Steam is rising from a massive pot on the back of the stove. On my left, Rosa, the calm Peruvian, peels and deveins shrimp without looking. To my right, Achim, the stalwart Algerian we trained to become a first-class Asian chef, is creating a beautiful noise with wok and paddle. Emilio, the Mexican dishwasher with the irrepressible swagger, appears in the nick of time with an impossibly tall stack of bowls. I am somewhere in the middle with my head full of a dozen details. In a flash it all comes together in one bowl, which is placed before the customer who has been sitting at the counter watching it all: a vibrant sauce, barely cooked vegetables, dense slices of Chinese sausage, and a unifying blend of rice noodles. For a cook and restaurant owner, that look of pleasure on the customer’s face is what it’s all about. And there is something particularly appealing about a well-made noodle dish: it is a delightful meal in a bowl.
Since I exchanged my restaurant for a home and family, I see the bowl as just being bigger. Instead of preparing one noodle dish at a time, I now make one large batch and serve it on a single platter to four to six people, family style. While changing the scale can be tricky, I still get those gratifying looks of pleasure from family and friends.
Standard home kitchen stovetops don’t generate enough heat to cook efficiently in a wok, especially when noodles are involved. The heat is distributed better if it has a flatter surface, so I use a chef’s pan or a large sauté pan for stir-frying. Once the noodles have been added to a stir-fried dish, I put in the liquid and cover the dish. This works well, and you use less oil than you would in typical stir-frying.
Cold noodles tend to stick together once they are cooked, dried rice noodles in particular. Cook the noodles at the last minute, then dress and serve immediately. Egg noodles will hold up well for a day in the refrigerator if you toss them with chicken broth once they have been drained. Hearty soba noodles just need refreshing with cold water before serving. Cellophane noodles must be well combined with the dressing before serving to soak up the flavor.
Regarding noodles salads, tossing the noodles with the other ingredients before serving solves the sticking problem, but your presentation will suffer. To avoid this, I spoon a little of the dressing over the plain noodles on the platter and then more over the ingredients that top the noodles.
Most of the recipes in this chapter can be served alone as a complete meal. These were among the most popular dishes I served at my restaurant. They now get raves in my home kitchen.
Who doesn’t like sesame noodles? Unfortunately, the noodles served at Chinese restaurants are frequently pre-mixed and soggy with too much sesame paste and no fresh ginger. Here, the flavors are balanced, and refreshingly crunchy cucumber and cooked chicken soak up the rich sauce. Make an extra-large batch of sauce, and use what’s left over as a dip for vegetables or fried tofu. I keep some on hand to spread over a chicken or grilled vegetable sandwich. To make this a vegetarian dish, omit the chicken and substitute vegetables and deep-fried tofu. I use any combination of julienned red bell pepper, carrot sticks, steamed green beans, and sliced cauliflower. Slice the deep-fried tofu into thin strips and toss with the vegetables before covering with sauce.
Chinese sesame paste is made from toasted sesame seeds; Middle Eastern tahini from raw white seeds. The Chinese version has a nuttier taste, but use tahini if that’s all you can find.
Serves 4
½ cup Chinese sesame paste or tahini (the oil will have separated from the paste; stir to combine before measuring)
6 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons chopped ginger
4 garlic cloves, minced
4 teaspoons sugar
4 tablespoons sesame oil
4 drops chili oil, or more to taste
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 large cucumber
1 pound thin Chinese egg or wheat noodles, or thin spaghetti
1 teaspoon sesame seeds (optional)
1. Put the sesame paste, soy sauce, ginger, garlic, sugar, sesame oil, and chili oil in a small bowl. Use a fork to combine the sauce ingredients. Add ¼ cup water and keep stirring until you have a smooth sauce. Set the sauce aside.
2. Bring 3 cups water to a boil in a frying pan, put in the chicken, and lower the heat to a simmer, and cover. Poach until just cooked through, about 10 minutes. Remove the chicken with a slotted spoon. When it’s cool, slice the chicken into ¼-inch pieces.
