Pad Thai
Ingredients
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 Tbsp fish sauce
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp sugar
150 g chicken
2 cloves of garlic
2 small red chillis (optional)
100 g rice noodles
1 egg
1 small carrot
1 lime
small handful mung beans
1 Tbsp crushed peanuts
3 – 4 garlic chives
1 – 2 shallots
1 piece choy sum
1 cup water
Preparation
Finely dice the garlic and chilli. Peel and chop the carrot into thin pieces about 1 inch long. Wash the choy sum, shallots, garlic chives and mung beans. Roughly chop the choy sum, slice the shallots and cut the garlic chives into 2 inch long pieces.
Heat the oil in a wok over medium heat. Fry the garlic and chilli for one minute.
Turn the heat of the wok up and add the thinly sliced raw chicken. Cook until it changes colour and add the carrot. Cook for 1 minute.
Add the rice noodles and a little water to the wok, stirring the noodles into the water. Add more water to soften the noodles and continue to move the noodles around.
Add the choy sum, shallots and garlic chives to the wok and mix well, adding a little water if required.
Turn the heat of the wok down and move the ingredients in the wok to one side. Next, crack the egg into the wok and cook for 1 minute, breaking the yolk so that it cooks through.
Stir all the ingredients together, including the egg and add the fish sauce, soy sauce and sugar.
Turn heat off, add the mung beans and toss to combine.
Serve with a sprinkle of mung beans & chopped peanuts plus a wedge of lime.
Cooking Tips
You must ensure that the wok is very hot for this dish. If cooked on too low a heat you will end up with noodles that stick together and a sloppy, unappetising meal.
You can pre-soften the noodles if you wish in some warm water. This will make the dish a little quicker but you have to be careful not to over cook the noodles as they will begin to break down.
If you cannot find garlic chives, you can use some extra shallots instead.
The dish should be crunchy, flavoursome and not soggy. It is better to under-cook the vegetables as they will continue to cook a little after served. The carrot should be crisp not soggy.
