Pad Thai - But I Forgot the Bean Sprouts!

Regardless, it tasted amazing! And was an easy week night meal! The longest part of it was cooking the chicken! Under 30 minutes otherwise!

So I started following half baked harvest on her blog, Pinterest etc.! Her noodle inspiration is trending! and it looked delicious! @havebakedharvest I couldn't decide what I wanted to make but I knew that from my travels to Thailand I connected to the traditional dishes from that region.... I never ate so well! Her photos got me thinking and it came to me... Pad Thai! So here is where I either break the rhythm or speak your language! I have kids without a refined palate... so when I decide to make food I think... what kid friendly version can I do at the same time? With the food I'm already using?

This is a tolerant dish... I baked a bunch of chicken thighs with cumin, soya sauce, lemon juice, and garlic powder... If you can believe it... that one is for the kids... its a Peruvian dish that the kids totally dig... perhaps I will just showcase that one day... in our house its called "did you make my favourite chicken?" and the answer is yes... I put 2 chicken thighs in the oven along side the "favourite chicken" with nothing but avocado oil on it for the Pad Thai.

Then I cooked some shrimp by boiling them in water and de-shelling.

The veggies for Pad Thai are up to what you have on hand... Traditionally you see bean sprouts... I bought them for this dish... and then forgot to add them! This is embarrassing but I mention it also because the flavour on this was such that I did not miss them....

I like organic everything.. it makes me feel like the food I'm eating isn't full of preservatives or other chemicals... I also do not let it dictate what I eat so if, for instance I need fish sauce? the traditional fish sauce will do... but in earlier posts I mentioned I had not found an organic rice vinegar and my lovely husband saw it, researched and found Eden Organic Brown rice vinegar!!! and bought me some... it is delicious and again I feel confident in what I am eating!

This is your Pad Thai sauce line up, save the minced ginger I added at the end and the chili oil I will explain shortly... Pad Thai is not complete without some cilantro and green onion and crushed peanuts!

The easiest way to do so is place the peanuts in a closed Ziploc and crush within... The act of crushing the nuts probably helps expel some Covid 19 "I wasn't meant to be a teacher too" anger....that I especially enjoyed!

So with chicken, shrimp and sauces ready, I boiled the rice noodles in water in a pan on the stove. You want to cook these just shy of "al dente"... which is not at all a Thai term, but what I mean to say, if you don't understand the term.... cook to the point of still being a little bit under done... close enough you could eat them but not amazing... and the reason for this... is that the noodles have more cooking to do with the sauce and other participants, so if you want the noodles perfect you have to stop them cooking alone before they are done!

Stop the cooking process by straining the noodles and blanching them with cold water. From there add the sliced veggies to the pan. In this case, shredded red and green cabbage, carrots and red peppers. I sautéed them in avocado oil until soft but still tender.

I shredded the chicken and peeled the shrimp while at the same time I started to boil the chili oil.... honestly this oil is the bomb! and its so easy... just put chili flakes in a pan with avocado oil and simmer slowly until the flakes release their flavor.

Now to combine all of your efforts... add the noodles to the sauteed veggies, and incorporate the shrimp and chicken.

Throw in the sauce and the chili oil to taste and ability to take heat! Here is where if you are more switched on than me.... you would add some bean sprouts! lol

Plate out and wow does it look and taste delicious with some cilantro, green onion and crushed peanuts!

The Recipe:

The Sauce:

Add 1/4 cup of soya sauce

Add 1/4 cup of rice vinegar

Add 2 tbsp of fish sauce

Add 3 tbsp of sesame oil

From here taste test the sauce to your particular tastes. I prefer a more vinegar forward flavour and others really enjoy additional fish sauce.

The Meat:

Bake chicken thighs or whatever cut of chicken you prefer. 350 degrees in the oven is a great temperature to ensure tender chicken, but watch the timing based on the amount of chicken and the cut.

Boil the shrimp and peal once cool.

The Vegetables:

I chose to used red peppers, red cabbage, green cabbage and shredded carrot. I purchased and forgot the bean sprouts! Please don't join me in this, they add to the dish.

I sauteed the veggies in some of the prepared sauce and set aside once tender but soft.

In the same pan start boiling some water. Once boiling add the rice noodles to the pan. Cook until they are soft but do not continue to boil past this point. Drain the water and add back in the vegetables and meat. Top with the remainder of the sauce and cook to be consistently warm and the noodles are coated in the sauce.

Plate out the dish and top with cut cilantro and green onion and crushed peanuts.

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