3. Peel the cucumber, cut it in half lengthwise, and remove the seeds with a spoon. Slice into ¼-inch-thick half-moons.
4. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and cook the noodles, loosening the bundles with tongs, until just done, 5 to 8 minutes. Drain and rinse in cold water.
5. Put the noodles in a large serving bowl and top with the sliced chicken and cucumber. Spoon half of the sauce over the noodles. Garnish with the sesame seeds, if using. Serve the rest of the sauce in a small bowl for people to add as desired.
This is a chunky, uncooked peanut sauce traditionally served with satay. At the restaurant, I wanted something to serve over cold egg noodles that would contrast with our smooth sesame sauce and be substantial without meat. A surprising number of people don’t know the difference between sesame sauce (made from ground sesame seeds) and peanut sauce (made from ground peanuts), so I wanted to make the difference abundantly clear. This combination of freshly roasted peanuts, coconut milk, herbs, and fresh lime juice does the trick, making for a rich, fulfilling, slightly exotic dish.
You can serve this as an appetizer, for lunch with a tossed salad, or as an accompaniment to Lemongrass Pork Chops (page 122) at dinner.
Serves 4
1 cup raw peanuts
2 large garlic cloves, chopped
1-inch piece ginger, coarsely chopped
½ bunch cilantro, chopped
2 teaspoons sambal olek
½ cup coconut milk
2 tablespoons fish sauce
1 tablespoon soy sauce
Juice of 1 lime
1 tablespoon sugar
¼ cup peanut or canola oil
1 pound thin Chinese egg or wheat noodles
1 tart apple, such as Granny Smith, cored and sliced at the last minute
1. Roast the peanuts in a 350°F oven or toaster oven until golden brown, 10 to 15 minutes. Remove and let cool.
2. In a food processor or blender, combine the garlic, ginger, and cilantro. Pulse until well blended. Add the peanuts and continue to pulse until the peanuts are well chopped—but don’t let the sauce become a paste. Empty the contents into a small bowl and add the sambal olek, coconut milk, fish sauce, soy sauce, lime juice, and sugar, stirring in the oil last, a little at a time. Let the sauce sit at room temperature for an hour before serving to let the flavors meld. You can make and refrigerate the sauce up to a day in advance; just bring it back to room temperature before you assemble the dish.
3. Shortly before serving, bring a large pot of water to a boil and cook the egg noodles, loosening the bundles with tongs, until just done, 5 to 8 minutes. Drain and rinse them with cold water. Combine the noodles with the sauce in a large mixing bowl and toss well. Transfer the noodles to a serving bowl and fan the apple slices in a circle as garnish.
In this stylish twist on classic Italian pesto, I use peanuts instead of pine nuts, peanut oil instead of olive oil, and three herbs—cilantro, mint, and Thai basil—in place of Italian basil. I’ve made it with different herbs, depending on what I had on hand (once I even added marjoram to supplement a short supply of basil) and it is always good: fresh, rich, and aromatic. Thai basil gives this dish the right flavor, so make an extra effort to get some. If you can’t find it, however, regular basil will do. Italian pesto uses Parmesan cheese to intensify its savoriness; this recipe uses only salt, so make sure you use enough or the flavor of the herbs will be lost.
Serve these noodles with Thai Beef Salad (page 118).
Serves 4
½ cup raw peanuts
2 garlic cloves, peeled
1 large bunch basil (2 cups tightly packed leaves, plus sprigs for garnish)
1 bunch mint (½ cup tightly packed leaves, plus sprigs for garnish)
1 bunch cilantro (1 cup tightly packed leaves, plus sprigs for garnish)
1 teaspoon salt, or more to taste
Juice of 1 lemon
½ cup peanut or canola oil
1 teaspoon chili sauce
1 pound thin Chinese egg or wheat noodles, or thin spaghetti
Lemon wedges
Herb sprigs
1. Roast the peanuts in a 350°F oven or toaster oven until golden brown, 10 to 15 minutes.
2. Grind the garlic in a food processor or blender until it is finely minced. Add the peanuts and process again until the peanuts are chopped into very small pieces—don’t let them turn into a paste. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl.
