My Favorite Dish

This is our new favorite dish.  I make this pad thai all. the. time. And by make, I mean request that Steve make, because the wok makes me nervous.  The dish comes together so quickly and it is by far the best homemade recipe I've ever found for pad thai.  I really shouldn't have made it (read: have had Steve make it) tonight, because we never have leftovers and now there's nothing to send for Steve's lunch tomorrow (which he may not know yet, because I just ate the remnants while he was talking on the phone*). 

We adapted it slightly from this recipe.  Our version would look more like the traditional dish, but we generally use more and larger noodles than called for.

Favo(u)rite Pad Thai  

Ingredients

• 4 tablespoons oil
• 1 chicken breast, sliced against the grain
• 5 cloves of crushed garlic
• 1 carrot, diced
• pinch of cayenne
• 2/3 cup tamarind juice (substitute 1/3 C lime juice and 1/3 C water if necessary)
• 160 grams rice noodles (we usually use more like 250)
• 2 eggs
• 2 tsp fish sauce
• 2 tsp soy sauce
• 3 tsp brown sugar
• pinch of salt
• 3 tablespoons crushed roasted peanuts
• 2 tsp chopped spring onion
• 1 cup soy bean sprouts

Instructions: Heat oil in a wok and add the chicken. Cook briefly until the meat whitens. Add garlic, carrot pieces, chili powder and stir until fragrant. Add tamarind juice and noodles. Turn the heat to medium and stir fry for a few minutes. Turn the heat down to low and move the noodles to one side of the wok so you have place to fry the eggs. Add the eggs and scramble. Add fish sauce, soy sauce, sugar, salt, peanuts, the sprouts and spring onion and turn the heat up to high. Stir fry until thoroughly mixed. Serve with a piece of lemon or add a teaspoon of sweet chili sauce.

*Steve says we can still be friends even though I ate his pad thai, but he doesn't feel bad about that doughnut he ate without me now.