Spicy Thai Fried Noodles

This is another recipe from my Thai cookbook that looked good. I didn't feel like cooking tonight and this recipe looked pretty simple. It seemed like all I had to do was toss things together. So I wanted to give it a shot.

One thing I learned about Thai cooking is that the food has to be cooked quickly, which means all your ingredients need to be ready to throw in the pan or wok. With this recipe, I thought I could get away with getting the ingredients ready (by cutting, measuring, etc.) during the middle of the cooking process. Well, doing that resulted in my noodles being slightly overcooked and burning at the bottom of the hot wok. So I've learned to make sure I have all the ingredients on hand, ready to cook.

A good thing about this recipe is that its pretty versatile with whatever kind of meat you have. You can use pork, chicken, shrimp, or a combination of all. I happened to only have chicken and shrimp. It came out pretty good, otherwise. But its not the typical Thai flavors I'm accustomed to. So I'm not sure if I'll be making this for my regular rotation. Maybe if I have a taste for it again, I'll make it.

8 oz egg noodles

4 Tbsp. oil

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

2 boneless, skinless chicken, cut into cubes

1 cup shrimp, peeled and deveined

3 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice

3 Tbsp. fish sauce

2 Tbsp. light brown sugar

2 eggs, beaten

1/2 fresh red chili, seeded and finely chopped

2/3 cup bean sprouts

4 Tbsp. roasted peanuts, chopped

3 green onions, chopped

3 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro

1) Boil a large pan of water. Add noodles, remove from heat and leave for 5 minutes. Drain and set aside.

2) In a wok or large pan, heat oil. Add garlic and cook for about 30 seconds. Add chicken and cook until lightly brown. Add shrimp and cook for about 2 minutes, until shrimp is pink.

3) Add lemon juice, fish sauce and sugar. Stir until sugar is dissolved. Add noodles and stir fry until well combined.

4) Pour beaten eggs over noodles and stir fry until eggs are set. Add chili and bean sprouts. Add a half of the portion of peanuts, green onions and cilantro and stir fry until well incorporated. Set on a serving platter. Top with remaining peanuts, green onions and cilantro and serve immediately.