3. Process the herbs in small batches until finely minced (reserve a few sprigs for garnish). Add them to the bowl. Stir in the 1 teaspoon salt, lemon juice, oil, and chili sauce. Make sure everything is well combined. Add a bit more oil if necessary. The pesto should be loose but not excessively oily. Let the pesto rest for 15 minutes, then taste to see if it needs more salt (I find that it usually needs a heaping teaspoon total).
4. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and cook the noodles, loosening the bundles with tongs, until just done, 5 to 8 minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water.
5. Add the noodles to the sauce in the bowl and toss thoroughly with tongs. Do this just before serving for the freshest taste. Transfer the noodles to a large serving bowl. Garnish with lemon wedges and a few sprigs of herbs.
Note: This sauce can be made in advance and stored in the refrigerator for several days. The color will change from bright to dull green but the flavor will hold.
Chicken salad recipes are good things to have in your repertoire. They make for a nice lunch any time of the year, a light supper in the summer, or one of many dishes on a buffet. I hand-shred the chicken for a nicer texture. Noodles in cold salads have a tendency to clump and stick together. Instead of adding extra oil to keep them separate, I reserve some of the chicken poaching liquid to toss with them.
If you want to serve this salad for a main course, I would suggest a first course of Fried Oysters with Cilantro Sauce (page 46).
Serves 4
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts
¾ pound green beans
3 celery stalks, sliced diagonally into ¼-inch-thick pieces
12 ounces thin Chinese egg or wheat noodles
2 large garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon minced ginger
3 scallions, thinly sliced
¼ cup unseasoned rice vinegar
1 tablespoon Chinese black vinegar, or balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons sesame oil
6 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
1 tablespoon sugar
4 drops chili oil, or more to taste
Cilantro sprigs for garnish
1. Bring 3 cups water to a boil in a frying pan, add the chicken, lower the heat to a simmer, cover, and poach until just cooked through, about 10 minutes. Remove the chicken with a slotted spoon and reserve the poaching liquid. When the chicken is cool enough to handle, tear the meat into thin strips by hand.
2. Blanch the green beans in boiling water until just done and still bright green. Rinse in cold water. Cut the beans into 2-inch pieces.
3. Put the chicken, beans, and celery in a bowl.
4. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and cook the noodles, loosening the bundles with tongs, until just done, 5 to 8 minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water. Shake the colander and let the noodles sit for 5 minutes. Add a cup of the reserved poaching liquid to the noodles in the colander and toss with tongs.
5. To make the dressing, combine the garlic, ginger, scallions, rice vinegar, black vinegar, sesame oil, soy sauce, black pepper, sugar, and chili oil in a small bowl and stir well to dissolve the sugar. This much can be done in advance. Refrigerate everything for up to 2 hours, but let it come back to room temperature before you assemble the salad.
6. When you are ready to serve, arrange the noodles on a serving platter. Add half of the dressing to the chicken, beans, and celery. Toss to coat. Spoon the remaining dressing over the noodles. Pour the chicken mixture onto the noodles and garnish with the cilantro sprigs.
In Vietnam, bits of grilled meat, chicken, and fish are always served with “table salad.” This consists of lettuce leaves, chiles, herbs, rice papers or noodles, and nuoc cham, the national dipping sauce. The diner wraps the meat, chiles, vegetables, and herbs in rice paper or lettuce, then dips the wraps in the sauce. This dish combines everything into a salad with nuoc cham as the dressing. The result is a meal that pays homage to the hallmarks of Vietnamese cooking—its reliance on bright flavors and bountiful supplies of fresh herbs—and puts them in a user-friendly setting. I am leaving garlic out of the nuoc cham in this recipe as I did at the restaurant, to make it very clean and herbal.
