Dietitian-n-da-Kitchen: ASIAN FUSION! HDF: Chicken Pad Thai

Any Thai food fans out there? I certainly am! My favorite dish, of course, is the classic Pad Thai. In fact, I never order anything else when I`m at a Thai restaurant! When made correctly, it has the perfect balance of sweetness, spice, and texture. Many restaurants make it with shrimp or tofu, but I always order the chicken. Take a break from the stress of your work week and disappear into Bangkok for an evening....

Chicken Pad Thai

1 egg

3 cloves garlic, minced

black pepper to taste

1/2 c onion, minced

1/2 package Thai rice noodles (6-8 oz)

1 c mung bean sprouts

1/2 T fish sauce

3 t thai chili paste

limes

3 T brown sugar

2 T tamarind paste

2 T canola oil

cilantro

2 medium-sized boneless skinless chicken breasts

Start by slicing chicken against the grain into very thin pieces. Set aside.

Next, bring 4 cups of water to a boil in a saucepan. Once a rolling boil is reached, turn off heat and remove pan from burner. Add rice noodles and set aside to soak. The desired consistency that you want to achieve is soft, yet still somewhat tough because you will be cooking the noodles even more later in the stir fry step. Once noodles have reached this consistency, drain and set aside.

In a wok or deep skillet, heat oil over medium. Saute garlic and onion for 1-2 minutes, being careful not to burn the garlic. While this is cooking, prepare sauce by whisking together fish sauce, chili paste, juice from 1/2 a lime, sugar, and tamarind. Set aside.

Add the chicken to your wok or skillet and turn the heat up slightly to medium high. Saute until cooked through. Then add noodles and sauce. Begin to toss the noodle and chicken mixture while it cooks (like tossing a salad- use tongs or wooden spoons!) You are essentially "frying" the mixture, so be mindful of anything that splashes up while you are tossing because it could burn you. Make room on the bottom of the pan (or side of the wok), crack the egg, and scramble it as it cooks. Constantly make contact with the egg and "chop" it as you go. Once completely scrambled, begin to toss in with the rest of the mixture to fry everything at once. Once some of the liquid has absorbed, turn off heat. Add bean sprouts and a pinch of black pepper and toss again.