Pad Thai

I have been craving Pad Thai like there's no tomorrow! So I had lunch with my best friend last Friday at this Thai place near us called Sanamluang and their Pad Thai was, by far, the best I've ever had. So I searched online for a recipe to try out. Its not quite as good as Sanamluang's, but it'll hold me down until my next trip there. This recipe is from the archives of the Foodnetwork (my favorite channel), but I tweeked it a little.

5 Tbsp. oil

2 tsp. chopped garlic

1 cup boneless, skinless chicken, cubed

1 cup whole shrimp, shelled and deveined

1/2 pound dried rice noodles (soaked in cold water for an hour and then drained, or soaked in boiling hot water until al dente)

water

10 Tbsp. Pad Thai sauce (recipe below)

4 eggs

1/2 tsp. ground chiles, or to taste (optional)

4 Tbsp. crushed roasted peanuts

1/2 cup sliced green onions

2 cups bean sprouts

1) Heat oil in wok. Add garlic and stir-fry until golden brown. Add chicken and cook for about 2 minutes. Add shrimp and cook until the gray color is almost gone. Remove shrimp to prevent from overcooking and set aside.

2) Add noodles. Stir fast and try to separate noodles as they will often stick together. Add a little water and stir a few times. Add Pad Thai sauce and keep stirring until everything is thoroughly mixed. The noodles should appear soft and moist.

3) Return the cooked shrimp in the wok. Push the contents of the wok to the sides and add eggs in the middle (If the pan is too dry, add a little oil). Spread noodles over the eggs to cover. When eggs are cooked, stir noodles until everything is mixed well.

4) Add chiles, peanuts, green onions and bean sprouts and mix well. Serve on a platter and top with more bean sprouts and peanuts for garnish.

Pad Thai sauce

1 cup tamarind juice (tamarind soaked in warm water for 20 minutes and squeezed through a sieve)

1 cup palm sugar

1 cup water

1/2 cup fish sauce

2 tsp. salt

Mix all ingredients together in a saucepan and cook on medium to low for an hour until it is well mixed and has the consistency of syrup. *It is important to stir the mixture often to prevent burning.