Pad Thai July or December, what ever

Pad Thai-a quick dinner if you have all the ingredients on hand.

Once upon a time I worked at a school with a group of folks we called the “Noodle Club”. We’d find restaurants to grab lunches that were noodle centered. We even notoriously had “Pad Thai July” where we took turns providing our pals with home cooked Pad Thai.

PAD THAI

Ingredients:

SAUCE

4 tablespoons Thai fish sauce

4 tablespoons sugar 

3 tablespoons bottled tamarind paste 

1 tablespoon fresh lime juice 

1 tablespoon unseasoned rice wine vinegar 

1 tablespoon sweet paprika, for color

2 teaspoons Sriracha 

½ teaspoon salt

PAD THAI

3 to 4 cups medium-width rice sticks, soaked in hot water

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

3 to 4 cloves garlic, roughly chopped 

1 cup chicken, cut into thin strips, 1-inch lengths 

2 large eggs 

1 cup bean sprouts, rinsed with the green bits removed.

½ cup dry-roasted unsalted peanuts, crushed 

4 green onions, cut thinly

1 lime, cut for garnish

1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped

Make the sauce, set side. Set the noodles to soak. Prep your ingredient. In a large skillet sauté the garlic in oil. When fragrant, add the chicken. When no longer pink, shove it to one side. Cook eggs, scrambled style until they are fairly firm. Mix into the chicken. Add the noodles now, reserve some of the noodle water. Pour over the sauce and cook stirring until the noodles are evenly coated and hot. Make a hole in the middle of the noodles and add half the bean sprouts, half the peanuts and half the green onions. Toss and stir. Off the heat. Dish up and add uncooked sprouts, onions and peanuts. Squeeze lime and sprinkle on the cilantro.