I know Valentine’s day posts are supposed to be heart-themed and pink. Maybe chocolate with raspberries or pomegranates. Or maybe some recipes with oyster themed items.
Sorry to disappoint.
I am mostly posting this because I haven’t made ANY food for valentine’s day and don’t intend to (We are going out!), but also because it was amazing and if you and your significant other have a craving for Thai food, this will meet and exceed your expectations. Highly recommended.
Pad Thai with chicken is a Thai street food item. As such, it’s something that is best served fresh, right before eating- none of this waiting around for 30 minutes heating on the stove while you wait for company to arrive. No. It’s a noodle stir-fry dish that is very quick to assemble, but you need to prep the ingredients in advance. Whatever you do, don’t be tempted to start cooking the noodles while you prep everything else.
There’s nothing worse that mushy Pad Thai- am I right?
This recipe is a fool-proof way to get your Pai Thai flavored properly and texturally on point. I struggled for a long time with messing up the noodles and having the texture come out super funky. If you also have this problem, follow my recipe and you will get superb results!
Now you just need to convince your significant other to get on the Pad Thai bandwagon for Valentine’s Day and life will be perfect.
(Note- I doubled (ish) the recipe for our dinner party, which is why the quantities will look a little different in the photos.)
Ingredients
- Vegetable oil for stir-frying
- 2 chicken breast, sliced into thin pieces
- 2 eggs, scrambled
- 8 oz of Pad Thai rice noodles (called rice stick at the asian store)
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 package mung bean sprouts
- 4 scallions, chopped into 1 inch pieces, white parts discarded
- 1-2 limes, quartered
- 1/2 cup crushed peanuts
- 1 handful of cilantro, roughly chopped
- 4 tablespoons tamarind concentrate
- 6 tablespoons fish sauce
- 4 oz palm sugar
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice (I used bottled)
- 1/4 cup water
- 1 medium-sized shallot
Instructions
- Submerge noodles in cold water; let soak for approximately 30-40 minutes
- Combine sauce ingredients, except shallot, in a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer and whisk until sugar is dissolved. Pour into blender; add shallot and puree. Set aside.
- Heat wok on high heat with 2-3 tablespoons of oil. Stir fry chicken until cooked through- cook in batches to promote searing. Set aside.
- Scramble eggs in wok and set aside.
- Reheat wok with another 2-3 tablespoons of oil on high heat. When oil is heated, add noodles to wok. Stir fry for about 1-2 minutes. Add 1/4 cup of water. Stir fry until water has evaporated. Test noodle texture at this point- add additional 1/4 cup of water, or more if needed, allowing water to absorb/ evaporate each time before tasting. Texture goal = chewy without being crunchy.
- Add 1/3 cup of Pad Thai Sauce to noodles. Stir fry until sauce is mostly evaporated.
- Next, add cooked chicken, eggs, and scallions to the noodles and toss to combine. Add 1/3 cup more sauce (or more to taste).
- Immediately pour onto serving plate.
- Serve garnished with mung bean sprouts, limes, cilantro, and peanuts.
