Drunken Noodles

what makes Thai cuisine special is the combination of the four basic flavors – sweet, sour, salty and spicy to bring out a perfect balance that tingles the tastebuds. Thai cooking has borrowed freely from the culinary arts of China, India and Malaya, blending these different influences to create something that is truly unique.The food is light, refreshing and flavourful.The cooking method used is mostly quick strifrying.

Drunken noodles or Pad Kee Mao - In Thai, 'pad' means to stir-fry,and 'Kee Mao' is someone who has a bad habit of drinking! What drinking has to do with this dish, I'm not sure. There is no alcohol involved in the cooking process unless you want to drink while cooking :-) . I assume it is called drunken noodles since the noodles are dunked in the spicy , tangy sauce .

You need to prepare the ingredients in advance since it is a quick cooking dish.

Ingredients:
wide rice Noodles - 1 pack
Vegetables - 2 cups (a mix 0f baby corn,bamboo shoot,straw mushroom, tomatoes, onions etc can be used.slice them into same sized pieces).
Garlic - 2 cloves chopped fine
Shallots - 2 sliced
Green chillies - 3 cut into rings
Holy basil - 2 springs leaves and flowers picked
Spring onion - chopped
scrambled eggs - 3
1 cup Protein - Tofu or chicken or shrimp or beef or any combination or meat or seafood
Sauce - mix together - 1.5 tsp oyster sauce , 2.5 tsp Soy sauce ,2 tsp fish sauce ,1 tsp sugar and 1/2 tsp vinegar

Preparing the noddles

cook in boiling water until 3/4'th done .Rinse with cold water to stop cooking and remove the starch.Drain and keep aside.

Preparing the protein

if using Tofu - marinate with soy sauce and saute until slightly browned.
if chicken or beef - stir fry thinly sliced meat with soy sauce garlic and pepper.
if Shrimp or seafood- Stir fry seafood with salt lemon juice, chopped garlic and cracked pepper.

Method:

Add oil to a wide nonstick pan, and heat on high .
Then add the garlic , shallots and chilies Keep stirring so it doesn't burn.
When it turns light brown, add the veggies and cook for about a minute.
add a few spoons of the sauce to taste.
Add the noodles.After frying for a minute or two, add the sauce mix and scrambled eggs and cooked chicken/shrimp . Stir well to mix.garnish with spring onion and holy basil.