Pad Thai

 I have a confession to make. I've only ever eaten Pad Thai once, and that was at Thai Express. I don't often consider fast food restaurants to be a really good indicator of what a food should authentically be like so...yeah.

I decided today, when at the grocery store trying to figure out what to make for supper, to try my hand at Pad Thai.

I think I did a pretty good job. So does Alex. He wanted to eat the entire pan, but he was good and stopped himself. He told me to make it again whenever I wanted to. I'd say that's a win.

Here's the crazy thing. The jar of VH Pad Thai sauce I bought didn't have an actual recipe. It just gave a list of ingredients. So...I had to wing it. I added one ingredient (some green onion) and omitted two (the coriander leaves and the lime wedges).

2 tbsp vegetable oil

1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast, diced

1 large white onion, chopped

1 cup bean sprouts

1/2 red onion, thinly sliced

1/2 package (8 oz) rice noodles, cooked and drained

1 jar VH Pad Thai stir-fry sauce

1/4 cup fresh coriander leaves, chopped

1/3 cup chopped peanuts

4 lime wedges

Heat vegetable oil in a wok or large frying pan. Saute chicken until white on all sides and almost all cooked. Remove from pan and place on a plate.

Add the white onion, red onion (and half the green onion if you use any) and the bean sprouts to the pan and fry for about 5 minutes or until tender. Add the rice noodles (and for the love of god cut them or break them apart before you cook them because it's darned near impossible to do it once they're cooked) and mix, cooking for 2-3 minutes. Add the VH sauce, and the chicken and mix well. Continue to cook for about another 5-10 minutes, until chicken is fully cooked.

Garnish with the remainder of the green onion and some chopped peanuts. Serve immediately. Makes 4 servings.