My kinda guy likes Pad Thai

We always love a good pad thai and we've had it from at least 7 different places in Denver.  I know I've made this before but I think it definitely turned out better this time.  We had been craving it for a while and it's one of Eric's favs so I decided to make it since I already had most of the ingredients.  The list is long and the process is a little long but it's so good! Plus, I got to use my wok which I NEVER use unless I'm making Asian food and I want to feel authentic.

rice stick noodles

chicken

shrimp

bell peppers

chili peppers

garlic

onion

bean sprouts

green onions

fish sauce

peanut butter

white wine vinegar

red chili flakes

eggs

sugar

limes

The first thing I did was prep all of the ingredients.  This meant cutting the veggies and chicken and peeling the shrimp.  I also boiled some water and poured it over the rice sticks, making sure they were covered.  These sat until the sticks were soft and cooked. 

So while the sticks were cooking, I heated some oil and cooked the chicken.  Once it was browned, I cooked the onions, garlic, and peppers.  Once the veggies started to soften, I added the eggs to the wok and let the cook through until hardened.  Then, these were mixed together and the chili peppers were added to cook a bit to release some heat.  Then, the chicken was added back. 

It's at this point, the noodles were added to the mix along with the fish sauce, vinegar, and peanut butter.  The sauce is mainly to taste.  The last time I made pad thai, the sauce was SO salty.  This time, I think there was too much peanut butter but if there's something I learned from last time, just leave it alone.

Lastly, the bean sprouts, green onions, and shrimp were added.  Since my shrimp was already cooked, I didn't want it to over cook so I just wanted to heat it through a bit.  I also let this cook down a bit so the sauce thickened and wasn't as runny.  Plus, I wanted the heat from the peppers to develop a bit for spice.

My phone died before I got final pictures but I served this in bowls with some lime wedges.  The color of my pad thai is never the same as restaurants but I think they add soy sauce for color, which I choose to leave out due to flavor.  This one turned out a lot better than the first time.  It made a TON though.  We still have some leftovers!! The good thing about this dish though is that it makes for great leftovers, even cold.  I don't know that it's necessarily cheaper to make this at home the first time, but once you have all the random sauces, it becomes a lot cheaper.  I'd definitely suggest going to an Asian supermarket b/c it makes everything a lot cheaper.