One of my top five favorite cuisines to eat is Thai. I love the fresh herbs and flavors used: lime, basil, mint, garlic, red curry paste, lemongrass, tamarind, etc. We used to go out for Thai food at least twice a month in Pittsburgh, but now I’m perfecting my favorites at home in my Franklin kitchen. Some of the ingredients are hard to find locally unless you want to drive to Pittsburgh or order online so I’ve experimented with substitutes (sometimes this is an absolute disaster!) and this time it worked — yippee! Here is my adaptation of Shrimp Pad Thai from one of my favorite food bloggers, Jaden Hair of Steamy Kitchen.
Chicken Pad Thai -- chopsticks optional
CHICKEN PAD THAI
8 oz. medium rice noodles (I used fettucine-style brown rice pasta from God’s Little Garden in Seneca)
3 TBSP canola oil
2 eggs, slightly beaten (from Chatley Farms @ the Saturday Farmers Market)
2 boneless chicken breasts, seasoned with a little soy sauce, sesame oil & hoison sauce, grilled and cut into small bite-sized pieces
1 TBSP finely minced garlic
4 green onions, sliced on a diagonal
1 lime, cut into 8 wedges
½ c. honey roasted peanuts, coarsely chopped
Pad Thai Sauce:
4 TBSP Roasted Red Chili Paste (my substitute for Pad Thai paste in original recipe)
2 tsp Cross & Blackwell Major Grey’s Chutney (my substitute for tamarind paste)
3 TBSP Dynasty fish sauce
3 tsp sugar (I used agave syrup instead)
2/3 c. water
2 tsp. Sriracha sauce
Start water for the noodles and cook them the same way you would regular pasta BUT stop cooking just shy of al dente, you want them to be a little bit hard in the middle because you are going to cook them in the sauce and the rest of the ingredients at the end. Combine the ingredients for the sauce in a bowl.
In a large wok or sauté pan heat over medium high heat 2 TBSP of oil, once the oil is very hot (but not smoking) add the eggs. Swirl them around and lightly stir with a spatula. Remove from the pan. Add the remaining 1 TBSP of oil and add the garlic and green onions, cook for 15-30 seconds until fragrant (don’t let the garlic get too brown or burn!). Add the chicken, scrambled eggs, cooked & drained noodles and the sauce. Stir well to combine. Cover and simmer for about 2 minutes. Taste to make sure noodles are cooked through – if not, simmer for another minute or two. The noodles should absorb some of the sauce. Serve with a lime wedge and a sprinkling of peanuts on top. A squeeze of lime juice really makes it!
A couple of things: you can surely swap out the chicken for grilled shrimp or extra firm tofu. Also, you can use regular roasted peanuts instead of honey roasted. The original recipe calls for fresh bean sprouts as a garnish on top, which I like, it adds a nice crunchy contrast, but I couldn’t find any. Sometimes they have fresh bean sprouts at WalMart. I’m not sure if canned sprouts would be a good replacement or not but you could try. I found the fish sauce and Major Grey’s chutney at Giant Eagle in Franklin. I honestly don’t remember where I got the Roasted Red Chili Paste, it might have been Whole Foods in Pittsburgh… I am going to ask Giant Eagle if they would carry the medium rice noodles and the chili paste – it never hurts to ask!
