Before the food allergy apocalypse hit, one of the things I really liked was Thai food, and one of the dishes I really enjoyed at Siam Orchid, our local Thai place, was Hot & Crazy Noodles, which is a spicy version of Pad Sei Ew (or whatever spelling variant of Thai anglicized you might find). It’s probably a safe-ish dish for me still, but going to Thai places reminds me of all the curry and satay and other yummy dishes that I now cannot eat because of the whole coconut thing, so I just don’t go. But I’ve been thinking a lot about it lately, so I thought I’d try to do my own version.
Hot & Crazy Asian Noodles Apocalypse Style
Makes 4-6 servings (if you are cooking for one or two people and don’t want tons of leftovers, cut the portion amounts in half).
Marinade for Chicken
- 3 Tablespoons of Soy Sauce (make sure you use a gluten free version, such as San-J Organic Gluten and Wheat Free Tamari Soy Sauce Platinum or Kikkoman Soy Sauce Gluten-Free)
- 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda (tenderizer for chicken)
Other Ingredients
- 1 lb of sliced chicken breast
- 8 oz of dry rice noodles (check labels, make sure only ingredients are rice and water)
- 1 teaspoon of canola oil
- 1-2 Tablespoons of chili oil (make sure it’s gluten free, I used Hokan Chili Oil )
- 1 carrot, sliced thinly
- 1 small to medium onion, sliced thinly
- 1 cup of snow peas or sugar snap peas, washed
- 1 small zucchini, sliced thinly
- 2-4 stalks of asparagus, cut in bite size pieces
- 1-2 green onions, both green and white parts, sliced
- 2 cups of mung bean sprouts approximately
- 2 Thai chilis
- 2 cups of baby bok choi leaves, washed and detached from heads of baby bok choi
- 10-15 Thai basil leaves to taste
Sauce for Noodles
- 1 large clove of garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon of fresh grated ginger (used a micro-plane grater)
- 3 Tablespoons of soy sauce (make sure you use a gluten free version, such as San-J Organic Gluten and Wheat Free Tamari Soy Sauce Platinum or Kikkoman Soy Sauce Gluten-Free)
- 1 Tablespoon of Sriracha
- 2 Tablespoons of Hoisin sauce (make sure you use a gluten free version, such as Wok Mei All Natural Hoisin Sauce)
- 1 Tablespoon of rice wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon of corn starch
- 1 teaspoon of brown sugar
- a dash of fresh ground szechuan peppercorns (I took about 4 and ground them in a mortar and pestle)
First, mix the soy sauce and the baking soda for the chicken marinade in a small bowl and then add the sliced chicken, mixing it well. Put it aside.
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the rice noodles and cook according to the directions on the package (mine said about 6-8 minutes). When done, drain the noodles using a colander and then place them back in the pot, tossing them with the canola oil so that they are less likely to stick together.
Using some of the chili oil, coat the bottom of your wok (or skillet in my case, I know I used to have a wok, but I have no idea where it went), turn the heat to medium high and cook the chicken in batches so it fries and doesn’t just steam. Once you have finished one batch, place it aside in a large bowl and cook then next batch, again placing it the large bowl when it’s cooked.
Using a bit more of the chili oil if needed, start stir frying the carrot, onion, peas, zucchini, asparagus, green onion, bean sprouts, thai chili, baby bok choi leaves, and thai basil leaves in batches, adding them to the large bowl when cooked.
To make the sauce for the noodles, whisk the garlic, ginger, soy sauce, Sriracha, Hoisin sauce, rice wine vinegar, corn starch, sugar and szechuan peppercorns together in a little bowl. Using a little of the chili oil, stir fry the cooked noodles in your wok/skillet and add the sauce for the noodles, mixing well, until the noodles are hot and thoroughly coated with the sauce.
Once the noodles are coated and nice and hot, place them in the large bowl with the other ingredients and mix all the ingredients in the bowl thoroughly.
Once mixed, serve them immediately while they are nice and hot, and have some of the Sriracha and Hoisin available as condiments so your family and/or guests can doctor their portions to their taste. Enjoy!
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