pan over medium-high heat. When the wok/pan is hot, add 1-2 Tbsp. oil plus garlic. Stir-fry until fragrant (30 seconds).
Add the chicken (together with the marinade). Stir-fry 30 seconds to 1 minute.

When wok or pan becomes dry, add a little chicken stock (1-2 Tbsp. at a time), enough to keep the chicken frying nicely. Continue in this way until the chicken pieces/strips are cooked (about 5-8 minutes).

Add the noodles, and pour the Pad Thai sauce over. Using two spatulas, wooden spoons, or other utensils, quickly stir-fry the noodles. Use a gentle "lift and turn" method (like tossing a salad) instead of the usual stir-frying motion, or the noodles may break.

Fry the noodles in this way for 1-2 minutes. If you find your wok/frying pan too dry, push noodles aside and add a little more oil to the bottom (but no more broth, or the noodles will become soggy).

Add the bean sprouts and sprinkle over the pepper. Continue "tossing" 1 more minute, or until noodles are cooked. Noodles are done to perfection when they are no longer "hard" or crunchy, but chewy-sticky wonderful!

Taste-test the noodles for seasoning, adding more fish sauce as needed (I usually end up adding up to 1 more Tbsp. fish sauce, as I like mine on the salty side). Toss well to incorporate.

Lift the noodles onto a serving plate. Top with generous amounts of fresh coriander, spring onion, and crushed or chopped nuts. Add fresh lime wedges (lime is great squeezed overtop), and serve with a bottle of Thai chili sauce on the side (for those who like it extra spicy). ENJOY!

[icehog3]

I like to have my Thai friends at the Thai restaurant make it for me, Andy.

[BlackDog]

Originally Posted by icehog3

I like to have my Thai friends at the Thai restaurant make it for me, Andy.

Go to Big Bowl.

[Starscream]

Originally Posted by icehog3

I like to have my Thai friends at the Thai restaurant make it for me, Andy.

So you take the easy way out.

[icehog3]

Originally Posted by andysutherland

So you take the easy way out.

It's easy, and they tend to cook Thai food better than I do, being from Thailand and everything.

[Starscream]

Originally Posted by icehog3

It's easy, and they tend to cook Thai food better than I do, being from Thailand and everything.

Plenty of Chinese and Japanese restaraunts around my area, but the closest Thai establishment is an hour away.

[BeerAdvocate]

Love me some Pad Thai! Mmmmmm

[icehog3]

Ooh, I am lucky that way, we have 3 of them in the town I work in, Andy, and one right down the street from my house.