Recipe Exchange – Asian Noodles with Chicken & Shrimp

I finally got the chance to make my recipe exchange dish and I am so happy I did.  It was a great dish, full of vegetables, protein and a delicious sauce.

As I prepared it, CH said “wow, that smells good and totally different from any other smell that’s come from our kitchen”. It’s true, I very rarely cook eastern Asian dishes, aside from my recent Thai inspired soup & mango salad (both of which I learned from a cooking class).  I guess this would be a good time to admit that I don’t like Chinese food (read: North American Chinese food).  I really enjoy traditional dim-sum, but please do not ask me to order from a fast-food chain or those food-court counters in the mall – it would be my last choice of foods to eat for dinner. However, Vietnamese is a weekly go-to, and although I eat Thai less frequently, I still love the flavours that come with it.  I love sushi & sashimi (especialy when I am home in Vancouver) and I really love izakaya style Japanese food. Korean and anything from south of Singapore is cuisine I have yet to venture in to.

Anyways, back to this recipe. I signed up for another WC recipe exchange and the theme was “Asian”. Obviously this is a very diverse theme and could mean a lot of things, but when I received my recipe from The Cookaholic Wife, I was intrigued and content – and happy to give a new recipe a try; that’s what this is all about!  I was also pleased that it was simple and quick to prepare!!

I didn’t have any beef in the freezer and because we are leaving tomorrow for France (ACK!!) and I didn’t want to buy any additional groceries, since I still had some stuff  in the freezer to use.  Thus, I decided to swap out the beef for chicken & prawns, and it was a great decision! I’m not sure I would make it with beef next time – it was that good (and I don’t eat a lot of red meat anyways).

The mix of vegetables was great too, the colors were so appetizing!  I used a few additional ingredients than the original recipe called for – spinach and edamame beans – and they both worked well.  There was quite a bit of heat in this dish, so be sure to adjust the hot-sauce to your level.  I would rate it a good 8/10 on the heat scale. [CH: It wasn’t involuntary nose running like really hot chicken wings, it was more like involuntary coughing from the heat. Either way, delicious, but I admit I needed water to finish.]

I will definitely make this again, especially when I am in the mood for an exotic-flavour hit.  Thanks Cookaholic Wife :)!

Asian Noodles with Chicken & Shrimp

Yield:  4 Servings
Prep Time:  20 minutes
Cook Time:  20 minutes

Ingredients – Part I (For the Marinade & Chicken/Prawns):

• 2 boneless, skinless chicken thighs (about 200 grams), cut into thin strips
• 10 prawns, shells removed (tails too, if you prefer)
• 3 tbsp brown sugar
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
• 1/4 cup water (or chicken stock)
• 1 tbsp sriracha hot sauce
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1 tsp powdered ginger
• 1/2 tsp cayenne
• S&P, to taste

Directions – Part I:

Place the chicken and prawns into two separate bowls.

Combine all of the ingredients, except the chicken & prawns, in separate glass bowl and whisk to combine.

Pour 2/3 of the marinade mixture over the chicken and stir to coat.

Pour the remaining 1/3 of the marinade mixture over the prawns and stir to coat.

Set-aside the chicken & prawns to marinate while you prepare the vegetables below.

(Note – the original recipe says to marinate the beef for 3-8hrs.  I marinated the chicken & prawns for about 20 minutes in total.  I prepared the meats and set them aside while I washed & sliced all of the vegetables.  I was very happy with the results of this dish, but feel free to marinate the chicken & prawns longer if you wish!).

Ingredients – Part II (For the Vegetables/Stir-Fry):

• 1 small red pepper, julienned
• 1 small yellow pepper, julienned
• 1 small orange pepper, julienned
• 2 handfuls of sugar snap peas, ends removed
• 8 button mushrooms, sliced
• 2 cups fresh spinach
• 1/2 cup frozen edamame beans
• 1 tbsp low-sodium soy sauce
• 1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
• 1 tbsp sriracha hot sauce
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 8 oz. noodles (I used 1/2 box of spaghetti noodles – but feel free to use what you like!)

Directions – Part II:

Prepare your noodles according to the directions on the box.  Drain and set-aside until needed below.

Place a large skillet over medium heat and add oil.

Remove the chicken strips from the marinade mixture and reserve.

Place the chicken strips into the sauté pan and cook until nicely browned on all sides. Add the reserved marinade to the pan and bring to a boil.

Add the prawns and its marinade to the sauté pan with the chicken & sauce and cook for 2-3 minutes (until the prawns are pink and starting to curl inwards).  Remove the cooked prawns from the pan and set-aside.

Now, add all of the vegetables to the sauté pan, except the sugar peas, along with the additional 1tbsp of sriarcha, 1tbsp rice wine vinegar and 1 tbsp of soy sauce.  Cook the vegetables in the sauce & chicken mixture, until the vegetables are slightly soft – about 5 minutes (I prefer quite crisp vegetables, so feel free to cook them longer if you like them a little softer).

Add the cooked noodles, snap peas and cooked prawns to the chicken and vegetable mixture and stir well to combine.  Allow it cook for a few additional minutes, to allow the noodles to soak-up the additional sauce.

Season with additional S&P and serve immediately!

Enjoy!

Recipe Adapted Slightly From The Cookaholic Wife