This is a very loose approximation of Pad Thai that can be made from items that keep a long time aboard a boat with no refrigeration.
8-10 oz rice stick noodles or thin spaghetti
2 T cooking oil
1 carrot, grated
1 onion, cut into thin strips
4 cloves garlic
1 egg, beaten
8-oz can or package of cooked chicken (you can substitute shrimp)
3-4 C fresh mung bean sprouts
1/3 C dry-roasted peanuts, chopped
Pad Thai sauce
This is a pad thai sauce without tamarind, partly because we don’t usually have it on the boat, and partly because there are some older, but still authentic, pad thai recipes that don’t use tamarind.
2 T fish sauce
1/3 C chicken stock, or water with a chicken bouillon cube
3 T rice or white vinegar
1 T lime juice
3 T brown sugar
1 T soy sauce
1/8 t white pepper
1 T powdered galangal or ginger
Sliced green onions (optional)
Chopped fresh cilantro (optional)
Sriracha hot sauce
Cook the noodles in boiling water until they are almost, but not quite done (they will finish cooking in the sauce). Drain them well.
Combine the sauce ingredients in a bowl or measuring cup and stir well.
In a large wok or skillet, saute the onion until soft. Add the carrot and garlic and cook for about 30 seconds. Push the vegetables aside and add the egg, stirring to scramble it. When the egg is about done, add the noodles. Stir in about a quarter of the sauce, and using two spoons, gently stir everything together, lifting the noodles up from the bottom. Keep adding the sauce, a quarter at a time, until it has all been added and the noodles have absorbed it.
Remove from heat and gently fold in the bean sprouts. Serve topped with peanuts, green onions, and cilantro, with sriracha on the table.