Lightly dust your thawed upland meat with kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper. Leave in the fridge for couple hours uncovered to dry and absorb salt.
When you’re ready to cook, heat a thin layer of peanut oil with medium heat in a large (preferably cast-iron) skillet. Finely dice the thigh meat and add it to the skillet. Once the meat is seared, add the freshy minced garlic and ginger. Cook for one more minute, stirring often. Deglaze the pan with 1/4 cup sake wine. Stir.
In a mixing bowl, add the remaining drunken noodle sauce ingredients other than leftover rice-noodle water (chicken stock, soy sauce, oyster sauce, dry Thai basil, fish sauce, Sambal chili paste, and Mirin). Mix the ingredients together and add it to skillet. Turn heat to low and simmer the sauce and meat for 20 minutes.
At this point, you can make the Thai peanut sauce by combining all its ingredients in a medium saucepan and heating to low. Stir every so often, careful not to let it burn. If it’s not sweet enough for your taste, make sure to add the quarter cup of brown sugar. Leave it on low heat until you’re ready to serve.
After the bits of thigh meat and the sauce have simmered for 20 minutes, start the rice noodles. To make rice noodles, follow instructions on the packaging. Aim for an al dente texture. Once the noodles are done, take 1/2 cup of water from the pot used to cook the rice noodles and add it to the sauce. Drain the rest of the water. Add al dente noodles and cut green onions to skillet with sauce and thigh bits and turn noodles over until the noodles are coated with sauce. If you want a spicier dish, add Thai red chilis to the skillet.
To cook your upland bird breasts, heat a separate skillet or grill to 500 degrees Fahrenheit. Lightly coat breasts with peanut oil and sear both sides adequately and continue cooking them until their internal temperature is 150. If the noodles look like they’re drying out while you sear the breasts, add more chicken stock to the noodles.
To serve, plate drunken noodles and top with sliced breast meat and peanut sauce. Garnish with crushed peanuts.
Notes
Enjoy! Reach out to me on Instagram (@WildGameJack) with any questions or comments.