Chicken Pad Thai

Ingredients

• 1 package flat, wide rice noodles
• 6 to 8 tablespoons fish sauce
• 3/4 cup rice vinegar
• 1 to 2 teaspoons tamarind paste/concentrate
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• Pinch of paprika
• 10 to 12 tablespoons canola or vegetable oil, divided
• 4 large eggs
• 1 pound chicken tenders, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 1/3 cup roasted, unsalted peanuts, chopped roughly
• 1 cup bean sprouts
• 1 lime, cut into quarters
• 2 tablespoons roasted, unsalted peanuts, chopped roughly
• Chopped cilantro
• Red pepper flakes

Directions

1. Place the rice noodles in a large container, ideally lidded, and cover them fully with cold water so every strand is submerged. Leave them there a minimum of 2 hours and as long as 12 hours. The refrigerator is fine, and the counter is fine too.
2. For the sauce, use a shallow bowl and whisk the fish sauce with the rice vinegar, tamarind concentrate, and sugar until the mixture is smooth. Taste it and adjust as needed. For color, stir in a pinch of paprika or cayenne powder.
3. This recipe uses about 1/2 cup sauce total, which is 1/4 cup per batch. Stash any remaining sauce in the refrigerator for as long as 3 months, or use it to perk up leftovers while reheating.
4. Set a large pot of water on the stove and bring it to a boil.
5. Split the ingredients you will cook into 2 batches and set them close to the stove. Finish one batch completely before starting the remaining batch.
6. Cook 1 batch at a time. Set a wok, or another roomy pan with high sides, over high heat and keep it there for the whole pad Thai process. Pour in 2 to 3 tablespoons oil. When the oil has a light shimmer, it is ready.
7. Add the eggs for the batch to the hot oil, then use the end of a wooden spoon to gently open the yolk. There should be enough oil that the egg looks almost suspended in the pan. That gives the egg more surface area to set without burning.
8. Nudge and turn the egg gently around the pan. Use the spoon to break it into pieces, but stop well before it looks scrambled. Plan on about 1 minute. Slide the eggs to the side of the pan so there is space for the chicken.
9. If the eggs have soaked up the oil and the pan looks dry, add 1 to 2 more tablespoons oil. Put in the chicken for the batch. Let it cook 4 to 5 minutes, flipping the pieces so the chicken is nearly cooked through.
10. Lift several handfuls of noodles, roughly half of all the noodles, from the soaking water and place them in a fine mesh sieve. Position the sieve above the hot-water pot, then lower and lift the noodles through the water to loosen them without fully cooking them. The sieve keeps you from cooking and draining the noodles separately, and it makes this part faster.
11. Jostle the sieve to shed the hot water, then taste a noodle. It should bend but retain a small bit of chew.
12. Tip the noodles into the hot pan. They should not be fully cooked yet, since they will keep cooking in the wok.
13. Toss gently and give them a quick stir so they stay separate. When the noodles take on a sheen, add the sauce.
14. Measure in about 1/4 cup sauce. Toss and flip the noodles gently, then stir quickly so the sauce spreads through them. It is ready when the bottom of the pan no longer shows loose sauce, because the noodles have taken it in. If they seem to need more, add a little more sauce and cook until it disappears into the noodles. Taste.
15. Stir in the peanuts and sprouts, tossing everything together quickly. Cook 2 to 3 minutes total, just until all of it is hot. You should see the noodles turn softer and more translucent.
16. Turn off the heat and taste to make sure the dish has enough sauce flavor. Spoon it into individual bowls right away with lime wedges. Set out extra peanuts, chopped cilantro, and/or red pepper flakes, if desired.
17. Make the 2nd batch of pad Thai the same way.