Pad Thai

This recipe is all about preparation. A classic Thai dish, and there are a hundred variations on a theme. Ours is based on a mixture of a version a friend gave us from her cooking course in Thailand and from the amazing recipe book Hot Sour Salty Sweet. Although it's street food and it's supposed to be quick, the preparation takes some time so start early. If you're making it for friends you can prepare much of it and put it in the fridge, ready for when you pull out the wok.

• 2 limes, cut into quarters
• 2-3 chicken breasts (cut into very small pieces)
• 1 teaspoon of sugar
• 1 table spoon rice wine vinegar
• 1 table spoon of water
• 1 table spoon of soy sauce
• 1 table spoon of fish sauce
• 3 large eggs
• pinch of salt
• 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil
• 3 cloves of garlic (diced)
• 1 carrot (grated)
• 1 small chili (diced and seeds removed)
• ½ pound of narrow rice noodles, soaked in warm water and drained
• ½ pound of bean sprouts, rinsed and drained
• 3 scallions, trimmed and cut into smallish pieces
• small chunk of ginger (diced)
• 2 to 4 tablespoons of coriander leaves

Start by chopping your chicken breast into very small pieces and placing it in a small bowl. Add the sugar and the juice from a lime and mix it all together. In another small dish, mix the rice vinegar and water, soy sauce and fish sauce. In yet another small bowl beat your eggs with the salt, only lightly. Put all of your ingredients by the stove, as you'll need them quite quickly in succession.

Put your wok over a high heat, add 1 1/2 tablespoons of oil and coat the bottom. Add the garlic, ginger and chili and stir fry lightly for a few minutes. Add the chicken, and stirfry until the chicken is lightly pink in the centre. Add the 3/4 of the scallions and fry for a couple of minutes and then add the eggs. Let it cook until the egg mixture sets around the chicken, then mix it up and transfer to a seperate plate.

Place the wok back on the heat, add the rest of the oil and coat the sides of the wok. Toss in the drained noodles and stirfry for a few minutes and sear the noodles against the sides of the hot wok. They'll gloop together (gloop = technical term), worry not they'll eventually separate. Move the noodles around to form a well in the middle of the wok, add your grated carrot and beansprouts and remaining scallions. Stir fry for a few minutes, stirring and pressing the mixture down against the bottom of the wok, then add the soy sauce mixture. Fry for another few minutes, and then add the chicken/egg mixture back into the wok. Stirfry all together for a few more seconds, add in the coriander, give one stir remove from heat and serve onto individual plates. Some people add peanuts at this point, but I just like some lime juice squeezed over top.

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