Pad Thai Chicken

Ingredients

• 8 oz. Thai rice noodles (or enough for 2 people)
• 1 to 1 1/2 cups chopped chicken breast or thigh
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• optional: 1-2 fresh red chilies, minced
• 3 cups fresh bean sprouts
• 3 green onions, sliced
• 1/3 cup crushed or roughly chopped peanuts (or other nuts, such as cashews)
• 1/4 cup chicken stock
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil and a few tbsp chicken stock for stir-frying
• wedges of lime
• ***Pad Thai Sauce***
• 3/4 Tsp. tamarind paste dissolved in 1/4 cup warm water (look for tamarind at Asian/Chinese or Indian food stores or use vinegar as a substitute)
• 2 Tbsp. fish sauce (more to taste)
• 2 tsp. chili sauce
• 3 Tbsp. brown sugar
• 1/8 tsp. ground white pepper

Directions

1. 30-60 minutes before cooking, chop uncooked chicken and marinate in 3 tbsp soy or tamari sauce mixed with 1/2 cup water.
2. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add your rice noodles. Turn down the heat to low/med and simmer for 5-6 minutes. Noodles are ready to be drained when they are soft enough to be eaten but still firm. Drain and rinse with cold water to prevent sticking. Set aside.
3. Make pad Thai sauce by combining the sauce ingredients together. Stir well to dissolve tamarind and brown sugar, and set aside.
4. Warm up a wok or large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add 1-2 Tbsp. oil plus garlic and minced chili. Stir-fry until fragrant (30 seconds). Add marinated chicken. When wok/pan becomes dry, add a little chicken stock, 1-2 Tbsp. at a time, to keep the chicken frying nicely (5-7 minutes, until chicken is cooked through).
5. Add the noodles, and pour the Pad Thai sauce over. Using two utensils, use a gentle lift and turn method to fry noodles (like tossing a salad). Stir-fry in this way 1-2 minutes. If you find your wok/frying pan too dry, push noodles aside and add a little more oil to the bottom of the pan.
6. Add the bean sprouts and and continue frying 1 more minute, or until noodles are cooked. Noodles are done to perfection when they are no longer hard or crunchy, but chewy-sticky.
7. Taste-test for seasoning, adding more fish sauce until desired flavor is reached (usually 1 more Tbsp. fish sauce). Toss well to incorporate.
8. Lift noodles onto a serving plate. Top with generous amounts of green onion, and crushed/chopped nuts. Add fresh lime wedges to squeeze over each portion if desired.