Thai Chicken and Cabbage Noodles

My challenge was to master mise en place. Mise en place is a French term for having everything ready to go and prepared for a recipe. It means washing, prepping, chopping or slicing and measuring out ingredients and having them handy and ready to go. This isn’t something I always do, but I have to admit my recipes go so much smoother when I do. Having all your ingredients pulled out and prepped saves so much time in the kitchen, especially when making quick stir fry dishes like this noodle dish.

To get started with this recipe, I pull all of ingredients from the fridge and place them in my prep area.

Then I start prepping. I chop chicken breasts along with Savoy cabbage, mushrooms, red bell peppers and red onions. These will be the first ingredients used.

Next I prep fresh herbs and tender green onions. Along with green onions, I have fresh Thai basil and cilantro from my garden.

Next I prepare all the pantry ingredients. These are the wide rice stick rice noodles, olive oil, salt and pepper, sweet Thai chili sauce, rice vinegar and fish sauce. I make sure there in arm’s reach of where I’ll be cooking the dish.

After plating the chicken and cabbage noodles, I just garnish with a little fresh Thai basil, cilantro and chopped spring onions.

After finishing the mise en place for this recipe (which does take a little time), the cook time and cleanup can be done in a snap.

You can have the dish cooked in less than 10 minutes, and the cleanup can be done in less than 10 minutes too. I like to hand wash my prep tools, the chef knife and chopping block. I also hand wash my wok. Then all the rest of the dishes used go in the After finishing the mise en place for this recipe, the cook time and cleanup after the meal are a snap. You can have the dish cooked in less than 10 minutes, and the cleanup can be done in less than 10 minutes too.

I like to hand wash my prep tools, the chef knife and chopping block. I also hand wash my wok. Then all the dinner dishes go in my KitchenAid® Dishwasher with the rest of the day’s dishes.

Then I just set my dishwasher to normal wash and go sit down in the family room with a glass of wine. It’s as simple as that.

Thai Chicken and Cabbage Noodles

INGREDIENTS

1 (14oz) package wide stick rice noodles

2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut in 1-inch pieces

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon pepper

1/2 head or 3 cups thinly sliced Savoy cabbage

1/2 medium or 1 cup sliced red onion

1 small container or 2 cups sliced mushrooms

1 large or 1 1/2 cups sliced red bell pepper

1/4 cup sliced spring onions

1/4 cup roughly chopped fresh cilantro

1/4 cup roughly chopped Thai basil

1/3 cup Sweet Thai chili sauce

2 tablespoons rice vinegar

1 teaspoon fish sauce

The juice of 2 limes

DIRECTIONS

Prepare noodles according to package directions. Drain and set aside.

Heat wok or large skillet over high heat. Add salt and pepper to chicken. Drizzle wok with olive oil. Add chicken and cook until no longer pink. Add mushrooms, onions, cabbage and red bell peppers. Cook over high heat until cabbage is cooked tender crisp and mushrooms are tender.

Add noodles to wok and remove from heat. Add sweet Thai chili sauce, vinegar, fish sauce and lime juice. Add onions, basil and cilantro. Gently toss to combine.