Potluck Last Week - What I Made

Last Saturday, John, Jess, and I had a potluck dinner. We each made a dish and pretty much hoped everyone else would appreciate it. At least, Jess and I were pretty self-conscious. This was the first time anyone outside of myself has ever tasted my cooking. Rather than chickening out and making pasta, I decided to be a little braver make the only somewhat original thing I knew how to make that other people might be able to appreciate -- rice noodles with Creamy Coconut & Thai basil sauce.

Ingredients:

• Rice noodles: about 200g, soaked in water for about 2 hours (though it only needs to be soaked for 30 minutes)
• 2 sliced onions
• 200g chicken, cut into bite-size cubes
• arbitrary quantity of shrimp (ie: whatever I had left), de-veined and cut into halves
  
• one 425g jar of Creamy Coconut & Thai Basil sauce
• 350g Family Stir Fry mix from Asda: bean sprouts carrots, Chinese cabbage, spinach
• garlic salt (for lack of real garlic)
  
• Sriracha sauce
• vegetable oil
• soy sauce (not pictured)
• curry powder (pictured, but not used. Could be used for a more Singapore-style taste, though)

1. Turn on the stove to medium heat. Pour some vegetable oil into the wok. Allow to get warm. Dump in the chicken and shrimp. Cook for a bit until chicken is mostly white, but not completely.
2. Add about 1/3 jar of Creamy Coconut & Thai Basil sauce.
3. Allow the chicken and shrimp to cook for a bit in the sauce, ensuring that every piece is coated.
4. Add onions. Stir around, making sure the onion slices separate from each other.
5. Add stir-fry mix. Mix around.
6. Toss all the ingredients in the wok. I was using a fork and knife because I don't have the right utensils, but optimally, spatulas or tongs would work best.
7. Add water if things start to get dry. Periodically perform this step throughout the process.
8. Add the rice noodles.
9. Add the rest of the sauce. Toss like a salad.
10. Add some garlic salt. Keep tossin'. Change heat to medium-low setting if things at the bottom of the wok are browning quicker than you can fold the mixture. Taste and tweak by adding more garlic salt or anything that might help.
11. Mix some Sriracha sauce with water so to make a mixture that spreads more easily and evenly. Pour onto the noodles. Taste and tweak by adding more Sriracha sauce for a spicier taste or water to water it down.
12. Keep tossing, attempting to achieve a homogeneous mixture.
13. Remove from the heat after reasonably homogeneous mixture is achieved. (Optional) Add some soy sauce for coloring or taste. Of course, mix it up.
14. Finished! Transfer to a plate or casserole dish for neat presentation. I lack a large enough plate or a casserole dish so I just transferred to a medium-sized pot. Garnish with some spinach, cabbage, and bean sprouts from the stir fry mix.
15. Enjoy!