Pad Thai with Chicken

📝 Ingredients

• 160 g dried flat rice noodles (3 to 5 mm wide)
• 250 g chicken breast, cut into thin strips
• 2 eggs
• 150 g fresh bean sprouts, rinsed
• 3 spring onions, cut into 3 cm lengths (green parts included)
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp neutral oil (sunflower or groundnut)
• 2 tbsp light soy sauce
• 2 tbsp fish sauce (nuoc mam)
• 1 tbsp light brown sugar
• 1 lime (juice of one half, the other half cut into wedges)
• 30 g unsalted roasted peanuts, roughly crushed
• 1 small handful of fresh coriander and 1 pinch of chilli flakes

🍴 Utensils

• Wok or large frying pan
• Large mixing bowl
• Colander
• Bowl
• Spatula

📖 Steps

1. Place the rice noodles in a large bowl and cover them with hot tap water (not boiling). Leave to soak for 8 to 10 minutes, until supple but still firm in the centre, then drain. If soaked for too long, they will stick to the wok.
2. Make the sauce in a bowl: mix the soy sauce, fish sauce, brown sugar and the juice of half a lime until the sugar has dissolved. Taste: it should be salty, sweet and tangy all at once.
3. Heat the oil in the wok over a high heat. Sear the chicken strips for 4 to 5 minutes without stirring too much at first, until golden and cooked through (no pink left in the centre). Add the garlic and the white parts of the spring onions and stir for 30 seconds.
4. Push the chicken to one side of the wok and crack the eggs into the other side. Let them set for 20 seconds, then roughly scramble them with the spatula before mixing everything together with the chicken.
5. Add the drained noodles and pour the sauce over the top. Toss over a high heat for 2 to 3 minutes, lifting the noodles with the spatula, until they have absorbed the sauce and are tender. If they stick, add 2 tbsp water.
6. Off the heat, stir in the bean sprouts and the green parts of the spring onions: they should stay crunchy, so don't cook them for more than 30 seconds. Adjust the seasoning with a dash of fish sauce or lime juice if needed.
7. Divide between two plates and sprinkle with the crushed peanuts, chopped coriander and a pinch of chilli flakes. Serve immediately with the lime wedges, to squeeze over at the last moment.