Ginger Chicken over Puffed Rice Noodles

I've seen puffed rice noodles in cookbooks and thought they would be fun to make. Just the idea of watching a straight noodle transform into a curly, crispy noodle in hot oil sounded pretty cool to me.  I don't get to eat Chinese food because of my gluten intolerance unless I make it myself. It was time. This chicken was so delicious.  I found a similar recipe in The Gluten Free Bible and just decided I would adapt it to suit the tastes of my family.

Ginger Chicken over Puffed Rice Noodles

Vegetable oil for frying
4 ounces of thin rice noodles, broken into small pieces
3 boneless skinless chicken breasts or 10 or so chicken tenders, cut into bite size pieces
1 tablespoon of lemon juice
2 cloves of garlic, minced or pressed
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground red pepper
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/3 cup water
1 tablespoon cornstarch
Additional oil (roughly 2 tbsp) for cooking chicken
6 oz fresh snow peas
1/2 cup frozen corn
Cilantro to taste
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon gluten free soy sauce (add more if you like)

Heat about 3 inches of oil in a Dutch oven until oil registers at 375 degrees on a deep fry thermometer.  Fry noodles in small batches only about 20 seconds or until they are puffy. Hold down the noodles with a slotted spoon or tongs. Drain on paper towels.

This was an 8 oz box of noodles. I decided to fry them all. Just for, again, the fun of it. Let me tell you-- it made A LOT! So yes, for a meal, all you really need is half the box, unless you're feeding an army.

Combine chicken, lemon juice, garlic, ginger, red pepper, and black pepper in a medium bowl.  Blend water and cornstarch in another bowl and set aside. 
Discard all but about 2 tablespoons of oil from the dutch oven. Or you can start with fresh oil. Add the chicken mixture to the hot oil and stir fry that until the chicken is done.  Add the snow peas and the corn and cook that for a couple more minutes.  Stir the cornstarch mixture (it will settle) and add that to the chicken mixture.  Cook until thickened.  Add the cilantro, brown sugar, and soy sauce.  Cook for just a minute until heated through.  Serve over the puffed rice noodles.

We did not have any leftovers. It really was delicious. Now, I do have a big bag of left over fried noodles. I'm thinking beef and broccoli tonight to go over those ;-).