If you are inclined, instead of the poached chicken breast, you could make Thai Grilled Chicken (page 110), slice it, and serve it in the salad.
This meal is perfect all by itself on a hot summer night.
Serves 4
DRESSING
1 tablespoon white distilled vinegar
1/3 cup fish sauce
3 tablespoons lime juice
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons chili sauce
½ cup raw peanuts
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts
¼ pound mixed salad greens
2 carrots, grated
10 ounces rice noodles, soaked in a bowl of water for 30 minutes
2 stalks broccoli, blanched and separated into florets
2 cups mixed cilantro, mint, and basil leaves
1 jalapeño chile, thinly sliced into rings
1. To make the dressing, combine the vinegar, fish sauce, lime juice, sugar, and chili sauce in a small bowl with 2 tablespoons water and stir to dissolve the sugar. Set the dressing aside at room temperature.
2. Roast the peanuts in an oven or toaster oven at 350°F until golden brown, 10 to 15 minutes. Cool and chop them coarsely by hand or in a food processor.
3. Bring 3 cups water to a boil in a frying pan, add the chicken, lower the heat to a simmer, cover, and poach until just cooked through, about 10 minutes. Remove the chicken with a slotted spoon; when cool, cut it into ½-inch-thick slices.
4. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Line a platter with the salad greens and carrot. Spread the broccoli around the edge.
5. The noodles should be cooked at the last minute so they don’t get sticky. Drain the soaked rice noodles, cook them in the boiling water for 2 minutes, drain again, and rinse with cold water. They should still be chewy.
6. Heap the noodles in the center of the platter and put a few spoonfuls of dressing on them. Top the noodles with the chicken and sprinkle the peanuts over the whole salad. Cover the top with all the herbs and spoon some more dressing over the entire salad. Serve the sliced chile on the side.
Called cellophane noodles, glass noodles, or bean threads, these unusual noodles are made from mung bean starch. They are most noted for the interesting, gelatinous texture they have when cooked and the way they soak up flavors. In Asia, ground pork is used in this salad, but I prefer ground turkey for a cold salad, which adds meatiness and is less fat.
Thai salads are comprised of a mix of elements, each adding a distinct flavor and texture. Although this type of salad is frequently served with crispy fried onions or chopped peanuts on top—feel free to try either—I find that those toppings weigh down the salad. Instead, I finish the salad with just the fresh herbs, chile, and onion.
Serve Lemongrass Soup (page 68) before this salad.
Serves 4
2 tablespoons canola oil
¾ pound ground turkey or chicken
½ pound medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
5 ounces cellophane noodles, soaked in water for 15 minutes and cut into 6-inch lengths with scissors
Juice of 2 limes
4 tablespoons fish sauce
1 tablespoon sugar
¼ red onion, chopped
¼ cup cilantro leaves
¼ cup mint leaves
1 jalapeño chile, thinly sliced into rings
3 cups red leaf lettuce, torn into small pieces
1. Heat the oil in a frying pan over medium heat and sauté the turkey until cooked through. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on a paper towel.
2. Bring a small saucepan of water to a boil, reduce the heat to a simmer, and poach the shrimp until pink and curled, about 30 seconds. Drain and let them cool. Cut each shrimp in half lengthwise. Put the shrimp and turkey in a large bowl.
3. Bring a medium pot of water to a boil. Drain the noodles and cook them in the boiling water for 2 minutes. Drain them again and rinse with cold water. Try to shake as much water as possible from the colander.
4. To make the dressing, combine the lime juice, fish sauce, and sugar in a small bowl. Stir to dissolve the sugar. Add the noodles, onion, cilantro, mint, and jalapeño to the bowl. Pour the dressing over the top and mix everything thoroughly with tongs.
