Pad Thai - that salty, tangy, nutty stir fried noodle dish that bears the name of the country of origin. Wikipedia will tell you different origins of the dish, but now you can find Pad Thai at any street food stall and any Thai restaurant here in the UK.
As with most of my recipes, this is the one mum makes for us. The key to a good Pad Thai is to not cooking the noodles before hand. You just need to soak them in cold water, the stir frying will do the rest. No soggy noodles guaranteed!
For this Pad Thai you need:
-100 g dried medium width rice noodles
-40 g tamarind - the stuff you buy in a block
-200 g boiling water
-50 g palm sugar
-7 tbsp fish sauce
-3 tbsp vegetable oil
-200 g firm tofu - chopped into 1X1X2 cm chunks
-1 banana shallot, sliced
-3 cloves of garlic, minced
-raw king prawns (I used 7)
-3 large eggs
-1 tsp fish sauce
-40 g chinese chives - chopped into 1.5 cm pieces
-150 g bean sprouts
To garnish:
-toasted peanuts
-dried chilli flakes
-lime juice
Pre-soak the dried noodles in cold water for about an hour.
Add the boiling water to the tamarind and let cool. Squeeze out the pulp and add the thick tamarind juice to a pot.
Heat the tamarind with the palm sugar and fish sauce until the sugar is dissolved and the sauce comes to a boil.
In a wok, fry the tofu in oil until it starts to turn golden brown.
Add the shallots and garlic and stir fry until fragrant.
Add your prawns and stir fry for a few seconds.
Drain your noodles thoroughly and add to the wok with the sauce and stir fry until the noodles become soft.
Beat your eggs with the fish sauce and add to one space in the pan. Gently scramble into the noodles.
Add your chinese chives and bean sprouts and stir fry for about another minute.
Enjoy with some toasted peanuts, dried chilli flakes and lime juice!
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