Recipe #179: Easy Pad Thai

I LOVE pad thai.  Perfect combination of spices and that delicious peanut flavor.  My favorite place to eat it is at Sweet Mango (locations in Strongsville and Berea), but of course I was interested in making it myself.  I looked here and there for recipes, but most involved ingredients that were just a little too exotic for my lazy self to go hunting for (especially for just one recipe).  Finally, I came across a recipe with all basic/common ingredients that had great ratings.  Looked good to me, although it didn't contain shrimp with the chicken, but that's easily remedied.

I went and got almost all of the ingredients.  Sadly, my little grocery store by me didn't have rice noodles, and I was quite unhappy about this.  I decided to get fine (very narrow) egg noodles and hope for the best.  This led to some modification on cooking times because these noodles cooked very fast, and definitely NOT a photogenic meal.  BUT!  Nick and I both had seconds and I can't wait to eat the leftovers.

If I ever get to a bigger grocery store (Giant Eagle, *sigh* you corporate giants) and get the right noodles, I'll remake this recipe and post the results.

No matter how you might think this looks in the picture, I promise, it's DELICIOUS.  It's just got the wrong noodles.  It's not restaurant-exact, but that subtle peanut flavor is there, with a little heat, and the texture and heartiness is spot on.

NOTE:  ADD PEANUTS!  DO NOT FORGET THIS!  Crush up some peanuts, and/or leave them whole, and put them on as a topping.  I think this is a very important addition to the texture and flavor, and I'm surprised the original recipe doesn't call for this.    ....another allrecipes.com find.  Maybe I should dust off my cookbooks and give them some love for once.

Ingredients

• 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, cut into bite-size pieces
• salt and ground black pepper to taste
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
• 3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
• 6 tablespoons fish sauce
• 1 tablespoon creamy peanut butter
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 5 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 (16 ounce) package pad Thai rice noodles (I used fine/narrow egg noodles, or you could also use ramen)
• 1/2 cup fresh bean sprouts (I used more)
• 2 cups beef broth
• 1/2 cup chopped green onion

Directions

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil.
2. Season chicken with salt and black pepper; set aside.
3. Whisk sugar, cayenne pepper, white wine vinegar, fish sauce, and peanut butter together in a bowl.
4. Coat the inside of a large skillet or wok with olive oil and place over high heat.
5. Cook and stir chicken in the hot oil just until the meat is white outside but still pink inside, about 3 minutes.
6. Remove chicken and set aside in a bowl.
7. Lower the heat under the skillet to medium-low. Cook and stir garlic in the skillet until it becomes translucent, 1 to 2 minutes.
8. Cook and stir eggs into garlic until loosely cooked, 2 to 3 minutes.
9. Pour peanut sauce into the garlic and eggs, and stir to combine. Bring sauce to a simmer.
10. Stir rice noodles into the boiling water. Cook until noodles are still slightly tough, about 5 minutes.
11. Drain the noodles.
12. Return chicken to the skillet with eggs and sauce. Simmer until chicken is no longer pink in the center and the juices run clear, stirring frequently, 5 to 8 more minutes.
13. Stir bean sprouts, rice noodles. and beef broth into the skillet. Bring to a simmer, and cook until noodles are tender and most of the broth has been absorbed, about 10 minutes.
14. Sprinkle with green onions to serve..  (AND PEANUTS!!)