pad thai with chicken.

I made Pad Thai noodles with chicken about a month ago. At first, it seemed a bit daunting, but I soon discovered that as with anything you do for the first time, it may be hard but after going past that stage, it gets better everyday.

So I made this dish again on Friday. This time it took me just about 20-30 minutes. Amazing.

I searched for the recipe and I quickly found a lot of results. The recipes vary, but what's important is the sauce. You can make your own topping, use any kind of meat, but you gotta have the "authentic" sauce.

Having said that, let me start with the Pad Thai sauce:

You'll need:

3/4 Tbsp. tamarind paste dissolved in 1/4 cup warm water (I used the brand Thai, bought it at Landmark or SM, I forgot.)
2 Tbsp. fish sauce, + more to taste
1-3 tsp. chili sauce, or substitute 1/2 tsp. or more dried crushed chili or cayenne, to taste
3 Tbsp. brown sugar

Just mix everything in a cup or bowl.  You might also want to double the recipe if you want to have more sauce for your noodles.

To complete the recipe, you'll need:

8 oz. Thai rice noodles (or enough for 2 people), linguini-width, available at Asian/Chinese aisle in the supermarket
1 to 1 1/2 cups raw chicken breast or thigh meat, sliced into strips and marinated in 2 teaspoon cornstarch dissolved in 3 tablespoons soy sauce
4 cloves garlic, minced
1-2 fresh red chilies, chopped/snipped (I use a pair of kitchen scissors) roughly
1 cup carrots, julienned
1 cup baguio beans, sliced diagonally
3 spring (green) onions, sliced
1/2 cup fresh coriander/cilantro
1/3 cup crushed or roughly chopped peanuts (or other nuts, such as cashews)
1/4 cup chicken stock
1/8 tsp. ground white pepper
canola oil for stir-frying

Bring a large pot of pot to a boil and remove from heat. Dunk in your rice noodles. Allow noodles to soak while you prepare the other ingredients.

Note: The noodles will be fried later, so make sure that they're not toosoft. Noodles are ready to be drained when they are soft enough to be eaten, but are still firm. Drain and rinse with cold water. Set aside.

Stir-fry chicken strips until half-cooked. Set aside chicken and marinade.

In the same pan, saute minced garlic and chilies. Stir-fry until fragrant. Add chicken strips and marinade. Add chicken stock if the pan becomes dry, don't add too much though cos it might make the noodles soggy later. Add in carrots and baguio beans.

Add noodles and pour in Pad Thai sauce (you can leave a bit of sauce for later). Stir noodles using two wooden spatulas (or whatever you use for stir-frying). Toss and turn the noodles gently until everything is coated. If the pan becomes dry, push the noodles to the side and add a little oil.

Add in carrots and baguio beans. Sprinkle pepper. Continue tossing the noodles until it's firm but not hard or crunchy.

Taste-test noodles, add more fish sauce and more pepper if needed.

Once desired flavor is reached, plate noodles and top with green onions, cilantro and roasted nuts. And of course, enjoy!