Chicken Pad Thai

Guys.  I discovered this recipe from Brownies for Dinner about 2 months ago, and I have made it every week since.  I made it when Mommi came to visit, with chicken and homemade egg rolls.  I made it when Abbi visited us, with tofu and mushrooms.  I make this all. The. Time.  Once you get the basics of this recipe down, you can embellish with the add-ins; I went a little wild this time, because I want these leftovers to last me through the weekend!

Pad thai noodles are wide, flat rice noodles, and you soak them in very hot water for a couple minutes if you plan to use them in stir-fry.  The basic recipe is just rice noodles, scallions, garlic, eggs, and the pad thai noodles.  The sauce is soy sauce, brown sugar, and lime.  I add some Sriracha to the sauce, you know, for the spice in life.

Start soaking the noodles before you start anything else!  Then, slice up the whites of 3 scallions, and sautee them for a short minute with some minced garlic.  Add 2 eggs, beaten, and cook them until they are very soft.  You'll be adding them back in to cook completely later, so don't overdo it now! Remove the eggs from the pan.

I add my veggies to the pan at this point; like I said, I don't usually use so many veggies, but I want this to last forever, so I used broccoli, carrots, and snow peas. I add a little water to the pan, and put the lid on it to steam them for about 2 minutes.  Again, these will be cooked more later, so don't overdo it!  Remove the veggies from the pan, throw in some oil, and cook up your protein.  Shrimp?  Chicken?  Tofu?  Go crazy!

While that's cooking, mix up the sauce: 3 parts soy sauce, 2 parts brown sugar, and the juice of one lime.  Feeling daring?  Add in some sriracha and be brave!  

You're almost done!  Mix every single thing that we just cooked in the pan.  Pour your sauce over it and let it simmer, covered, for a couple minutes.  Slice up another lime to use for garnish/squeezing.  Do a taste test.  Think about buying a giant pan so that you can make even more of this.  Do another taste test.  Put it in a bowl and have yourself some pad thai!

Disclaimer: Yes, I know pad thai is supposed to have peanuts and cilantro, but honestly?  Cilantro kind of gives me the willies and Matt's allergic to peanuts.  That's the beauty of this recipe, that you can go very basic and work your way back up to exactly what you want!