August 1, 2009

Thai Noodles with Ground Chicken and Crispy Shallots

Last month I was on a “post a recipe every day” challenge on my personal blog, so up until last week I feel like I’ve neglected my poor recipe blog a bit. I’m WAY backed up, so I’m going to try to post more. Hopefully every other day.Before I introduce this recipe, I want to make sure I tell you how much I love my spider:

I love it a lot a lot a lot. You can find them anywhere (Target, Walmart, BB&B). I think I got mine at one of those kitchen gadget stores you see at outlet malls. I used it five, yes FIVE times in this recipe to fish ingredients out of screaming hot oil and broth. I don’t recommend making this without one or something of similar size. Using a slotted spoon would be workable, but it would take a lot longer. This recipe is full of steps as it is. Fortunately it does have some “do aheads” that cut up the time you spend in the kitchen. I like that.

My only hesitation before making this was that it has a frightening (to me) amount of fish sauce in it. What’s fish sauce? Don’t ask. Don’t even look it up. Just buy it and use it — it lasts a long time. Don’t stick your nose in the bottle either. Fish sauce is a key ingredient in Thai cooking, and it gives it a wonderful ethnic flavor, despite, well, you know . . .

For a dish with so much fried stuff piled on top, it didn’t seem heavy to me at all. It has a light dressing with a hint of sweetness from the raw sugar, and the fried shallots and garlic added a nice crunch. It’s definitely different from any other Thai food I’ve ever had.

Blast, mommy-brains! I totally spaced the cilantro and green onion garnish!

Thai Noodles with Ground Chicken and Crispy Shallots

Ingredients:

Vegetable oil (for frying)
4 large shallots, cut crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick slices
5 garlic cloves; 3 sliced, 2 pressed
2 T Asian sesame oil
2-3 quarts low-salt chicken broth
1 lb skinless boneless chicken thighs (or breasts) cut into 1 inch cubes
4 T fish sauce, divided
1 6.75 ounce package rice stick noodles (maifun), broken in half
8 ounces Chinese long beans or green beans, cut into 1-inch pieces
1/4 c fresh lime juice
2 T raw sugar or brown sugar, divided
2 pinches cayenne pepper
1/2 c chopped fresh cilantro
1/2 c chopped green onions
2 T chopped salted roasted peanuts
Hot chili sauce (such as sriracha)

Directions:

In a small saucepan, add enough vegetable oil to reach a depth of 2 inches. Attach a deep-fry thermometer to the side and heat oil to 330 degrees F. Add shallots to oil and fry until golden brown, stirring often to prevent clumping, about 6-8 minutes. Using a slotted spoon or a spider, transfer to paper towels to drain. Add sliced garlic to oil and fry until golden brown, about a minute. Using a slotted spoon or a spider, transfer garlic to paper towels to drain. Mix sesame oil and pressed garlic in a small bowl. Set aside. (Can do shallots and oil/garlic mixture 2 hours ahead. Let stand at room temperature.)

Bring chicken broth to boil in a large saucepan. Place chicken in food processor. Pulse until chicken is coarsely ground. Add ground chicken to broth and simmer until cooked through, stirring to break up clumps into small pieces, about 5 minutes. Using a spider or slotted spoon, transfer chicken to a large bowl. Add 1 T fish sauce to chicken; toss to coat. Return broth to boil. Add rice noodles and cook until tender, 3-4 minutes. Using spider or slotted spoon, transfer noodles to bowl with chicken. Return broth to boil. Add beans and cook until crisp-tender, about 5 minutes. Using a (you guessed it), transfer beans to bowl with chicken and noodles. Add sesame-garlic oil, lime juice, 1 T raw sugar, cayenne, and remaining 3 T fish sauce. Toss to coat.

Transfer noodle mixture to a large shallow serving bowl. Sprinkle cilantro, green onions, peanuts, fried shallots, and fried garlic and remaining raw sugar over noodles. Serve passing hot chili sauce over top.

Nat's Notes:
1. Fish sauce and hot chili sauce (sriracha) can be found in most Asian aisles of the grocery store.
2. Refrigerate or freeze leftover broth for your next batch of soup!

from Bon Appetit June 2009