Pad See Mao

One of my sons is on the quest to find the perfect Drunken Noodle dish, and while this isn't quite it, it was quite good and three of us polished it off for lunch. For the chicken & marinade: 2 tablespoons water 12 ounces sliced chicken thighs or chicken breast (340g) 1 teaspoon soy sauce 1 teaspoon oil 2 teaspoons cornstarch For the rest of the dish: 8 ounces wide dried rice noodles (225g) 1 tablespoon brown sugar (dissolved in 1 tablespoon hot water) 2 teaspoons soy sauce (Thai soy sauce preferred) 1 teaspoon dark soy sauce 1 tablespoon fish sauce 1 tablesppon oyster sauce pinch ground white pepper 3 tablespoons vegetable or canola oil (divided) 3 cloves garlic (sliced) ¼ teaspoon fresh grated ginger 2 shallots (sliced, about 1/3 cups) 1 scallion (julienned into 3-inch pieces) 4 Thai red chili peppers (deseeded and julienned) 1 cup holy basil or Thai basil (loosely packed) 5 to 6 pieces baby corn (split in half, optional) 2 teaspoons Shaoxing wine Work the 2 tablespoons of water into the sliced chicken with your hands until the chicken absorbs the liquid. Add 1 teaspoon soy sauce, 1 teaspoon oil, and 2 teaspoons cornstarch, and mix until the chicken is evenly coated. Set aside for 20 minutes. Follow the directions on the rice noodle package to prepare your noodles. What we usually do is prepare a stainless steel bowl with hot tap water to soak the noodles for about 15 minutes. Then we just drain them and set aside for cooking. Stir together the dissolved brown sugar mixture, soy sauces, fish sauce, oyster sauce, and white pepper in a small bowl and set aside. Heat your wok until it’s close to smoking, and spread 2 tablespoons of oil around the perimeter of the wok. Add the chicken and let it sear for 1 minute on each side until it’s about 90% cooked. Remove from the wok and set aside. If the heat was high enough and you seared the meat correctly, your wok should be still clean with nothing sticking to it. If not, you can wash the wok to prevent the rice noodles from sticking. Continue with the wok on high heat and add 1 tablespoon of oil, along with the garlic and grated ginger. After a few seconds, add the shallots. Stir fry for 20 seconds and add the scallions, chili peppers, basil, baby corn and shaoxing wine. Stir-fry for another 20 seconds and add in the rice noodles. Use a scooping motion to mix everything for another minute until the noodles warm up. Next, add the prepared sauce mixture and stir-fry at the highest heat for about 1 minute until the noodles are uniform in color. Take care to use your metal spatula to scrape the bottom of the wok to prevent sticking. Add the seared chicken and stir-fry for another 1 to 2 minutes.