5. Arrange the lettuce on a platter or in a pasta bowl and heap the salad in the middle.
Singapore noodles are commonly served at Chinese restaurants as a tangle of stir-fried noodles with curry powder and little else. My version is more complex, with shrimp, vegetables, Chinese sausage, and a sauce that is given depth with ginger, garlic, and scallions. It should be quite spicy, so add more dried chiles if that suits your taste.
Chinese pork sausage has a unique, sweet flavor, unlike any other sausage that I have tasted. One of my regular customers once described it as little packets of flavor that explode in your mouth. Chinese sausage is really essential to this recipe: if you can’t get it, make something else. Substituting Italian sweet sausage or chorizo just doesn’t work.
Serve the noodles alone or with a light first course like Roasted Asparagus with Miso Dressing (page 48).
Serves 4
4 tablespoons canola oil
1 tablespoon minced ginger
3 garlic cloves, minced
3 dried red chiles
3 scallions, thinly sliced
½ cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons Madras curry powder
1 pound medium shrimp, peeled and deveined, shells reserved
1 pound skinless chicken thighs
5 to 6 links Chinese sausage, thinly sliced on the diagonal
1 small head Savoy cabbage (1 pound), thinly sliced
3 large carrots, grated
12 ounces rice noodles, soaked in a bowl of water for
30 minutes 1 cup bean sprouts (optional)
1. Heat a tablespoon of the oil in a small saucepan and sauté the ginger and garlic for a minute. Crumble the chiles into the pan and add one-third of the sliced scallions. Sauté while stirring for 2 minutes. Mix the soy sauce with the curry powder in a small bowl, stir to mix, and add to the pan. Bring the mixture to a boil and remove from the heat.
2. Add the reserved shrimp shells and chicken thighs to 4 cups water in a small saucepan and simmer until the chicken is cooked through, about 15 minutes. Strain the broth, reserving the chicken. Add a cup of this stock to the curry mixture and stir to mix, reserving the remainder of the stock. When the chicken is cool, pull the meat from the bone in small pieces and put it in a small bowl.
3. Stir-fry the sausage in a small, dry frying pan over medium heat for 5 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on a paper towel. Add the sausage to the curry mixture. This much can be done in advance.
4. About 15 minutes before you want to serve, heat the remaining 3 tablespoons oil in a large sauté pan (with a lid) over medium-high heat. When it’s hot, add the cabbage and carrots and stir-fry for 3 minutes. Add the raw shrimp and cooked chicken, stirring to combine. Drain the noodles, pour in the sauce, and top with the noodles. Pour a cup of the reserved shrimp-chicken broth over the whole thing. Cover and let cook for 5 to 8 minutes. Lift the lid several times to recombine with tongs. Make sure that the shrimp is cooked through and the noodles are chewy but cooked.
5. Place on a serving platter and top with the bean sprouts, if using, and the remaining scallions.
I’ll never forget stepping out of the airplane in Seoul and smelling garlic in the air. If garlic is the national ingredient of Korea, chiles and sesame oil come in second and third. I wanted a dish that highlights all three elements and shows off the Korean flair for the rich and savory. Stir-frying the garlic with beef and meaty mushrooms and serving it over thick, chewy noodles results in a deeply satisfying all-in-one meal. It is very quick-cooking, so have everything ready to go at once.
Serve this with a green salad.
Serves 4
1 1/3 pounds flank steak
3 tablespoons canola oil
½ pound portobello or shiitake mushroom caps, sliced
½ cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons sesame oil
2 tablespoons sugar
12 ounces Chinese wheat noodles or udon
4 large garlic cloves, minced
4 scallions, thinly sliced
1 dried red chile, broken in half
1 carrots, grated
1. Slice the flank steak diagonally against the grain into thin, 3-inch-long pieces. Set aside at room temperature.
2. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Meanwhile, heat the oil over medium heat in a chef’s or sauté pan and sauté the mushrooms until soft and juicy, about 5 minutes. Remove from the pan with a slotted spoon, leaving any oil and juice.
