Pad Thai is the most well known Thai noodle dish in the West. American Thai restaurateurs say well over half of their customers order this dish as part of a meal. In Thailand, Pad Thai is mainly street food and is often prepared by a vendor who specializes in it. Served at home, Pad Thai could be part of a party menu, with most of the preparation done in advance and a few minutes of last minute stir-frying. Or cook up Pad Thai as a quick weekend mid-day one plate dish, with the help of our Perfect Pad Thai Sauce recipe.
The best Pad Thai is a contrast of soft noodles flavored with salty, sweet, sour, and spicy flavors accented by pickled sweet radish, crisp beansprouts, toasted peanuts, firm fried tofu, crunchy scallions and zippy lime. In our version a seasoning sauce is prepared by boiling tamarind water, fish sauce and palm sugar together. Other simpler Pad Thai versions add fish sauce, sugar, vinegar and chilies directly to the noodle stir fry to create the unique flavor profile. No Pad Thai dish is complete without the addition of pickled radish, ground peanuts, ground chilies and garnished with lime halves and scallions.
To insure success soak rice noodles in cool tap water for 40 minutes before stir-frying for tender but not sticky noodles.
Prepare this Perfectp Pad Thai Sauce to keep on hand so that you can whip up Pad Thai Noodles any time.
Ingredients for Perfect Pad Thai Sauce:
1 cup tamarind juice/water (see recipe below)
1/2 cup Thai fish sauce (Golden Boy brand)
1 cup palm sugar
1 cup water
Prepare Pad Thai Sauce: Prepare tamarind water (see recipe below). Mix prepared tamarind water with fish sauce, and palm sugar. Stir well to dissolve sugar. Cook over low heat and stir, cook for 45 minutes until syrupy. Set aside.**
Ingredients for Pad Thai Noodles:
8 oz. medium Asian Rice Noodles (Thai Farmer Brand)
approximately 4 tbsp. peanut oil or other vegetable oil
1/3 lb. frozen shrimp or pork
3/4 cup firm tofu, cut into 1 1/2" x 1" x 1/4" pieces
4-5 cloves garlic, finely chopped
3 shallots, thinly sliced
1/4 cup Dried Shrimp, soaked in warm water
1/4 cup chopped Pickled Radish/Turnip
2-3 tsp. Dried Whole Red Chili Peppers
3 eggs
3 cups bean sprouts
1 cup garlic chives, cut into 1 inch lengths (or scallions)
8 tbsp. of the Perfect Pad Thai Sauce from above
Garnish:
2/3 cup Peanuts with Skin, roasted and crushed
1 lime, cut into wedges
4 scallions
Presoak noodles: Soak the rice nooodles in cool or lukewarm water for at least 40 minutes, until the noodles are limp but still firm to touch. When the noodles have softened, drain and set aside. While the noodles are soaking prepare the rest of the ingredients.
Prepare Pad Thai ingredients: Peel and devein shrimp leaving the tails on if desired. Brine the shrimp if desired for moister and tastier shrimp by dissovling 1/4 cup sea salt in 4-8 cups of water. To dissolve the sea salt, boil one cup of water first and stir in salt. Then add cool water and ice if needed to bring down the temperature. Submerge shrimp in a salt and water solution in a refrigerated container for 30 minutes. Drain, pat dry and set aside.
If using pork, slice into 1x1/2x1/4 inch slices. Set aside.
Prepare tofu, garlic, shallot and dried shrimp, garlic chives, scallions and lime and set aside.
Roast raw peanuts in a 350
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