| Pad Thai |
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| Written by Phil Wiktor | |
| Tuesday, 01 July 2008 | |
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I was searching for an authentic Pad Thai recipe because I absolutely love Pad Thai, I can't stand the pre-made stuff, and there are no good Thai restaurants to be found in Pensacola. The best thing to use for this is a wok. We don't have one (yet) and it was a little tricky to make in our stainless cookware. Some of the noodles stuck to the bottom but the dish still came out tasty. It helps if you make the dish a serving or two at a time so the wok stays nice and hot. Serves 4 Pad Thai Sauce 1/2 cup Tamarind Paste (sometimes called Tamarind Pulp) 1/2 cup Fish Sauce 1/3 cup Palm Sugar (regular sugar works just fine) 1 or 2 teaspoons Thai Chili Powder (if you don't have this, you can use paprika but you'll have to use some hot sauce to give the sauce some heat) Add first three ingredients in a small sauce pan and melt over low heat. Add the chili powder 1 teaspoon at a time until the sauce has the desired kick. Sauce should be a nice blend of sour (tamarind), salt (fish sauce), sweet (sugar), and heat (chili powder). I like my Pad Thai more hot and less sweet but that's just me. For the rest of the dish: Dry Rice Noodles (also called Rice Sticks) 8-10 ounces of Shrimp, Chicken, or Firm Tofu 2 Eggs 1/4 cup Dry Roasted Peanuts, crushed Flat-leaf Garlic Chives (can substitute the leafy end of green onions) Bean sprouts 1-2 Garlic Cloves, chopped Canola Oil Soak rice noodles for 10-15 minutes in warm tap water. It's important that the noodles relatively soft, almost 'al dente' but not too soft that they will turn to mush when you throw them in the wok. Add 1-2 tablespoons of oil to the wok and put it on high heat; you'll want it almost smoking before you start to cook. If you are using chicken or tofu as your protein, add it now and cook for 1-2 minutes (tofu should be brown on the edges, chicken should be half-cooked), stirring vigorously. Add a few spoon-fulls of the Pad Thai Sauce and the garlic. Add the noodles (about 2 loosely packed cups per portion) and a few spoon-fulls of the sauce. Make sure to keep things in the wok moving! If too much of the sauce evaporates, add a small amount of water and keep stirring. Cook the noodles until they are ready (taste to make sure) and push them to the side of the wok. Crack an egg into the wok, let it sit for 10-15 seconds, and then stir it in with the noodles. Add the shrimp (if you are using it), ground peanuts, and bean sprouts. Once the shrimp are done, add the garlic chives, turn the heat off, and give it a few more stirs before plating. If you have more portions to make, give the wok a quick rinse, wipe off any food bits with a warm towel, and put it back on the fire. 
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| Last Updated ( Tuesday, 01 July 2008 ) |
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