© Copyright 1995-2023, Clay Irving <clay@panix.com>, Manhattan Beach, CA USA
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This dish can be made either with, or without the accompanying sauce. Without the sauce it makes a good contrast dish to hotter curries and dishes such as laab. With the sauce, and possibly accompanied by a bowl of sticky rice (formed into balls, and used to sop up any excess sauce), it makes a most satisfying one plate meal for lunch or dinner.
Any brand of hot chili sauce could be used, but try and avoid vinegar based sauces if possible.
The basic dish cooks very quickly, and speed is of the essence, especially if you don't want to reduce the dish to a variety of omelette!
Preserved radish is available, usually in vacuum pack, from Chinese and Oriental grocers.
If using Italian noodles (pasta shells are very suitable) instead of rice noodles, it should first be boiled until half cooked.
For the sauce:
1 cup chopped tomatoes
1 cup nam sup (chicken stock)
1 tablespoon of Maggi Seasoning
1 tablespoon of hot chili sauce
1 teaspoon prikthai (black pepper), freshly ground
pinch of sugar
For the stir fry:
1 cup chicken, cut into fine slices
1 tablespoon of kratiem (garlic), sliced
1 tablespoon khing (ginger), julienned
1 tablespoon of red curry paste
1 duck egg (or large chicken egg)
1 teaspoon of tang chi (preserved radish)
8 ounces of sen lek (narrow ribbon rice noodles), soaked
1 tablespoon Maggi Seasoning
1 tablespoon nam pla (fish sauce)
1 teaspoon prikthai (black pepper), ground
For the sauce:
Place tomatoes in boiling water for 1 minute then transfer to cold water to stop the cooking process. Skin and qaurter them, and discard the seed pulp then chop the remaining fruit, to form 1 cup of chopped tomatoes.
Bring the stock to a boil, and add all the rest of the ingredients, continuing to simmer uncovered until reduced slightly. Taste and adjust the seasoning.
For the stir fry:
Soak the noodles in tepid water for ten minutes then drain thoroughly. Chill the chicken, then slice it thinly, spreading the slices on a sheet of plastic wrap, and covering with another, then pound with a meat-pounder or the sahk (mortar) of a mortar and pestle, to further thin them.
Sauté the garlic, ginger and curry paste, until aromatic. Add the sliced chicken, and stir fry until it starts to become opaque.
Add the egg and whisk vigorously with a to-and-fro action to break the cooked egg into long strands. Add all the remaining ingredients, and continue cooking until the egg and the chicken are cooked through.
Serving:
If not using the sauce, then transfer the cooked stir fry to a serving platter lined with lettuce leaves and garnish with slivered spring onions and cilantro leaves.
If serving with the sauce, transfer to a serving bowl, and ladle half the sauce over the dish, reserving the remainder of the sauce in a sauce boat to be added at the diners' discretion.