Chicken Pad Thai Recipe
The most famous dish of Thai cuisine is undoubtedly pad thai. Pad thai is actually not a traditional Thai dish, contrary to popular belief. In the 1930s, when the name of the country was Siam, the dictatorial ruler of the time invented such a dish as part of his campaign to constitute a nation. Pad thai was originally made with rice, not noodles, and the name of the dish was not pad thai because the country was not named Thailand yet. Rice was replaced with rice noodles as rice production decreased during the Second World War. After the name of the country was changed to Thailand in 1949, over time, it took the name of pad thai, which is known today.
Pad thai is also sold with rice noodle options today. Other classic options are chicken, shrimp, and pork. My favorite pad thai is the chicken noodle pad thai. That's why the first recipe I chose for the homemade version was chicken pad thai. If you like rice, you can make the same recipe using boiled/steamed rice instead of rice noodles. If you don't want to use rice but you can't find rice noodles, you can also use classic noodles.
There are a few ingredients in the recipe that are not available in every home. Fish sauce, soybean sprouts, soy sauce and brown sugar. Fish sauce is one of the main ingredients that has a unique flavor and smell and that brings out the special flavor of pad Thai. In the light of this information, the choice between not using fish sauce in the recipe or finding and using it somehow is up to you. Soy sauce, which is easier to find than fish sauce, is also one of the necessary ingredients for the recipe, and the decision to use it or not is up to you, as in fish sauce. In my opinion, one of the ingredients that can be removed from the recipe is soybean sprouts. However, if it is important for you to use it, but you cannot find it, you can grow your own soybean sprouts at home or use lentil sprouts that you can grow in a shorter time. You can use white sugar instead of brown sugar.
One of the flavorings that make pad thai pad thai is peanuts. Therefore, do not consider peanuts as one of the ingredients you can give up. But if you don't like coriander, which is one of the traditional ingredients of pad Thai, you can skip it.
Enjoy the recipe...
Ingredients
- 300 g of rice pasta,
- 400 g chicken breast, chopped,
- 1 egg,
- 1 onion, chopped half moon shaped,
- 1 carrot, chooped into strips,
- 1 red pepper chooped into strips,
- 2 sprigs of fresh garlic, chopped coarsely,
- 1 handful of soybean sprouts
- 1/2 cup coarsely ground roasted unsalted peanuts,
- 6-7 tablespoons of olive oil,
- 5 tablespoons of fish sauce,
- 4 tablespoons of soy sauce,
- 2 tablespoons of brown sugar.
Preparation
- Heat the olive oil in a large pan, add the chicken and cook, stirring frequently, until golden brown in places,
- Pull the chickens to the edge of the pan, add the onion, the carrot and pepper and stir fry until half soft, stirring constantly,
- Add the soybean sprouts and garlic and mix,
- In the meantime, add the pasta to approximately 1.5 lt of boiling water and cook until it reaches the softness you desire (it will soften in a shorter time than normal pasta),
- Take the vegetables aside, break the egg in the middle of the pan and cook stirring quickly,
- Mix all the ingredients together,
- Drain the boiled pasta and place it in the pan,
- Mix fish sauce, soy sauce and sugar in a separate bowl and pour over the pasta,
- Add the peanuts and mix all the ingredients well,
- Remove from the heat and serve garnished with chopped coriander or parsley and extra peanuts.
Bon Appetit...