3. Combine the soy sauce, sesame oil, and sugar in a small bowl and stir to dissolve the sugar. Put the noodles into the boiling water. When the water comes back to a boil, turn the heat under the chef’s pan to high; when hot, add the garlic, half of the scallions, and the chile. Stir-fry for a minute. Add the carrot, steak, and mushrooms. Stir-fry the meat for 2 to 3 minutes. Don’t overcook it—it should be rare. Add the sauce and cook for 2 more minutes.
4. Cook the noodles until tender, 8 to 10 minutes, drain, and transfer to a serving bowl. Top with the beef mixture and garnish with the remaining scallions.
Yakisoba is Japanese street food. In Tokyo, we lived on the edge of a park that hosted an annual plum blossom festival in March, and I have vivid memories of the groups of neighbors gathered beneath the white blossoms, and, there to feed them, the yakisoba man, decked out in his red-and-white bandanna before a huge griddle of these noodles, flipping with all his might. Served in that traditional way, yakisoba is an oily but tasty business plopped unassumingly onto a plate, with a blob of bright red pickled ginger on the side. It is made not with soba, as you might expect, but with the Chinese-style ramen noodle. My version is lighter and less oily, but very flavorful. A nice dish for a cool fall or winter day.
Use fresh noodles if you can get them—sometimes you can find fresh thin wheat noodles in the health food section of the grocery store. They cook faster than dried noodles.
At dinner, you could serve this after a first course of Roasted Asparagus with Miso Dressing (page 48).
Serves 4
1 pound pork loin or pork chop meat
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup rice wine
1½ tablespoons sugar
12 ounces Chinese wheat noodles or udon
3 tablespoons canola oil
1 onion, thinly sliced
1 pound napa or Savoy cabbage, thinly sliced
3 carrots, grated
1 tablespoon chopped ginger
2 scallions, thinly sliced
1. Cut the pork into thin 3-inch slices against the grain. Combine the soy sauce, rice wine, and sugar in a small bowl. Stir to dissolve the sugar.
2. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and cook the noodles until just done, about 8 minutes once the water has returned to a boil. Drain and rinse with cold water. The recipe can be made in advance to this point. The final assembly takes 10 to 15 minutes.
3. Heat the oil in a large sauté or chef’s pan (with a lid) over medium-high heat. Add the onion and stir-fry for 3 minutes. Add the cabbage, carrot, and ginger. Stir-fry until the cabbage is wilted, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the pork and continue stir-frying for 2 minutes. Put the noodles on top of the mixture and pour the sauce over the whole thing.
4. Cover and cook for 3 to 5 minutes. Lift the lid and combine the mixture with tongs so that everything is well mixed. Make sure the pork is cooked but remains tender. Transfer to a serving platter and garnish with the scallions.
I created this dish as a very simple coconut milk stir-fry. It is elegant and hearty—and practically foolproof.
Coconut milk is to Southeast Asian food what cream is to French food. It magically transforms a dish. It adds richness, depth, and a silky, exotic flavor. In Asia, it is made from freshly grated coconut meat soaked in water. The liquid is strained and used for cooking. Fortunately, the canned coconut milk available to us is a good and convenient substitute. Buy a Thai brand if possible. Make sure to shake the can well before you use it.
The type of noodle used is crucial to the success of the dish. Use a thick wheat noodle to soak up the rich sauce—either Japanese udon or Chinese Shanghai or Canton noodle. Italian pasta should not be substituted, as semolina flour and coconut milk do not go well together.
At my restaurant I served this dish with chicken breast, pork, shrimp, or vegetables and spinach. At home, I’ve made it with shrimp or bay scallops and halved cherry tomatoes instead of spinach (cook the tomatoes a few minutes longer before adding the shrimp).
