Fire Noodles

This was possibly the first Thai cookbook; True Thai by Victor Sodsook,  we ever purchased....or at least the first or second

and now we have a few that we use.

But as you can see it's the well used one of the few we own.

We often joke that G wooed me first with the Tom Kha Gai  he made me on our second date and then again with his Thai Garlic Prawns he made for me the weekend before he left the second time for Alaska. Yes, those were the days.

Both of those recipes are still made at least yearly in our home with very loving homage to our initial coming together to who we are now.

Back to the cookbook. The only thing I don't love about this particular Thai cookbook is the lack of pictures. I'm a visual kind of person but the recipes we've made out of it have kept us coming back.

Especially this one for: Mahogany Fire Noodles. Warning if you are  not a fan of spicy this may not be the recipe for you. But if you are and you enjoy Thai flavors this one is a hit.

G is a big fan of ordering Pad See Ew ( a wide fresh rice noodle dish) at our local Wild Orchid Thai restaurant that we frequent regularly, mostly due to location.

He loves wide rice noodles. So when we came across this recipe about 8 years ago now he knew it was a must make.

It's a bit of prep but it comes together very quickly after all of the prep is complete. Gathering all of your ingredients is definitely key for this recipe.

First you start with fresh, wide rice noodles.

Not always easy for us to find even in the Asian markets so pretty much if we do find them we make them. The key is to cook them as soon as you can after you get them. If you have to refrigerate them we found they are difficult to separate and plain just don't taste as tasty.

You run them under boiling water to remove the oil coating before unfolding, separating and slicing into ribbons (thin noodles) or squares.

Next you take 15-18 small Thai chilies and 10 cloves of garlic and mash them into a paste. WARNING: We've never used the called for 30 chilies, we've tried 25, 20, 15, 10...we've settled on somewhere between 15-18 and it's always spicy enough to bring sweat to G's brow.

We add fresh mushrooms so I slice and prep them along with the chicken breast.

 I measure out fish sauce, pepper, black soy sauce, sugar and oyster sauce.Open a can of bamboo shoot strips and drain

And clean some Thai basil

You add the chile-garlic paste to a pan (wok if you have one) coated with vegetable oil.

Then add the chicken and mushroom.

Once chicken is opaque add the fish sauce. Then add the noodles stirring to incorporate the sauce.

Next add the pepper, soy & oyster sauces and sugar with the bamboo shoots.

 Just before removing from the heat add the Thai basil.

It really does come together fast.

Now this is a dish that must have wine, even on Monday night, preferably CHILLED and white with sweet notes is recommended by us. On this evening we went with Gamache 2008 Estate Riesling.

Being I especially am a HUGE Gamache fan, typically drawn to their Syrahs, I was excited to try this. Gamache is a must visit in Prosser each year with our wine tasting crew. Riesling is generally not a varietal we drink often because it's sweet. But when you're eating Thai and especially Spicy. It's the route to go. This particular pairing was good with the dish. It was pretty sweet so if it wasn't paired with spicy not so sure I'd of enjoyed it as much.

This meal of our beloved Fire Noodles didn't disappoint. It was spicy, G's brow did sweat, and the flavors were awesome this time around. It will continue to be a regular dish on our menu.

Mahogany Fire Noodles Recipe from True Thai by Victor Sodsook:

30 small Thai Chilies

10 cloves garlic

1 lb fresh rice noodles

1 tblspn vegetable oil

1 1/4 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breast

2 tblspn fish sauce

1 tsp white pepper

2 tblspn black soy sauce

1 tblspn oyster sauce

1 can (8oz) bamboo shoot strips, drained

1 1/2 tblspn sugar

1 1/2 cups thai basil

Make a paste with the chilies and garlic. Pour kettle of hot water over noodles in colander to remove oil coating and soften. Cut into individual ribbons.

Place all ingredients within easy reach of the cooking area.

Set wok or pan over high heat and add oil. When oil is hot add chile-garlic paste and stir fry 15 seconds. Add chicken and stir fry until opaque, about 30 seconds. Add fish sauce Stir in nooodles. Add pepper, soy sauce, oyster sauce, bamboo shoots and sugar. Stir fry 1 minute.

Turn off heat stir in basil until it wilts. Transfer to serving platter.