Happy National French Fries Day with Pad Thai Fries...

Happy National French Fries Day! I celebrated this fun occasion by trying my hands on popular Toronto Lisa Marie and Fidel Gastros' Matthew Basile's recipe for his infamous Pad Thai Fries. Happily brunched there over a Toronto Food Revolution meeting, tried it, thought I died and went to heaven and excited to find the recipe on Steven and Chris to adapt my own version at home-- instead of deep-frying the fries, oven-baking and toning the key spicy Sriracha sauce down a notch to appease to my young kids' palates! Spicy buttery with crunchy toppings, the tart and hot flavours work in harmony replicating succinctly what you would expect in a fries dish called Pad Thai! All I can say is... Exotically Addictive!

Photo Credit: Steven and Chris

With Matt and the fabulous Toronto Food Revolution crew.

Matt Basile's Pad Thai Fries (adapted from Steven and Chris)
(Double the sauce ingredients if you want it extra saucy)

1/3 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup Sriracha sauce
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 pound oven fries
1 cup bean sprouts
1 cup cilantro, chopped
1 green onion, chopped

1 lime, quartered
1/4 cup crushed peanuts, optional

Bake fries in oven according to package directions.

Meanwhile, melt the butter in a pan over high heat. Stir in the Sriracha sauce and lemon juice. Turn down the heat to low and cook for five minutes, or until the sauce is a nice velvety orange colour. Let the sauce cool and congeal (if the oil separates onto surface-- remove the layer with a spoon) so when you apply it to your fries it's more of a paste than a sauce.

In a large bowl, toss the cooked fries in the sauce. Transfer the coated fries to a serving dish and top with bean sprouts, cilantro, green onions, lime wedges and crushed peanuts.

WOWZERS! As I remembered them... crunchy bean sprouts and peanuts give way to crispy tender fries 
bathed in lemony fiery buttery sauce. As Steven and Chris said, it really is the Ultimate Fries!

This spicy son loves hot foods, even with his front tooth missing :)!

Perfect as a side to hearty meaty burgers! Thank you Matt! My family loved it!

For another fun do-it-at-home restaurant favourite, try my Oven-Baked Onion Blossom to celebrate National Onion Rings Day! :)