… and Cilantro, and Roasted Peanuts, and other deliciousness.
I subscribe to a few food magazines, but I don’t read them when they arrive. I stock them up and go through a big bunch at once, looking for submissions for my “to make” pile. Years before I started my blog – in 2010! – I had a mega-session of poring through stacks of magazines. I tore out recipes and scanned them in to my computer – add that to my list of imperfect “recipe-storage systems” that led me to start my blog. And that’s when I found this recipe, in Bon Appetit magazine {may she rest in peace!}.
Two things attracted me to this recipe: 1) it seemed like an uncomplicated way to make a kind of complex/impressive Asian meal at home; and 2) the ingredients – all of which I had worked with before – were simple, and not difficult to find (and were delicious). No exotic spices or special trips to an ethnic market. Fish sauce and sesame oil are as crazy as this one gets, and you can find those in any grocery store’s ethnic food aisle, not far from the rice noodles. {Or in my parents’ refrigerator, with like 2 Tablespoons missing, for a year after a visit from me.}
The recipe has you grind chicken in the food processor – which I love doing. You pick your chicken, slice off any unsavory pieces, and grind it yourself with a few quick pulses. While this recipe called for chicken thighs, I substituted white breast meat, which is my preference. You can use pre-ground chicken if you don’t have a food processor, but I recommend getting a food processor for dishes like this!
The cooking technique for this dish was a first for me! You cook everything in the same low-sodium chicken broth. First, the ground chicken is boiled, and then scooped out. Next, the rice noodles are boiled in the same broth, and then scooped out. Lastly, one more time, the green beans are boiled (I only cooked them for a minute passed blanching, to keep them crisp), and then scooped out. Stir in the rest of the ingredients, top with some tasty accents, and you have a delicious meal! You can also strain out the broth you used for cooking, and freeze it for the next time you make this dish.
And who can say “no” to fried garlic chips and shallots? Just a few on top. This recipe is a keeper! It’s easy, unique, healthy, and impressive. Enjoy!
- Canola oil for frying shallots and garlic
- 3-4 shallots cut crosswise into .25" rings
- 5 garlic cloves; 3 sliced, 2 minced
- 2 T sesame oil
- 3 quarts low sodium chicken broth
- 1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into 1" cubes
- 4 T fish sauce
- ~ 7 oz rice stick noodles, broken in half
- .5 lb green beans, washed, trimmed, and sliced into 1" pieces
- .25 c lime juice
- pinch or two of cayenne pepper
- .5 c cilantro, chopped
- 3 green onions, sliced
- 2 T roasted peanuts, chopped
- 1 T raw sugar or brown sugar
- Cover a plate with several pieces of paper towel and grab a slotted spoon or skimmer - you will be using that utensil quite a bit in this recipe!
- In a small pot with high sides, add 1" to 2" of canola oil. Heat until one garlic slice thrown in sizzles.
- Add shallots to oil and fry until golden brown, stirring often, about 5-7 minutes.
- Remove the shallots using a slotted spoon, and transfer to the paper towels to drain.
- Add the sliced garlic to the hot oil and fry until golden brown, about 1 minute.
- Remove the shallots using a slotted spoon, and transfer to the paper towels to drain.
- Mix the sesame oil and minced garlic in a small bowl and let stand at room temperature.
- Bring chicken broth to boil in heavy large pot and grab and a large bowl.
- Place cubed chicken in food processor, and pulse a few times until it is coarsely ground.
- Add ground chicken to the boiling broth and simmer until it is cooked through, breaking it up with the slotted spoon. Boil until it's cooked, about about 5 minutes.
- Transfer the cooked chicken to a large bowl and add a Tablespoon of fish sauce; toss to coat.
- Return the broth to a boil and add the rice noodles and cook until tender. This may take a few minutes, or if you like to cook your rice noodles by turning of the heat, you can do that as well.
- Transfer the noodles to the same large bowl as the chicken, using the slotted spoon.
- Return the broth to a boil again, and add the green beans. Cook until they are crisp tender, about 3 minutes. Transfer the green beans to the same bowl using the slotted spoon.
- To the large bowl, add the sesame-garlic oil, lime juice, cayenne, and remaining 3 T fish sauce, and stir to distribute.
- Transfer the noodle mixture to a large shallow bowl, and top with cilantro, green onions, peanuts, sugar, fried shallots, and fried garlic chips over noodles.
Adapted from: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/member/views/noodles-with-ground-chicken-and-crispy-shallots-50094896 – this online recipe is dated Sept. 2015, but was published in Bon Appetit magazine in June 2009.
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