Chicken Pad Thai

Chicken Pad Thai

Ingredients:

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 3), cut into 1-inch cubes

5 Tbsp plus 1 tsp. Asian fish sauce

½ pound firm tofu, cut into ¼ inch cubes

1 cup water (I used chicken broth)

2 Tbsp lime juice

1 ½ tsp rice wine vinegar

3 ½ Tbsp sugar

¾ tsp salt

1/8 tsp cayenne

1 pound linguine

3 Tbsp cooking oil

4 cloves garlic, chopped

Pepper flakes – optional

2/3 cup salted peanuts, chopped fine

2 cups bean sprouts

½ cup cilantro leaves, chopped

Directions:

In a small bowl, combine the chicken and ½ tsp of the fish sauce. In another bowl, combine the tofu with another ½ tsp of the fish sauce. In a medium glass or stainless-steel bowl, combine the remaining 5 Tbsp fish sauce with the water or chicken broth, 1 ½ Tbsp of the lime juice, the vinegar, sugar, salt, and cayenne.

In a pot of boiling, salted water, cook the linguine until done, about 12 minutes. Drain

Meanwhile, in a wok or large frying pan, heat 1 Tbsp of the oil over moderately high heat. Add the chicken and cook, stirring, until just done, 3-4 minutes. Remove; Put another Tbsp of oil in the pan. Add the tofu and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Remove. Put the remaining 1 Tbsp oil in the pan; add the garlic and cook, stirring, for 30 seconds.

Add the pasta and the fish sauce mixture, Cook, stirring, until nearly all the liquid is absorbed, about 2 minutes. Stir in the chicken, tofu, and 1/3 cup peanuts. Remove from the heat, Stir in the remaining ½ Tbsp lime juice, the bean sprouts, and half the cilantro. Top with the remaining peanuts and cilantro.

I saw this recipe and thought, I like Thai food, this should be a good one. The dish was easy to make and didn’t take much time at all but Thai with linguine, that should have been my first clue. It smelled just like Thai food while cooking but if you are expecting it to taste like traditional Thai, this is not the recipe for you. This did not taste like any Pad Thai I have ever had. Furthermore, it was bland. I had high hopes as I was starving, but that didn’t even make the dish taste better. This was okay, but would I make it again? NO.

Trash √