Chicken Pad Thai

Not too long ago I found a Thai restaurant near my work called Thai Chadda. The restaurant is in the food court where a lot of us from work go to eat, and they make the food quite fast. It's not one of the best Thai places, but their chicken pad Thai is quite good. It's tangy, spicy and lightly sweet. So, after searching for recipes for this great dish, I finally decided on this one I found on About.com, because it was actually the less difficult one. Anyway, my pad Thai came out fabulous and almost as good as restaurant quality.

INGREDIENTS (serves 2-3)

• 8-10 oz. thin Thai-style rice noodles - look for linguini-size rice noodles (made in Thailand) at Asian/Chinese stores
• 1 to 1 1/2 cups raw chicken breast or thigh meat, sliced
• 2 tsp. cornstarch dissolved in 2 Tbsp. soy sauce
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 cups fresh bean sprouts
• 3 spring (green) onions, sliced
• 1 cup fresh cilantro
• 1/3 cup crushed or roughly chopped peanuts
• 1/2 cup chicken stock
• 1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
• Lime or orange wedges for serving
• oil for stir-frying

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 Tbsp. fish sauce
• 1-3 tsp. chili sauce (depending how spicy you want it)
• 3 Tbsp. brown sugar (not packed)

DIRECTIONS

1. Place noodles in a pot of water and place on the stove. Bring to near a boil, then remove from heat. Allow to sit while you prepare the other ingredients (about 10 minutes).
2. Make the Pad Thai Sauce by combining the sauce ingredients together in a cup. Stir well to dissolve both the tamarind paste and the brown sugar. Set sauce aside.
3. 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.
4. Check the noodles. 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 chewy. Drain and rinse through with cold water. Set aside.
5. 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).
6. Add the chicken (together with the marinade). Stir-fry until the wok or pan becomes dry (30 seconds to 1 minute).
7. Now begin adding some of the chicken stock. Add only a few Tbsp. at a time, enough to keep the chicken frying nicely. Continue until all the chicken stock has been added and chicken pieces/strips are cooked (about 5-8 minutes).
8. Add the noodles, and pour the Pad Thai sauce over the noodles. Using two spatulas, wooden spoons, or other utensils, quickly stir-fry the noodles. Use a "lift and turn" method (almost as though you were tossing a salad) instead of the usual stir-frying motion, or the noodles with break apart.
9. 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).
10. Add the bean sprouts and sprinkle over the ground black pepper. Continue "tossing" for 1 more minute, or until noodles are cooked. Noodles are done to perfection when they are no longer "hard" or transulcent. They should be opaque and chewy-sticky wonderful!
11. 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.
12. To serve, lift the noodles onto a serving plate. Top with generous amounts of fresh coriander, spring onion (green onion), and crushed or chopped nuts. Add fresh orange slices or 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!

Thai Iced Tea Latte

I was addicted to iced coffee for a while, until I had a Thai iced tea latte several years ago. The tea flavor is fabulous, especially that cardamon flavor, and the sweetened condensed milk just totally works for me! Anyhoo, the first thing you have to do is purchase Thai tea. I'm very lucky that I live near a store that sells Thai tea, but if you don't have that luxury, you can purchase it at importfood.com or templeofthai.com. If you're too lazy to make it, go to your favorite Thai restaurant and order this refreshing drink. You'll probably get addicted to it, too!

INGREDIENTS

• Thai tea
• Sweetened condensed milk
• Ice

DIRECTIONS

Bring 6 cups of water to boil. Add 1-1/2 cups Thai tea to a large pitcher and pour over the hot water. Stir well for about half a minute until the liquid is dark brown. Stain the tea into another pitcher using either a traditional Thai cloth tea strainer or a fine sieve. A large coffee filter would work also. Cool at room temperature.

To serve, pour tea over a full glass of ice. Top with sweetened condensed milk (if you want just regular iced-tea, you can skip this) and serve with a straw. Oh ma gawd, it's sooo good....

Basil Fried Rice

I was craving Thai food today and I was not disappointed. I usually go to Thai Chada down the street from my work or to Spices Thai restaurant. Both are really good Thai places here in San Diego, but nothing will ever compare to Basil, which was my favorite restaurant back in Boston. I'm not sure if it still exists, but their basil fried rice was my absolute fav! Here's a simple yet delicious recipe for basil fried rice. This is a great dish to make with your leftover cooked white rice. Try to use Thai basil for this dish, if you can.

INGREDIENTS (serves 2)

• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 large garlic clove, minced
• 1 green onion (both the green and white part), thinly sliced
• 2 cups cooked white rice
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/2 cup fresh Thai basil leaves, thinly sliced
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• salt and pepper

DIRECTIONS

1. In a large non-stick frying pan, heat oil over medium-high heat.
2. When the oil is hot, add in the garlic and green onion. Stir-fry for 30 seconds.
3. Add in the rice and stir fry for about 2 minutes. Make sure to break up any clumps of rice and that the rice is well coated in oil.
4. Push the rice to one side of the pan. Add the 2 eggs into the empty side of the pan. As the eggs cook, use your spatula to break them up into small pieces and mix the eggs with the rice.
5. Add in the basil and soy sauce. Continue to stir-fry until the basil is wilted. Add additional salt and pepper, if needed, and serve right away.