A Little Taste of Thailand

Thai food is my F-A-V-E!!!!!! I love nothing more than picking up tofu pad Thai any day I am too lazy to cook. Green Curry Thai Cuisine, an Astoria goldmine, has become my kitchen away from home! The staff is very friendly, the decor is a unique blend of modern and serene, and the food is Ahh-mazing! (Although, if you search for Green Curry on Yelp, there are some negative reviews - these are just not true! I'm assuming these people have no taste.) ;)

Since we're still in somewhat of a recession, I can't give in to my Green Curry cravings all the time. I've never made Thai food before and was feeling adventurous so I whipped up a chicken peanut Thai noodle dish. (Actually, I didn't whip it up, I pretty much stirred up a mess!) There are a lot of ingredients in this dish, so I struggled putting everything together at once. It was pretty funny though.

Recipe:

1 lb whole wheat thin spaghetti noodles (I tried finding Asian rice noodles, but they were no where to be found in my grocery store.)

2 tbsp sesame oil

1 clove of garlic, peeled

1 (1 inch) piece of fresh ginger, peeled

½ cup smooth peanut butter

¼ cup soy sauce

2 tbsp brown sugar

1 tbsp rice vinegar

1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

1 cup hot water

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil (evoo)

½ cup finely chopped onion

½ cup finely chopped red or orange bell pepper (I'm not a fan of peppers so I left this out.)

3 or 4 chicken cutlets, cubed

¼ cup finely chopped cilantro

1/2 tsp salt, or to taste

¼ cup dry roasted peanuts, chopped (optional)

2 tbsp sesame seeds (optional)

1. Cook noodles according to package. Drain, rinse, place in large pasta bowl and toss with sesame oil. Set aside.

2. Place garlic and ginger in food processor until well chopped. Add peanut butter, soy sauce, brown sugar, vinegar and red pepper flakes. Pulse until well combined then set aside.

3. Place olive oil in hot skillet over medium heat. Saute onion and bell pepper for 5 minutes or until softened. Stir in chicken breast, cilantro and salt. Cook until heated through.

4. Add hot water to ingredients in step 2 and stir until mix is smooth and becomes sauce like.

5. Add sauce and chicken mixture to noodles. Toss to coat and garnish with peanuts and sesame seeds if desired.

To give you fair warning, this recipe turns out to be very big. I was able to get about 8 servings out of it! It would be a great dish for a dinner party.


Recipe adapted from Picky-Palate