Golden Dragon Pad Thai

Golden Dragon Pad Thai -

This dish is Simple to make yet elegant in presentation. Just be careful with the oil content. It may seem excessive, but too little oil, and the noodles will stick and you'll have a mess in your wok. You can get away with 5 tbs. or so instead of the full 1/2 cup but you will have to work extremely fast to avoid the sticking. This will serve about 4 as a noodle side dish or 2 as a main course.

Ingredients:

8 ounces Thai rice noodles
1/4 cup tamarind paste
1/4 cup water
4 ounces boneless skinless chicken breasts
4 ounces fried tofu
6 tablespoons roasted unsalted peanuts
3 tablespoons fish sauce
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons lime juice
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon chopped garlic
8 large shrimp, shelled and deveined (5 oz)
2 eggs
1 cup bean sprouts
2 green onions, cut into 1 inch pieces
1/2 teaspoon roasted chile
red pepper, strips
fresh coriander leaves
wedges lime

Directions:

Soak the noodles in a good amount of cold water for an hour or more.
Place 1/4 cup warm water in a small bowl and combine with the tamarind paste and soak it for at least 15 minutes or more.
Slice chicken into 1/4-inch long strips.
If you are having a hard time cutting thinly through fresh chicken meat, place it in the freezer for about 15-20 minutes or so to harden a little bit; then slice it. It should now slice easilly.
Set the sliced chicken aside.
Now slice the fried tofu into 3/4 inch size cubes.
Set the tofu aside
Use a blender or food processor to grind peanuts into a coarse meal.
Set the Peanut meal aside.
Take the reserved tamarind paste in its water. Mash the tamarind in the water and transfer the muddy looking mixture to a strainer set into a bowl. Continue mashing in the strainer with a spoon, forcing as much water to strain into the bowl as you can, Scrapeing off any juice that clings underneath the strainer.
You should have about 5 Tablespoons of tamarind juice. Add to it the fish sauce, lime juice and sugar. Beat the mixture thoroughly to combine and set aside. Discard the solids left behind in the strainer.
In a wok or large frying pan, heat oil until it is just about to smoke. Add garlic and stir, and cook for about 30 seconds or so. Then add the chicken and stir-fry for about 1 minute.
Now add the tofu and shrimps and stir-fry for another minute. crack the eggs into wok and fry without breaking them up for 1 or 2 minutes.
While the eggs are cooking, drain the noodles quickly, then add them to the wok with a quick fold. Stir-fry for 1 minute bringing the mixture from the bottom up.
Add reserved tamarind juice, and continue stir-frying, mixing it all together for 1 or 2 minutes. The noodles will have shrunk to about half of their original volume and softened up to al dente (cooked but firm not mushy).
Add 2/3 of the reserved ground peanuts and stir. Then Add 2/3 of the bean sprouts and all the green onion pieces. Stir-fry for 30 seconds and remove from heat.
Transfer Pad Thai noodles to serving platter and sprinkle with roasted chilies and top with the rest of the ground peanuts, the rest of the sprouts, and some strips of red pepper and fresh coriander leaves. Garnish with some of lime wedges on the side and serve immediately while still fresh and hot.