Serve this with a green salad.
Serves 4
12 ounces udon noodles 2 tablespoons canola oil
2 tablespoon chopped ginger
2 large garlic cloves, minced
6 ounces spinach, cleaned and torn into small pieces
3 tablespoons fish sauce
1 pound medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
½ can coconut milk (7 ounces) mixed with ½ cup water
1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and cook the noodles until just done, about 8 minutes after the water has returned to a boil. Drain and rinse with cool water.
2. Heat the oil in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. When it’s hot, add the ginger and garlic. Stir-fry for a minute. Add the spinach and fish sauce and stir-fry for 2 minutes. Add the shrimp and stir-fry until just pink and curled, about a minute. Add the coconut milk mixture, stir once, and add the drained noodles. Use tongs to combine the mixture in the pan.
3. When heated through, 3 to 5 minutes, transfer the noodles to a large pasta serving bowl.
Pad Thai is the best-known Thai restaurant dish. My version—a blend of rice noodles, shrimp, chicken, and lots of fresh vegetables, perfumed with Thai basil—is lighter, cleaner, and less sweet and oily than the typical rendition, but hearty and deeply satisfying. This recipe, which developed over time at the restaurant, owes as much to my customers and cooks as to my input. My kitchen was open, and customers would lean over the counter, peer over the cook’s shoulder, and beg, “Less oil!” “No oil!” This is difficult to do for quick service in a wok, and my cooks complained bitterly, but what people wanted was a complete, healthy, flavor-packed meal in one bowl.
This makes a tasty but relatively tame dish. If everyone you are serving likes spice, use 2 tablespoons chili sauce in the recipe. Either way, have a bottle of sriracha chili sauce on the table.
You can easily make this dish for nonchicken eaters by omitting the chicken and using 1½ pounds of shrimp instead. Just boil the shrimp shells in 3 cups water for 10 minutes to make the stock.
My husband’s all-time favorite is to have this with a first course of Spicy Chicken Wings (page 36).
Serves 4
½ cup raw peanuts
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 pound medium shrimp, peeled and deveined, shells reserved
1/3 cup fish sauce
Juice of 2 limes
1 tablespoon chili sauce
1 tablespoon shrimp powder
12 ounces rice noodles, soaked in a bowl of water for 30 minutes
¼ cup canola oil
1 large onion, thinly sliced
3 carrots, grated
1 small bunch broccoli, separated into florets
½ cup Thai basil leaves, or Italian basil leaves
1 cup bean sprouts 1 lime, sliced into wedges
1. Roast the peanuts in a 350°F oven or toaster oven until golden brown, 10 to 15 minutes. Cool and chop coarsely.
2. Bring 3 cups water to a boil in a medium frying pan and put in the chicken, reduce the heat to a simmer, cover, and poach until just done, about 10 minutes. Remove the chicken with a slotted spoon, reserving the poaching liquid. When the meat is cool, slice it into ¼-inch-thick pieces and refrigerate.
3. Add the shrimp shells to the chicken poaching liquid and simmer for 5 minutes. Strain the broth.
4. Combine the fish sauce, lime juice, chili sauce, shrimp powder, and sugar in a medium bowl. Add 2 cups of the shrimp shell broth and stir to dissolve the sugar. This much can be done in advance.
5. About 15 minutes before you want to serve, heat the oil in a large sauté or chef’s pan (with a lid) over high heat. Add the onion and stir-fry for a minute. Add the carrot and broccoli and stir-fry for 2 minutes. Add the shrimp, then the drained noodles, sauce, and chicken. Combine everything with tongs. Cover, reduce the heat to medium, and cook until the shrimp, noodles, and broccoli are just done. This will take 7 to 10 minutes. Lift the lid a few times to recombine with tongs. Add the basil for the last minute of cooking.
6. Heap the pad Thai on a large serving dish and top with the bean sprouts, crushed peanuts, and lime wedges.