Chicken Pad Thai

I am a food explorer. I never like to order the same thing twice, unless I am at a Thai restaurant.

Chicken Pad Thai just never gets old. Thanks to the pandemic, my thai craving couldn't be solved by the local Thai take out, so I decided to make my own.

While this recipe may have you grabbing unfamiliar items in the grocery story, it is an easy, delicious in-home chicken pad thai option for your family to enjoy.

Fun fact: Pad thai is listed at number five on a list of "World's 50 most delicious foods" readers' poll compiled byCNN Go, so if you're a cautious eater, be bold and try it. You won't regret it.

Ingredients

• 8 ounces flat rice noodles

• 3 Tablespoons olive oil

• 3 cloves garlic, minced

• 8 ounces chicken, cut into small pieces (can be substituted with shrimp)

• 2 eggs

• 1 cup fresh bean sprouts

• 1 red bell pepper, sliced

• 3 green onions , chopped

• 1/2 cup dry roasted peanuts

• 2 limes

For the Pad Thai sauce:

• 3 Tablespoons fish sauce

• 1 Tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce

• 5 Tablespoons light brown sugar

• 2 Tablespoons rice vinegar

• 1 Tablespoon Sriracha hot sauce, or more, to taste

• 1 Tablespoons creamy peanut butter

Instructions:

For this Pad Thai, you'll want to work in 3 parts.

Because the sauce can sit and wait on the other two steps, I make the sauce first. Combining all ingredients below in a bowl.

Pad Thai sauce:

• 3 Tablespoons fish sauce

• 1 Tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce

• 5 Tablespoons light brown sugar

• 2 Tablespoons rice vinegar

• 1 Tablespoon Sriracha hot sauce, or more, to taste

• 1 Tablespoons creamy peanut butter

Noodles:

Follow instructions on box for your brand of Rice Noodle or add noodles to 4 quarts of salted, boiling water. Stir to separate, boil until tender - about 4 - 6 minutes.

Meat and Vegetables:

In a large sauce plan or wok (linked below) if you have one, heat the olive oil over medium high heat.

Once the oil warms, add garlic, bell pepper, and chicken (or shrimp if you prefer. Shrimp will cook much faster).

Toss to make sure the chicken and vegetables cook evenly on all sides - this will take about 5 minutes.

Once chicken is done, push those ingredients to one side of the pan, cracking 2 eggs on the other-side to scramble.

Add the noodles, sauce, bean sprouts, and 1/4 a cup of peanuts to the pan to combine

Serve and top with the rest of the peanuts, slices of lime, and green onions.

Wine Pairing: Riesling (ANNE DE K RIESLING SCHLOSSBERG GRAND CRU, 2017) or light Pinot Noir (my goooo-to, MEIOMI PINOT NOIR)

Enjoy!