Pad Thai

Oh Pad Thai, how have I lived so long without you?  Thankfully not anymore! While my hubs and I have a favorite place to get our Pad Thai fix I have come up with a home version that is delicious...

...AND all the ingredients are found in the regular grocery store, yay!

Let 's start with the peanut sauce.  In a medium sauce pan over medium heat warm a can of unsweetened coconut milk.

When that reaches a gentle boil add thai chili sauce, simmer for about 1 minute.

Next add in the peanut butter and stir til completely dissolved.

Reduce heat to low to add in the brown sugar, stir to dissolve completely.

Turn off the heat and add the soy sauce, stir to combine.  Place a lid on the pot and set aside while preparing the noodles and stir fry.

Here are the rice noodles I use.  At my store they come in 1 mm width and 3 mm width.  You can see they say Rice Stick on the right hand side.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a rolling boil, then turn off the heat.  Place the rice noodles in the hot water, give a gentle stir and let sit for about 5 minutes for thin noodles.

Here are mine after 6 minutes.  At this point they'll get mushy very quickly.  Reserve 1 cup of the water and drain the noodles in a large colander, rinsing with cold water to stop the cooking.  They can sit while you prepare the veggies.

Now for the stir fry.  I have red pepper, sugar snap peas, carrots, water chestnuts, cilantro and peanuts.  You can vary the stir fry veggies to your liking.

Get them chopped, shredded and diced before you begin the cooking, this part will go fast.

In a large saute pan heat up 2 tablespoons of canola oil with a touch of sesame oil.  Begin sautéing the veg that will take the longest to cook, here I have red pepper.

Then add the next and the next til it's all in.  As I added my shredded carrots I put a splash of soy sauce to flavor the veggies.

Last I'm adding some chicken that I've cooked and chopped ahead of time, along with the water chestnuts.  Turn the heat to low and allow the chicken to warm through.

When ready to serve add in some of the peanut sauce and toss to coat.  To warm the noodles up place them back into the pot along with some of the reserved water and turn to medium heat.  Cover with the lid for just a few minutes.  Rice noodles can turn mushy really fast so don't forget about them.

To eat place noodles on plate, top with stir fry, cilantro and peanuts and a wedge of lime on the side.  Enjoy!


Pad Thai

Peanut Sauce:
1- 14 oz can unsweetened coconut milk
2 t thai chili sauce, or to your liking
1/3 c unsweetened peanut butter
7 T brown sugar
4 T soy sauce

In a medium saucepan over medium heat bring coconut milk to a gentle boil, stirring occasionally.   Add in chili sauce, stirring for 1 minute.  Add in peanut butter stirring to dissolve, about 1 minute.  Reduce heat to low and add in the brown sugar, stirring to dissolve.  Remove from heat and add soy sauce, stir to combine.  Cover and set aside.

To prepare rice noodles bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.  When water reaches a rolling boil remove from heat.  Place noodles in the hot water and allow to sit.  1 mm noodles will take about 5 min, 3 mm noodles will take about 15 minutes.  Check every 5 minutes til soft.  Once noodles are soft reserve 1 cup of the cooking water and drain the noodles.  Give them a cold water rinse.  Let drain til ready to serve.  When ready to serve place the noodles back in the pot with some of the reserved cooking water.  Place lid on pot and turn to medium heat for a few minutes, not too long.

For the stir fry, prep all veggies and place on a plate or cutting board.  In a large sauté pan heat 2 T canola oil with a splash of sesame oil over medium high heat.  Add veggies, cooking and stirring just for a few minutes.  Turn heat to low, add in cooked chicken to warm through.  When ready to serve add in some peanut sauce.  Serve over rice noodles with fresh cilantro, chopped peanuts and a lime wedge.  Extra peanut sauce on the side is a good bet, I just can't get enough of that!