Recipe Friday : Pad See Ew

The first complete week of January is behind us and I’m doing pretty well with my “no-resolution” resolutions.  Last time I checked, still the same ol’ Hilary with One L as before.  Not to break my own arm patting myself on the back, but not bad. Not bad at all.

As for my foray into the organization of the linen closet, I plan to visit Target (again) this week-end.  Something is getting organized, dang it! I’ve taken more measurements. I’ve pretty much crawled into Pinterest and camped out there as I consider all the linen closet storage and organization options I have.  What I have discovered, is that not many of those “before” closets look like my current closet.  With respect to dimensions and layout, most of the closets I’ve seen pinned are probably no more than 4 or 5 feet across, like a traditional coat closet. My closet is a little longer than that, which means I’ve had to shift my aspirations of pairs or trios of bins and buckets.  I’m going to need quads and quintets, I think.

All that rummaging around Pinterest turned up a lot of other goodies, too.  I’ve already cataloged a couple of non-food Valentine’s Day treats for school. I found some outfit ideas for this winter weather that has wanting to just walk around in sweatpants all day.  There was this gel eyeliner hack that I saw that I am definitely going to try the next time I get dolled up.

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Scotch tape as a guide to applying eyeliner for a flawless cat-eye.  Yeah, I’m definitely going to try that because this is my current eyeliner situation:

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I know I’m not the only one, right? Right.  But, back to my new finds on Pinterest.  There are some new hairstyles that I plan to try on the girls, provided they sit still long enough.  There are some hairstyle how-to’s to help me on my #growit #noheat hair challenge.   On my craft board, there are some nifty DIY crafts that I want to try. I’m determined to make some Sharpie Mugs that don’t flake off or wash off after one use! Oh, and the food board.  Can’t forget about my bestie!  Even though I’m still working this clean cleaner moderately clean-ish eating plan, I still make regular meals for the kids. Yeah, I know I said I wasn’t going to be a short-order cook, but many a plate went uneaten (theirs) and many a tear was shed (theirs again) when I served up something that wasn’t 1). Sushi for M 2). Chicken wings for C,  3). Chocolate for V, or 4). Anything, anything, from a restaurant.  While some may argue that the kids should eat what the parent eat and that I’m making more work for myself by making separate meals. . .yeah, I don’t have a response to that except that I tried it and it didn’t work. So, I’m doing what works for me.  This recipe for Thai Stir Fried Noodles works just fine.

Happy Friday, y’all!

 

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Thai Stir Fried Noodles (Pad See Ew)
 recipe courtesy of Recipe Tin Eats
From the author, Nagi: Pad See Ew (which means Stir Fried Soy Sauce noodles) is one of the most popular Thai street foods. It’s amazing how fast it comes together – once the ingredients are ready to throw into the wok, it takes less than 5 minutes to cook. Traditionally, this is made with Sen Yai which are wide, thin rice noodles. But these are only sold in Asian stores where I live (and I don’t have one nearby) so I’ve made it with wide rice stick noodles which are readily available in supermarkets and it is a pretty close substitute. I’ve eaten enough Pad See Ew at Thai restaurants to assure you that there is no compromise on flavour!
Ingredients
Noodles
  • 8oz/200g rice stick noodles
Sauce
  • 2 tablespoons sweet dark soy sauce or kecap manis (see notes for substitutes)
  • 2 tablespoons oyster sauce
  • 2 teaspoons soy sauce
  • 2 teaspoons white vinegar
  • 2 teaspoons sugar
  • 2 tbsp water
Stir Fry
  • 2 tbsp peanut or vegetable oil
  • 2 cloves garlic cloves
  • 1 cup chicken, sliced into ¼” / 0.5cm slices
  • 1 large egg
  • 4 cups (packed) Chinese broccoli, leaves separated from stems (cut stems vertically into thin sticks)
Instructions
  1. Prepare the noodles according to packet instructions. Some just require soaking in boiling water for 5 minutes, others require cooking in a pot of boiling water for a few minutes. Drain when ready.
  2. Meanwhile, combine sauce ingredients.
  3. Mince the garlic straight into the wok with the oil. Place wok high heat. As the oil is heating, the garlic will gradually heat too and infuse the oil with flavour.
  4. When the oil is hot and the garlic is starting to turn golden, add the chicken and Chinese broccoli stems and stir fry for 1 minute.
  5. Move the chicken and Chinese broccoli to one side and crack in the egg, and scramble it. Don’t worry if some of it sticks to the wok, it will char as you continue cooking – you want that chargrilled flavour!
  6. Add the noodles, Chinese broccoli leaves and the sauce. Fold gently to combine, for the sauce to coat the noodles evenly and to caramelize, and the leaves to just wilt. They only need to be just wilted because they will continue to cook while you are plating up.
  7. Serve immediately.
Notes
1. Sweet dark soy sauce is thicker and sweeter than normal soy sauce, and has a more complex flavour. It is available in Asian grocery stores and in the Asian Section of some large supermarkets. A great substitute is kecap manis which is an Indonesian sweet soy sauce. Hoisin sauce would also be an acceptable substitute. Otherwise, to make your own substitute, use 1½ tbsp soy sauce with 1 tbsp honey instead of 2 tbsp sweet soy sauce.
I used hoisin sauce and a little bit of Trader Joe’s Soyaki sauce.
2. If you can’t find Chinese broccoli, you can substitute with other leafy Chinese vegetables such as pak choy or bok choy. You can also add other vegetables if you wish.
I couldn’t get my hands on Chinese broccoli, so I went with bok chok and regular broccoli florets. 
3. You can substitute the chicken with other proteins suitable for stir frying, even tofu or prawns.
4. You can use other noodles if you want, fresh or dried, rice or egg noodles. However, I do not recommend using vermicelli as it is too thin for the strong flavors of the sauce.
5. If you accidentally add the noodles into the pan before checking they are properly rehydrated, simply add ½ cup of water to the pan and bring it boil, tossing the noodles to finish “cooking” them. It won’t take long because rice noodles do not require much cooking – maybe 1 minute or so, and the dish will still come out fine (though if you already added the broccoli leaves then they will be very wilted rather than just slightly wilted).
IN: projects & DIY recipes ON: January 7, 2015 BY: Hilary 0 COMMENT
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