Saturday, August 30, 2014

Stir-Fry Thai Rice Noodles with Chicken Sausage & Vegetables in a Cilantro Chili Sauce

This is way easier than it sounds, I swear it!  Get out your wok, and get ready!
Let me just say, amidst insane amounts of allergic response to Ragweed this time of year, I am all about cooking ANYTHING that contains particularly fresh Thai Basil (AKA 'Holy Basil') which is well-known for its intrinsic anti-histimine properties!





Ingredients:

  • 1 bunch of green onions, chopped- reserve some fresh green onions for garnish
  • Chicken Sausage, chopped into semi-ovals- go for already-cooked sausage to make this even faster to make (personal favorite for this recipe is a spicy cilantro lime chicken sausage; any spicy variety will work as well)
  • 1 package Rice Noodles (I use brown rice noodles in this recipe for the nutrition benefits)
  • Dried red pepper flakes (to taste)
  • A tiny splash of high quality fish sauce (Do not run away and be frightened.  This is your flavorful salt, people! Use this IN PLACE of salt! Use sparingly- a little goes a freakin' long way, and it adds an amazing amount of authentic character to this dish!)
  • A tiny splash of gluten-free (wheat-free) Soy sauce/Tamari (ALSO IN PLACE OF SALT, please don't die, use sparingly!)
  • A swirl of Toasted Sesame oil
  • assorted hot peppers from the garden, chopped,  if you got 'em (not necessary to make this, however, totally optional)
  • Canola oil (for the wok)
  • Either Fresh OR Dried Thai Basil (AKA 'Holy Basil')- either will work fine.
  • 1 medium Napa cabbage, chopped
  • mint-cilantro or cilantro-chili sauce (to taste, Bandar makes a good one)
  • 2-3 fresh garlic cloves, chopped
  • 1 large egg
  • lime juice- optional
Instructions:

Soak the rice noodles for 7-8 mins in hot water in a bowl or pot, while preparing the wok- pour some canola oil in the bottom, and turn the stove on medium heat.
Add green onion, garlic, peppers if you have them, and chopped napa cabbage to the wok- cook it until it appears tender.  Throw in the already-fully cooked chopped up chicken sausage, heat it up in the wok.  Crack open an egg, and add to the wok mix- scramble it into the stir fry.  Quickly drain the water from the almost-cooked rice noodles in the bowl or pot, and add the rice noodles to the wok for their final stage of cooking.  Add that *tiny splash* of fish sauce, and that *tiny splash* of gluten-free soy sauce/tamari.  Stir/fold in.  Add a bunch of chopped or dried flakes of Thai Basil, fold it in.  Add as much crushed red pepper flakes as you want.  Add that swirl of toasted sesame oil- mix it all in well.  Add in cilantro-chili or chili sauce, and make sure the wok-mix is consistent.   

Hope you enjoy! Let me know if you made any awesome substitutions, and how it turned out!  Stir fry dishes are super-flexible and fantastic for using fresh vegetables that you really do not know what else to do with! 

No comments:

Post a Comment