Mushroom And Chicken Pad Thai Recipe

It's highly likely that the mention of South Asian cuisine will put you in mind of pad Thai. This particular Thai dish is as delicious as it is simple and nutritious to make, so it's no wonder that it is a popular meal choice enjoyed worldwide. Pad Thai was developed as the national dish of Thailand in the late 1930s. Interestingly, although its name indicates that it is of Thai origin, the ingredients and the style of pad Thai are considered Chinese by many, especially among the Thai populace.

Though pad Thai may not have the long history or tradition of other well-loved dishes, its versatility, simplicity, and sheer deliciousness have understandably elevated it to its status as a staple dish worldwide. This mushroom and chicken pad Thai created by Tasting Table recipe developer Jennine Rye uses chicken and shiitake mushrooms as core ingredients, giving delicious depth and umami flavor to the dish. Taking only 20 minutes to make from start to finish, this quick and tasty recipe is one you will want to know and will come back to time and time again.

To make this mushroom and chicken pad Thai recipe, first you will need to gather the ingredients. For the pad Thai sauce, you will require brown sugar, fish sauce, oyster sauce, and tamarind purée. For the stir fry you will want rice noodles, cooking oil, an onion, chicken breast, shiitake mushrooms, garlic cloves, eggs, bean sprouts, and scallions. To finish off the pad Thai, you will additionally need peanuts, lime, and cilantro.

This recipe for pad Thai specifically uses shiitake mushrooms, a common mushroom variant in Asian cooking that imparts a delicious woody umami flavor to the dish. If you are unable to procure shiitake mushrooms, this recipe also works well with button mushrooms. They can be prepared and added to the recipe just the same.

To begin this recipe, you will want to prepare the various elements of the dish, as assembling the stir fry doesn't take long at all so you will want all the components to be ready. First of all, in a small bowl mix together the brown sugar, the fish sauce, the oyster sauce, and tamarind purée to make the pad Thai sauce. Then sit the rice noodles in hot water for one to two minutes until they are soft but not fully cooked, before draining them and rinsing them with cold water to halt the cooking process. The final step to prepare this dish is to lightly whisk the eggs together in a small bowl. You are now ready to begin stir frying your ingredients.

To begin cooking this mushroom and chicken pad Thai dish, heat up cooking oil in a large pan or wok until it shimmers. While a wok is the traditional choice for cooking this dish, it is still perfectly possible to enjoy this dish when it is prepared in a standard frying pan. Add the sliced onion, the chicken breast, the shiitake mushrooms, and the garlic cloves to the pan and stir fry them for a few minutes until the chicken is just cooked. Move the pan contents to one side and add the whisked eggs to the pan, and proceed to scramble them for a minute or two until they are mostly cooked through.

Once the eggs are looking well scrambled, mix them in with the cooked chicken, mushroom and onion mixture, and then add most of the bean sprouts, the scallions, and the semi-cooked rice noodles to the pan. Pour the prepared pad Thai sauce over the noodles and then mix everything together, making sure the dish is properly heated through while continually moving the ingredients around the pan. When the contents of the pan are piping hot, serve the pad Thai topped with the remaining bean sprouts, the chopped peanuts, the fresh cilantro, and wedges of lime on the side.

Though this dish is at its best enjoyed fresh from the pan, any leftovers can be stored in the fridge in an airtight container, and should be consumed within three days.