St Patty's Goes Asian

I'm at my desk at work pondering what I should bring to a Saint Patrick's Day dinner party. I heard there were two potato dishes goin on, so scratch that. And I wanted a main dish that I could eat because I wasn't sure what was available. So I start doing some research online and found out that corned beef isn't even Irish. There were other foods that were traditional and they didn't appeal to me, or I didn't feel like making a bread or a potato dish. So it had to be green to be festive. Eureeka, green sauce it is!

The origin of the dish is called "Thai - ish chicken pasta". I've probably made this dish about ten times, and at least ten different ways. But now there are several asian things going on in there and not just thai spices, so it's just being called Asian Chicken in Udon and Cilantro Sauce.

Cilantro Sauce:
1 large bunch of cilantro - don't knock the organic section people, it was 10 cents more but you got twice as much.
2 jalapenos - stem and seeds removed. cut into quarters
3 garlic cloves
1 inch piece of ginger, remove skin. cut into quarters
sesame oil
honey
water

9.5 ounce pack of Udon - Organic rice noodles

olive oil - enough to coat the bottom of a pot
1 large chicken breasts - about 1 pound
1 small onion, or half of a large one
7 cloves of garlic
3/4 a pack of white mushrooms. I would use a full one if I had it.
3 carrots - peeled and chopped
1 cup of chicken broth
1 large handful of Chinese snow peas
2 green onions or scallions

Seasonings:
salt and pepper
soy sauce
cumin
dry oregano
red pepper flakes
patis (asian fish sauce)
red chili oil
honey

There are 3 parts to this dish, and it took about 45 minutes to make. Take a stock pot and fill with enough water to boil the pasta (1/3-1/2 full) and bring to a boil. Start making the sauce.

Deleaf your cilantro. This is course after you wash and spin dry and/or towel it off too. It's a bitch and this is probably is the most time consuming part of the whole dish. But you can't have stems in it. I like to take one or two stems at a time, then run my finger down to yank it them off in one swoop. Drop the pretty little leaves in the food processor. Do this until you deleafed them all. add in the quartered jalapenos, ginger, and garlic. Add in two circles worth of sesame oil (do a slow pour from one point and make a circle around the food processor), one round of honey, and one round of water. I know I am mixing oil and water. It'll be fine. Crank on the food processor and let it go. No need to drizzle in oil as it doesn't have to emulsify like pesto. But it should look like pesto, without the olive oil. Pour into a bowl and set aside.

add the pasta in whenever the water comes into boil and cook as directed. Should be about 4-5 minutes of cooking time and drain. Run some cool water over it afterwards.

Preheat a pot on low, and cover the bottom with olive oil. Chop the chicken breast into bite sized pieces and drop in and brown with the heat on medium. Add onion (but not the scalion). season with S+P, a teaspoon of cumin, 1/2 tsp of oregano, 1/2 tsp of red pepper flakes. While that is cooking peel the carrots and slice the mushrooms. add those in as you are done chopping them. Stir occasionally to cook evenly. add in the broth when the veggies are done cooking to deglaze the pan. (The broth part was new because I looked in the pan and saw that I was about to overcook the chicken, said shit, ran to the fridge saw that I had broth and poured it in). Add in a teaspoon of patis and another tablespoon of soy sauce. Stir and add the green cilantro sauce. add the snow peas.

Take the noodles and place in the pot. drizzle chili oil - probably 3 seconds worth - over it. and also drizzle about a 1/4 cup of honey over the noodels. toss - I find tongs are best. Finish with the slices green onion on top and toss.

You're Welcome Vicky =)