Chicken Pad Thai and Fishless Fish Sauce

After much hunting for a fishless fish sauce recipe... LOL with lower sodium too. I have to be so careful with my allergy to fish to make sure I don't have things with fish in it not to mention the high sodium content in fish sauce which is a no no for my husband. So I hunted a lot and found this recipe:
Based on the classic fish sauces of Southest Asia - Thai nam pla is the best known - but without the fish. The sea green (dulse) helps maintains the salty pungency of the real thing, but if you don't have any handy, you wont go far wrong by combining the remaining ingredients.

1 tablespoon dulse, crumbled or ground (optional)
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tablespoons light soy sauce
2 tablespoons water
4 limes
1 tablespoon palm sugar or brown sugar

Whisk the dulse, garlic and soy with the water in a small bowl.

Grate the zest of half the limes into the same bowl, then juice all limes and add the juice. Add palm sugar, or brown sugar, and stir well, Let sit 5 minutes for flavor to meld.

Makes about 1/2 cup.
Start to Finish Time: 15 minutes All so I could make this wonderful recipe I found here at: Real Kids eat Spinach

CHICKEN PAD THAI

4-6 oz. rice noodles
2 tbs. brown sugar (I used palm sugar, which I will introduce in a future post)
2 tbs. freshly squeezed lime juice
3 tbs. fish sauce
1 tbs. rice vinegar
2 tbs. soy sauce*
2 eggs, lightly beaten
3 tbs. canola or coconut oil
6 chopped scallions
1 small diced red pepper
2 small zucchini, cut in half then sliced into thin strips
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 lb. chicken breast, cut into small pieces
for topping: finely chopped cashews or peanuts, minced cilantro and lime wedges

Prepare noodles by cooking in boiling water for 3-5 minutes. Rinse thoroughly in cold water and set aside. Combine brown sugar through soy sauce in a small bowl, stirring to combine with a small whisk or fork.

Heat 1 tbs. oil in wok or skillet over medium heat. Add beaten egg and cook until dry, breaking up into small pieces with a wooden spoon. Remove and set aside.

Heat remaining 2 tbs. oil in skillet and add red pepper, scallions and garlic. Cook for one minute before adding chicken, then cook for five minutes or until meat is no longer pink.

Add cooked noodles and zucchini to pan. It might be helpful to use two utensils to thoroughly incorporate them. Cook for a few minutes.

Add sauce and combine well, again cooking for a couple of minutes. Stir in egg, cook for one final minute.

Top with chopped nuts and minced cilantro, plus a generous squirt of lime juice.

*traditional soy sauce is NOT gluten-free unless labeled as such. If you want to keep this meal GF then make sure your sauce fits the bill.

**I usually include a couple of sprinkles of red pepper flakes in my sauce; chile garlic sauce is also a good add-in if you like a little bit of heat. Just be judicious, especially if you and/or your kids don’t like much spice (like mine)

***1-2 tbs. of natural nut butter can also be added to the sauce to give it more body. The chicken can be replaced with tofu if you want this to be a vegan/vegetarian meal.