We’ve been doing the Couch to 5K program about 3 days a week. 1 of those days always lands on a Friday. At our house Friday is known as Pad Thai Day. I can’t even imagine a better post-run dinner than Pad Thai. It’s one of my favorites and I almost always order it when it’s on the menu. I promised the recipe last blog post and I’m usually not to good on keeping promises over the internet but this time you can say, I delivered!
I had never thought of making my own Pad Thai before. There is a take out place here that makes it decent enough so I just bought it from them once in awhile. Occasionally the chicken was overcooked, but it was cheap, abundant and saved me from cooking dinner for at least 2 nights in a row. It was a win-win. Of course until we ordered food one evening and Tj found a chopped up cigarette in his food. Oh, how I WISH I was joking. We have never been back since. How does that even happen!? Did it fall from his mouth? Behind his ear? Was he chopping vegetable while smoking AND blindfolded??? Do I even want to know?!
Anyway, I searched around for a recipe and eventually came across one that I thought matched perfectly. Most of the recipes are similar, but something about this one just stood out. Full Disclosure: This isn’t my recipe but I’m rewriting it since there are some mistakes in the text and I modified it just ever so slightly. Also, on the original when you click for the photo version it’s different. So here is the recipe that I cook every Friday night.
| Pad Thai |
- 8 oz. Thai Rice Noodles (linguini style)
- 3/4 tbsp. tamarind paste
- 1/4 cup warm water
- 2 tbsp fish sauce
- 1 tsp chili sauce
- 3 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 1/2 cups chicken thigh, sliced
- 3 tbsp soy sauce or Bragg’s liquid amino’s
- 1 tsp corn starch
- 2 tsp coconut oil
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 fresh Thai chilis, minced (optional – these tiny chilis can pack some heat!)
- 2 tbsp. chicken stock
- 3 cups bean sprouts
- 1/8 tsp ground white pepper
- 3 green onions, sliced
- 1/3 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
- 1/3 cup peanuts, chopped
- fresh lime wedges
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Remove from heat and place in the rice noodles. Allow noodles to soak while you prepare the other ingredients. (The idea is soften the noodles enough to eat without making the mushy. I find this step happens quite fast so check regularly) Drain. Rinse with cold water. Set Aside.
- In a cup dissolve the tamarind paste in the warm water. Add the fish sauce, chili sauce and brown sugar. This is the Pad Thai sauce. Set aside.
- Stir together the soy sauce and 1 tsp of corn starch to make the marinade. Pour over the sliced chicken. Stir well. Set aside.
- Heat the oil in your wok or large frying pan over medium-high. Add the coconut oil. Stir fry the garlic and chilis for about 30-45 seconds.
- Add the chicken to the wok and stir fry until brown on all sides. Pour in the chicken stock and continue to the cook the chicken until cooked through. 5-8 minutes.
- Add the noodles to the pan, pour the pad thai sauce over the noodles and mix with the chicken. Gently lift and turn to mix the noodles with the chicken. Stir Fry for 1-2 minutes.
- Add the bean sprouts and the white pepper and continue to lift and turn to mix in with the noodles.
- Removed from heat. Add the green onion, cilantro, and peanuts and toss together until well mixed.
- Serve with lime wedge and chili sauce. Also, add more fish sauce to taste if desired.
Instead of chicken try shrimp or tofu!
Before I go, I should share that on Saturday we attended a film festival at the local theater. There were 29, 1 minute videos entered and I should probably also mention that one of the videos happened to be made by Skylar and his friend Charlie.
This is his second movie screening, at a real theater, of one of his own videos and all I can say is what an amazing experience for him as a young film maker. All of the videos appear here at The Vashon Line. Skylar’s film, entitled “God” is the last one on page 2. I can’t even tell you what a thrill it is to see your kid’s face on the big screen!
