Spicy Thai Noodle

Thailand, a country located in South East Asia, is known for its beautiful white sand beaches, sacred Buddhist temples and its flavourful cuisine. Thai cooking puts a lot of emphasis on fresh and strong aromatic ingredients. Its cuisine is known for its balance of sweet, sour, spicy and saltiness. Needless to say, I have not met anyone who doesn't love Thai food.

Whenever I visit my family and friends in Indonesia and Malaysia, I make sure that I do not miss visiting Thailand as well. Instead of visiting Thai beaches, I put food adventure as my top priority. My family and I will make trips to Thai fresh markets every morning for local breakfasts. We then indulge ourselves with traditional Thai desserts, local fruits and cakes. Nevertheless, I will return to Canada with a few extra pounds of weight (not extra pounds of luggage!).

My craving for Thai food hit me the other day and I couldn't think of any better idea but to cook a Spicy Thai Noodle. I stir fry fresh rice noodles with several ingredients and incorporate in Thai basil for a sweet, peppery flavour. Like any stir fries, you will need to cook this dish in high heat, thus I recommend you spreading out all ingredients on kitchen counter. I hope you will enjoy it as much as I do.

Skill Level: Easy 

Serves: 4 - 5 

INGREDIENTS:

• 400 g of fresh rice noodles (if not available, you can substitute with dried rice noodles and follow instructions on package)
• 1 red bell pepper, sliced 
• 3 green onions, cut into 1.5 inch length
• 1 crown of broccoli, cut into bite sized
• 5 Thai bird chillies, sliced
• 1 onion, thinly sliced 
• 10 to 12 Thai basil leaves
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 3 eggs
• Cooking oil 
• Ground white pepper to taste
• 1 lime, cut into wedges

Seasoning for the Noodle (A):

• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp fish sauce
• 1 tbsp dark soy sauce
• Dash of white pepper

Marinade Ingredients (B):

• 12 to 15 shrimps
• 12 to 15 thinly sliced pork
• 2 tsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp oyster sauce
• Black pepper, to taste

Gravy:

• 1 tbsp cooking oil
• 2 cups water
• 3 tbsp corn starch 
• Salt to taste
• 1 tsp dark soy sauce
• 1/4 tsp chicken flavoured powder (bouillon)

 METHOD: 

1. Microwave the fresh rice noodles for a minute or if you use dried rice noodles, cook according to instructions on package 
2. In a bowl, beat eggs lightly with a fork 
3. Heat up a wok, add in 2 tbsp of cooking oil and scramble the eggs till well done. Scoop and place on a plate
4. In the same wok, heat up 4 tbsp of cooking oil. Stir in sliced onions and garlic and cook until fragrant 
5. Add in item (B), cook under high heat for 3 minutes. Mix in green onions, Thai chillies, red bell peppers and broccoli. Cook for another 2 minutes
6. Add in the rice noodle and seasoning (A). Stir and cook for another 4 minutes. Add a dash of white pepper and mix in the scrambled eggs as well as Thai basil 
7. Scoop up the noodle onto serving plates 
8. In the same wok, heat up 1 tbsp of cooking oil and pour in 2 cups of water. Let it boil and mix in salt, dark soy sauce as well as chicken bouillon 
9. Mix corn starch with water to make a slurry. Pour into the sauce until thicken
10. Pour the gravy over the noodle, serve with lime wedges and enjoy!