Pad Thai is a stir-fried rice noodle dish that can be found throughout Thailand. This dish is considered one of the examples of street food
in Thailand. Many Thai people eat this dish as a snack. Interestingly, Pad Thai is not a common homemade dish. Pad Thai is not only
a famous dish in Thailand but also abroad. It is probably the most famous of all Thai noodle dishes. For vegetarian Pad Thai, omit shrimp,
substitute soy sauce for fish sauce and add more tofu if desired.
Preparation
- Either peel and devein shrimp leaving shell on the tail or just leave the shell on shrimp.
- Peel off garlic skin. Clean, pat dry and mince garlic.
- Peel off shallot skin. Clean, pat dry and mince shallots.
- Clean Chinese chives and cut into 1 1/2" long pieces.
- Clean and drain bean sprouts.
- Cut firm white tofu into 1"(h) x 1/3"(w) x 1/3"(d) pieces.
- Soak dry medium rice noodles in room temperature water for about 30 minutes. Make sure the noodles are soft yet firm.
Drain and set aside.
- Clean and cut lime in half. (For garnishing)
- Clean and cut Chinese chives into 5"-6" long pieces. (For garnishing)
Directions
- Heat oil in a pan or a wok. Deep fry prepared tofu until all sides are golden brown. Place on paper towel to absorb oil. Set aside.
- Remove oil to a bowl for reuse later on.
- Heat 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil in a pan or a wok. On medium-high heat, add minced garlic, shallots and pickled radishes in the pan.
Stir fry until fragrant. Take care not to burn.
- Add shrimp and deep-fried tofu (prepared in step 1). Mix and stir until shrimp is cooked.
- Once shrimp is cooked, push all to the side of the pan to create room for noodles.
- Add 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil into the space in the pan and then add noodles, tamarind paste, sugar and fish sauce. Quickly stir
and mix them well. When stirring the noodles, try to spread them out. If the noodles look too dry, dip your fingers into a bowl of water and
then sprinkle the water on the noodles. Sprinkle water on the noodles as needed.
- Once the noodles are soft and cooked, mix them with the other ingredients that are on the side of the pan.
- Once again push the mixed noodles to the side of the pan to create room for an egg.
- Add 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil into the space in the pan and then crack the egg into the space and scramble it with a spatula or a cooking
spoon. Push the mixed noodles on top of the egg. Add the chives and 1/2 cup of bean sprouts. If desired, add 1/2 teaspoon of chili powder.
Mix well and turn off heat. If the egg gets stuck on the bottom of the pan, scrape it off and mix it into the noodles.
- Serve on plate. Garnish with chili powder, 1/2 cup of bean sprouts, ground peanuts, Chinese chives and lime.
- If desired, squeeze lime juice onto the noodles, chili powder and ground peanuts. Mix well. Eat with the fresh Chinese chives and
bean sprouts.
|
Before Cooking
- Serving size: 1-2 persons.
- Chicken can be substituted for shrimp.
- Chinese chives are also called garlic chives.
- Use firm white tofu only for deep frying.
- Soak dry medium rice noodles in room temperature water only. Do not use hot water because the rice noodles will get sticky
and it will be difficult to stir fry.
- The difficult part of making this dish is stir frying the noodles, because if the noodles are too soft, they will stick together
in the pan or wok. So, it is very important to soak the noodles correctly. Noodles should be soft enough to bend but still firm, not
completely expanded and soft. When in doubt, undersoak the noodles for about 5 minutes less than the recommended time.
- For vegetarian Pad Thai, omit shrimp, substitute soy sauce for fish sauce and add more tofu if desired.
- Stir frying the noodles usually takes about 5 minutes or so. It is recommended to have all of your ingredients within
arm's reach so that the noodles can be stir fried quickly enough that they will not stick together.
- To avoid mushy rice noodles, it is recommended to cook for 1-2 persons at a time. If you cook a big amount, it will
be hard to stir fry the noodles.
Ingredients
8-10 Medium Shrimp
3 oz (100 grams) Dry medium rice noodles
1/4 cup Deep-fried firm white tofu
1 cup Bean sprouts
1/4 cup Chinese chives
1-2 tablespoons Ground peanuts
1 tablespoon Minced pickled radish
1/2 teaspoon Minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon Minced shallots
1 Egg
1 tablespoon Tamarind paste
1 1/3 teaspoons Sugar
3/4 tablespoon Fish sauce
1 cup Vegetable oil
1 cup Water
2 tablespoons Chili powder (Optional)
1 Lime (Optional)
2 stalks Chinese chives (Optional)
|
