Oh hello. Yes, I’m still here. Blog updates have been sparse, I realize that, but I am still eating and am very much alive. I just haven’t had time to write about it. But here we are.
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Making this meal made me wish I could chop veggies like the experts (seriously, check this out!!).
As was forewarned by the Canadian Living recipe that inspired this meal, this pad thai required quite a bit of vegetable chopping. It wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be, though. My dinner positivity came primarily in the form of our amazing garlic mincer, which meant I didn’t have to painstakingly mince six cloves of garlic while leaning over the counter in desperation. It is my favourite kitchen utensil at the moment, and a god among all other chopping devices. Get one. Your life will be changed.
As for the dish itself, pad thai always produces the most crippling post-dinner stomach aches and, as a result, evening plans are often altered to include anywhere from 1-3 hours of lying around like a shlump. This meal was no exception, and I sat off my food baby by watching an Alfred Hitchcock film at the Mayfair with Ariel.
The meal may have been drowsiness-from-so-much-food inducing, but it was definitely worth it. The sauce was reminiscent of the pad thai I get at my favourite local Thai hangout, Siam Kitchen. I think I’m even starting to like cilantro, and the fresh scent and taste of the herb worked perfectly here.
I have three meals worth of pad thai remaining, meaning that my mouth is already watering in anticipation of today’s leftover lunch (kind of thinking I’ll eat early…). The chopping olympics are over, let the pad thai-eating olympics begin!
Recipe: Chicken pad thai
Adapted from Canadian Living
– 2 tbsp vegetable oil
– 3 chicken breasts
– 6 oz (170 grams) rice stick noodles (the thin ones)
– 1/3 cup chili sauce
– 1/4 cup fish sauce
– 1/4 cup lime juice
– 1/4 cup smooth peanut butter
– 1 tsp hot pepper sauce
– 6 cloves garlic, minced
– 1 onion, chopped
– 1 green pepper, sliced
– 1 red pepper, sliced
– 1 egg, lightly beaten
– 2 cups bean sprouts
– 1/2 cup fresh coriander, chopped
– 1/3 cup unsalted peanuts
In large bowl, soak noodles in warm water until flexible, about 15 minutes; drain and place in large dry bowl. Set aside.
Meanwhile, in small bowl, mix together chili sauce, fish sauce, lime juice, smooth peanut butter, 1/2 cup water and chili paste; set aside.
In wok, heat 1 tbsp of the oil over medium-high heat. Fry chicken until no longer pink inside. Remove from heat and slice chicken breasts into thin, bite size pieces. Set aside.
In same pan, add remaining oil and stir-fry garlic, onion and green and red peppers until softened, about 4 minutes. Toss into the noodle bowl.
Put the sauce mixture in the pan and add chicken. Bring to boil and then reduce heat to medium. Stir in egg; cook, stirring, until sauce is thickened, about 1 minute.
Add noodle mixture, bean sprouts, peanuts and chopped coriander; toss and stir-fry until noodles are tender, about 3 minutes. Garnish with additional fresh coriander sprigs.
Serves 4.
Hilary Makes 
Looks great! I always do pad thai with tofu instead of chicken and have wondered what a good substitute would be for the fish sauce…any thoughts for this vegetarian?
HI Carla – sorry it took me so long to respond, I’ve been a little MIA lately.
I actually followed the vegetarian recipe in my Canadian Living cookbook and they still said it should be fine to use the fish sauce. I did, however, just do a quick google search, and people have recommended alternatives like mushroom-flavoured soy sauce or another type of soy sauce. That seems to be the leading contender right now as far as replacements go!
The original recipe also used 12 oz. of shrimp and 4 oz. of cubed tofu instead of chicken to make it vegetarian-friendly.
Hope this helps!!! :)
“I have three meals worth of pad thai remaining” … Like, why have you not texted me? I’ll obviously help you finish it. (minus the chicken)
Thanks Alex – I sort of stole this idea from you…I know pad thai is your specialty :)