Thai-Style Stir-Fried Noodles with Chicken and Broccolini

Categories: Asian, Poultry

Ingredients

• CHILE VINEGAR
• 1/3 cup white vinegar
• 1 serrano chile, stemmed and sliced into thin rings
• STIR-FRY
• 2 (6-ounce) boneless, skinless chicken breasts, trimmed and cut against grain into 1/4-inch thick slices
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 8 ounces (1/4-inch-wide) rice noodles
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup oyster sauce
• 1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons packed dark brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon white vinegar
• 1 teaspoon molasses
• 1 teaspoon fish sauce
• 3 garlic cloves, sliced thin
• 3 large eggs
• 10 ounces broccolini, florets cut into 1-inch pieces, stalks cut on bias into 1/2-inch pieces (5 cups)

Directions

1. FOR THE CHILE VINEGAR: Combine vinegar and serrano in bowl. Let stand at room temperature for at least 15 minutes.

2. FOR THE STIR-FRY: Combine chicken with 2 tablespoons water and baking soda in bowl. Let sit at room temperature for 15 minutes. Rinse chicken in cold water and drain well.

3. Bring 6 cups water to boil. Place noodles in large bowl. Pour boiling water over noodles. Stir, then soak until noodles are almost tender, about 8 minutes, stirring once halfway through soak. Drain and rinse with cold water. Drain well and toss with 2 teaspoons oil.

4. Whisk oyster sauce, soy sauce, sugar, vinegar, molasses, and fish sauce together in bowl.

5. Heat 2 teaspoons oil and garlic in 12-inch nonstick skillet over high heat, stirring occasionally, until garlic is deep golden brown, 1 to 2 minutes. Add chicken and 2 tablespoons sauce mixture, toss to coat, and spread chicken into even layer. Cook, without stirring, until chicken begins to brown, 1 to 1½ minutes. Using tongs, flip chicken and cook, without stirring, until second side begins to brown, 1 to 1½ minutes. Push chicken to 1 side of skillet. Add 2 teaspoons oil to cleared side of skillet. Add eggs to clearing. Using rubber spatula, stir eggs gently and cook until set but still wet. Stir eggs into chicken and continue to cook, breaking up large pieces of egg, until eggs are fully cooked, 30 to 60 seconds. Transfer chicken mixture to bowl.

6. Heat 2 teaspoons oil in now-empty skillet until smoking. Add broccolini and 2 tablespoons sauce and toss to coat. Cover skillet and cook for 2 minutes, stirring once halfway through cooking. Remove lid and continue to cook until broccolini is crisp and very brown in spots, 2 to 3 minutes, stirring once halfway through cooking. Transfer broccolini to bowl with chicken mixture.

7. Heat 2 teaspoons oil in now-empty skillet until smoking. Add half of noodles and 2 tablespoons sauce and toss to coat. Cook until noodles are starting to brown in spots, about 2 minutes, stirring halfway through cooking. Transfer noodles to bowl with chicken mixture. Repeat with remaining 2 teaspoons oil, noodles, and sauce. When second batch of noodles is cooked, add contents of bowl back to skillet and toss to combine. Cook, without stirring, until everything is warmed through, 1 to 1½ minutes. Transfer to platter and serve immediately, passing chile vinegar separately.

8. TECHNIQUE – RETHINKING THE “STIR” IN STIR-FRYING: The constant flipping and turning of stir-fries made in restaurants is critical, since more than a few seconds over the 100,000 BTUs thrown out by a commercial-grade wok setup would turn food from pleasantly charred to carbonized. But at home, where we use a flat-bottomed skillet over a flat—and relatively weak—Western-style burner, does all that stirring really make sense? We decided to let the food stay put, stirring each ingredient just once or twice during cooking. The upshot: a “stir”-fry almost as nicely browned as in a restaurant. RESTAURANT: WOK + SIZZLING HEAT = CONSTANT STIRRING AT HOME: SKILLET + NOT-SO-HOT HEAT = LEAVE IT ALONE

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