Yet another recipe

[kelliem]

I have no idea if people like me posting recipes, but I like posting them so I'm going to keep doing it. :)

Tonight I tried my hand at Pad Kee Mao a.k.a. Drunkard's Noodles a.k.a. Drunken Noodles. I've had them at various Asian restaurants and I always love them so I figured I ought to try making them myself. I took several recipes I found online and mixed and matched to come up with the recipe below. It came out really well, tasting almost exactly like the restaurant version. BTW, there is no alcohol in the recipe-- from what I could gather they are called Drunkard's Noodles either because the spiciness makes you want to drink a lot of beer or wine, or because they are a good hangover cure, take your pick. This recipe is about a medium level of spiciness. IMHO of course.

Pad Kee Mao (aka Drunkard's Noodles)

7 oz (½ pkg) wide rice-stick noodles
½ lb skinless, boneless chicken breast or thigh meat, cubed
1 clove garlic, finely minced
1 fresh jalapeno chili pepper, seeded, sliced thinly (use 2 if you like it very spicy)
1 small Anaheim chili, seeded and julienned
3 large scallions, bulb ends sliced thinly, tops cut into 2" pieces
½ - 1 oz each, fresh basil and fresh cilantro, coarsely chopped
1 lime, cut in half, (leave one half alone, cut the other into wedges)

Sauce:
2 Tbsp each Oyster sauce, Fish sauce, palm (or brown) sugar
1 Tbsp each Mirin (sweetened rice wine), rice vinegar, Maggi (or Golden Mountain) sauce
1 tsp Thai chili-garlic paste (or 1 tsp red chili flakes)
Juice of half a lime (use the un-wedged piece from above)

1) soak rice noodles in cold water for about 15 minutes

2) Combine sauce ingredients in a cup or small bowl, stir well to blend & dissolve sugar, set aside.

3) In a large pot, cook rice noodles in boiling water until tender but still firm (8-10 min). Drain boiling water from the pot and then add some warm water to keep the noodles warm but no longer cooking.

4) In a wok or skillet, heat 3 Tbsp peanut (or canola) oil over high heat. Add garlic, jalapeno, and sliced scallion bulbs, saute for about a minute to let the flavors infuse the oil, then add the chicken and Anaheim chili julienne. Cook, stirring regularly, until chicken is done through and some pieces have begun to brown. Add basil, cilantro, and onion tops. Drain the noodles and add to the pan, then pour the sauce mixture over it all. Toss to coat all ingredients, cook briefly (1-2 minutes) then serve hot with lime wedges to squeeze over the noodles for some extra tang. Serves 2-3. Maybe 4 if you have other dishes or increase the amount of chicken.

Use Thai basil if you can find it but if you can't, regular works too. Medium rice-stick noodles will do if you can't find wide ones but don't use the vermicelli size. For the protein, you could use shrimp, beef, firm-fleshed fish (I bet salmon would be fantastic!), firm tofu or any combination you prefer. If you like more veggies, some recipes call for adding diced tomatoes & cabbage, Other recipes garnish with toasted chopped peanuts.

Comments

[theamusedone.livejournal.com]

I love it when you post recipes! I always know that the stuff you come up with is going to be fucking fabulous.

I have been wanting to venture into the Asian variety of cooking more as of late and the above looks wonderful. I am adding this to memories and will be trying it out for sure, thank you!

[kelliem.livejournal.com]

Yay! Cool! I hope you like it. I actually found all the sauces used in the recipe at regular ol' grocery stores (Safeway and King Soopers (aka Kroeger), I didn't have to resort to the Asian store for anything but the noodles. If you can't find the noodles let me know and I'll mail you some.

Oh, and I actually just finished re-reviewing all my BPAL imps so I would know which ones I liked and which ones I didn't so I can send them to you, so sending you noodles at the same time would be easy. :)

[theamusedone.livejournal.com]

I am not quite sure on the noodles myself! I know I have bought the thin ones in the past, I will have to take a peek the next time I am at the store. A while back, I got a hankering for Singapore chow mei fun (basically, curry with rice noodles, shrimp and chicken) one of the things I always would get at the local Chinese place in Bemidji. Not too surprisingly, no one here makes it. I ended up using a tad too much curry, but wow, not bad at all for a first attempt. And the point of that was that yes, I know they have at least some sort of rice noodles. I think I may be a bit rambly tonight. *G*

And cool on the BPAL! I look forward to that!

[kelliem.livejournal.com]

The chow mei fun sounds really good too! I love shrimp. (I'd have used it in the pad kee mao but the kidunit doesn't like it.) Did you post that recipe? I could go look in your LJ but I'm lazy.

Rambly suits a Saturday night, anyway. :)

[theamusedone.livejournal.com]

Oh, shrimp can be so very good! And no, I never did post the recipe in that it is still a wip, there are a few things that needed ironing out *G*.

[dine.livejournal.com]

there's a Thai place across the street from work that has great Drunken Noodles - but this recipe looks easy enough to accomplish at home

even though I don't cook often, I enjoy reading about your culinary experiments - glad you're sharing them

[kelliem.livejournal.com]

That would be a terrible temptation-- having a restaurant so close to work! As for the recipe, it was surprisingly easy. I hope you give it a try.

(And I'm glad you like reading the recipes, thanks for saying so!)

[cdeacon.livejournal.com]

This sounds so wonderful. I've been wondering what to do with the Thai basil I bought recently. Thanks for sharing!

(Hi, by the way - ardent_muses is always saying great things about you, so I decided I must friend you. : )

[kelliem.livejournal.com]

She's mentioned you a few times, too. :) Hi!

I hope you get to use the basil before it goes bad! I have a bad habit of buying herbs and then letting them become compost before I use them. Tsk! Bad me!

[matociquala.livejournal.com]

Recipes please. *g*

[kelliem.livejournal.com]

I should figure out some Swedish dish in honor of your icon. ;D

[matociquala.livejournal.com]

But of course, chocolate Moose!

[kelliem.livejournal.com]

Bwah!

[arallara.livejournal.com]

Well, I *always* love recipes, so thanks for posting this one! I've taught myself some basic Thai cooking over the last 10 years or so, and I've got a few dishes that I love down really well. But I've never tried this one! I love the dish, so I'm excited to give it a shot. :)

[kelliem.livejournal.com]

I hope it turns out well for you! This is the first Thai dish I've tried so you're ahead of me on the learning curve. I bet you will have no trouble at all.

[sithdragn.livejournal.com]

Excellent! Thanks very much. :)

[kelliem.livejournal.com]

It's kind of a pain getting all the 'condiment' ingredients (like the oyster sauce and mirin) together if you don't already have them on hand, but once you have them, you're set to make many batches, and these are SO good you'll want to. ;)