I LOVE Thai food.  Sadly, my favorite local Thai place down the road from my house closed (prior to the pandemic) and I miss them so much.  Not only did everything taste so good, it was pretty.  The colorful veggies and how they were intricately cut and presented.   My favorite thing to order there was the Pad Woon Sen with Beef.  The delicate glass noodles with the veggies and beef was always spiced just right.

I haven’t tried to re-create that dish yet, but I have made stir fry dishes and curries, chicken satay and fresh rolls and peanut sauce, and of course Pad Thai – the dish that seems to be the most popular at Thai eateries in America.

As with most Asian-inspired dishes, it is so easy to customize them to your particular likes and dietary needs.  Vegetarian?  Well, skip the meat and use tofu or extra veggies!  Don’t eat eggs?  Skip them, they aren’t mandatory.  Like it spicier?  Add some chili flakes or chili sauce.  Hate cilantro?  Try some Thai basil.  The bottom line is, make it how you like it. Below is my recipe.  My husband doesn’t do spicy and doesn’t like red bell peppers, so his bowl didn’t have those in it.  That’s the beauty of this dish:  you can please everyone.  For the picky kiddos, maybe it’s just the noodles and sauce! This makes about 2-3 servings, so increase accordingly for additional servings.

Pad Thai with Chicken and Shrimp

Sauce
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons fish sauce
1/4 cup rice vinegar
juice from 1/2 a lime
1/4 cup brown sugar

Pad Thai
14 oz Pad Thai rice noodles
2 tablespoons canola oil
2 boneless skinless chicken breast, thinly sliced
8 shrimp, cleaned and de-veined
1 tablespoon minced garlic clove
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger root
1/2 cup sliced red pepper
1 cup bean sprouts
2 eggs, beaten
1 green onion, sliced
crushed peanuts
cilantro
limes
red chili flakes
chili sauce

In a small bowl, whisk together all sauce ingredients and set aside.  Prepare noodles according to package directions, drain, rinse, and set aside.  Heat oil in a large pan and cook the chicken, garlic, and ginger over medium-high heat until cooked through.  Push the chicken to one side of the pan, and add the beaten eggs, scrambling until done.  Mix the eggs into the chicken, then add the red peppers, bean sprouts, and noodles.  Whisk the sauce again to ensure it is mixed and pour it over the noodles and chicken.  Toss the ingredients to mix everything together.  If using shrimp, you can throw them in now and cook for about 2-3 minutes until they are no longer pink (shrimp cooks really fast, so do not cook it with the chicken or it will get over done and tough).  Sprinkle with sliced green onion.

Using a tongs or pasta claw, move to serving bowls and top with crushed peanuts, cilantro, lime slices, and red chili flakes or chili sauce if desired.