hello hi everyone! Wesley here. Today we’re diving back into our series dedicated to the Bay Area restaurant scene with a shot the Thai sesame noodles found at Monkey Thai in Alameda, California. As some of you are likely aware, we have now done a wide array of both Thai noodle dishes as well as sesame noodle dishes. In a few of our past attempts, we have done a fried shallot dan dan mian, as well as a peanut butter based dan dan mian, both of which are firmly rooted in Sichuan cuisine. This means that in order to create our Thai sesame noodles today, we’ll be borrowing a few elements that come from Chinese cuisine (including some black vinegar, dark soy sauce, and oyster sauce), and pairing it with a number of classic Thai elements as well, today, this is gonna include some fresh rice noodles, thai chiles, sambal oelek and bean sprouts. Finally rounding this all out we’ll be adding in some wok seared chicken thigh for our protein element, effectively meaning that we’re essentially making a pad kee mao, but tossing it in a sichuan dan dan mian sauce base, which is…awesome. Hope you try it.
Serves 2-3
INGREDIENTS
4 cloves garlic
1 inch (about 1 tbsp) ginger
4 Thai chiles
1/2 medium onion
6-8 oz bean sprouts
4 eggs
1lb rice noodles
1lb chicken thighs (about 4 medium chicken thighs)
peanut oil
INGREDIENTS (marinade)
4 tbsp low sodium soy sauce (or 2 tbsp full sodium soy sauce)
1/2 tsp white pepper
2 tbsp hoisin sauce
1/2 tsp corn starch
INGREDIENTS (sauce)
4 tbsp low sodium soy sauce (or 2 tbsp full sodium soy sauce)
1 tbsp dark soy sauce
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp black vinegar
1 tbsp sambal oelek
1 tbsp brown sugar
1/4 cup (4 tbsp) sesame paste
1/4 cup water
PREP
CRUSH and mince the garlic, set aside
FINE MINCE the ginger, set aside
SLICE the Thai chiles, set aside
SLICE the onions, set aside
WHISK the eggs to combine, set aside
SEPARATE the rice noodles, set aside
SLICE the chicken into 1/2 inch pieces, then combine with all marinade ingredients and let marinate for 30 minutes
COMBINE all sauce ingredients until a creamy sauce forms, set aside
ON THE STOVE
HEAT a wok as hot as possible, then add 1/4 cup peanut oil and long yao
ADD the chicken to the wok with as much contact with the wok surface as possible, then sear for 2 1/2 minutes before tossing for an additional 1 minute
REMOVE the chicken solids from the wok and reserve the remaining fond
DEGLAZE the fond with the sauce mixture plus 1/4 cup water, then let reduce for 2-3 minutes until a thick sauce forms
REMOVE the sauce from the wok, then wipe down the wok, reheat, add /14 cup peanut oil and long yao
ADD the garlic, ginger and Thai chiles and toss until fragrant for about 15 seconds
ADD the onions bean sprouts, and chicken to the wok and toss for 2 minutes
ADD the rice noodles and sauce in batches, gently tossing in between each batch until fully incorporated
ADD the egg around the rim of the wok, then let set for 30 seconds before tossing to combine