Every now and then the planets align (or maybe they un-align, I don’t know,) and we declare that it’s “make  your own dinner” night.  Everyone in my family is capable of fending for themselves so nobody goes hungry. 

I stopped off at the grocery store this evening, after work, and was amazed to see that they had practically sold out of lettuce.  I saw Rosemarie’s Butter Lettuce Chicken Wraps recipe earlier today and planned on making that tonight but, the last few heads of lettuce in the produce area were so pathetic and wilted that I was forced to change plans. 

I was a little heart-broken but I recovered quickly.  I brought out the wok and got busy.  The whole thing took about one hour.  If I was on my A-game, it might have only taken 45 minutes.  This recipe could serve up to four but I ate two portions!  The rest is sitting in the fridge, ready for me to take to work tomorrow, for lunch.

Sorry, no pictures this time.  I was hungry and I didn’t think that this was going to be worthy of posting.  I was so wrong.  This dish exemplifies everything I love about southeastern Asian cuisine.  It’s a conglomeration of several cuisines…Thai, Vietnamese, Chinese…

Ingredients:

4 chicken thighs

1/3 cup peanut butter

2 Tbs soy sauce

1 ½ Tbs Hoisin sauce

1 tsp Sriracha sauce

3 Tbs sambal garlic chili sauce

3 Tbs cornstarch

½ tsp sesame oil

1 ½ Tbs vegetable oil

2 Tbs fresh ginger, thinly sliced and rough chopped

½ onion, julienne sliced

½ bell pepper, sliced in ¼” strips

1 jalapeño, sliced in rings

½ cup peanuts

1 cup Vietnamese glass noodles (very thin rice noodles)

Directions:

Remove the skin from the chicken thighs and debone.  Cut the chicken into tiny pieces.

Add the chicken to a large bowl.

Add the peanut butter, soy sauce, Sriracha sauce, Hoisin sauce, sambal chili garlic sauce and cornstarch to the bowl.  Mix well and set aside to marinate for 15 minutes.

Boil 4 cups of water in a pot.  Add the glass noodles and stir.  Turn the heat off and wait for the noodles to become soft.  Strain the noodles and shock with cold water.  Set the noodles aside.

Heat a wok at medium/high heat.  Add the sesame oil and vegetable oil.  Add the ginger, onion, bell pepper and jalapeño.  Stir fry a few minutes until the onions and peppers soften.  Remove everything to a bowl.

Add the marinated chicken to the wok.  Stir-fry at high heat for 3 to 4 minutes.  Add a splash of soy sauce to deglaze and stir for another minute.

Add the peanuts and glass noodles.  Turn the heat off and stir to coat everything with the sauce.

Turn out to a serving bowl. 

Top with a little more sambal garlic sauce, (optional).  Serve warm and enjoy the peace and quiet!