Mahogany Fire Noodles - a southern Thai dish

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pepperhead212

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This is a favorite dish of mine, and definitely one of the hottest! The original recipe had 30 Thai bird peppers, so it was actually hotter, but the peppers I use are a little larger, milder, and have more flavor. It is from southern Thailand, which is why it has some of that sweet soy sauce, which is very thick, and has molasses in it, as the sweetener. The original recipe used fresh rice noodles, but I use the dried ones - more available, and I always have some on hand. Sometimes, however, when I go to the SE Asian market, I'll pick up some fresh, as it really is good with those, as well. The original recipe called for holy basil, but I rarely have that, and I have found that the spearmint and basil combination is better; this time I used about half mint, 1/4 seratta basil, and 1/4 Thai basil. I've made it with all Thai basil, and all Italian basil, and liked it more with the Italian, but the mint adds greatly to both And I usually use the jicama or kohlrabi for the crunch - better with the fresh veggies, when available.

As usual, this goes very fast, once the cooking starts.

Mahagony Fire Noodles

12 oz wide rice noodles; soaked in warm water 30 m
30 thai birds; OR
15-20 thai dragons
10 cloves garlic
1 1/4 lbs boneless chicken; sliced 1/4 x 1/2 x 2 in.
8 oz bamboo shoots; sliced
1 tb oil
1/2 cup water or chicken broth
1 tsp white pepper; ground
2 tb fish sauce
1 tb oyster sauce
2 tb sweet black soy sauce
1 1/2 tb sugar
1 1/2 cup(s) holy basil (fresh); loosely packed, OR
3/4 cup Italian basil; AND
3/4 cup(s) mint leaves
2 tb oil

A. Make a paste in the mortar with the Chiles and garlic (or make the paste in a food processor). Add 1 tb fish sauce to the chicken, and stir to coat; let marinate 15 min or so, while preparing other things. Measure out the pepper, the other tb of fish sauce, oyster sauce, soy sauce, and sugar into a bowl together. Drain noodles and have all ing. ready by the wok.

B. If using canned bamboo shoots, drain them, pat dry, and stir-fry them in 1 tb oil over med-high heat for 1 min. Pour onto a paper towel, cool, and blot dry. I do this just to get that "canned flavor" out of them.

C. Heat a large wok (I use my 20") over high heat; add oil, swirl, and heat briefly. Add chili paste and dtir-fry 15 sec. Add chicken and bamboo shoots and SF 30 sec. Add noodles and broth or water, and toss 1 min. Add the pepper, sauces and sugar and SF 1-1 1/2 min., or until noodles are soft and no longer hard inside. Remove from heat, toss with the herbs, and serve.

Variations: 1 lb fresh rice noodles may be used, adding when only 1-1 1/2 min of cooking is left. 1 lb of dry pasta may be used, undercooked slightly, and added as with the rice noodles.

Thai ingredients for Mahogany Fire Noodles, plus the herbs by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Ingredients for Mahogany Fire Noodles, mise en place. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Chili and garlic paste, stir fried briefly. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Stir-frying chicken briefly. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Finishing up the stir-fry of the Mahogany Fire Noodles, with remaining ingredients. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Tossing in the herbs, off heat by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Finished Mahogany Fire Noodles by pepperhead212, on Flickr
 
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