Recipe(tried): Pad Thai --- detailed recipe for the Westerner

Good Morning everyone!

I ve been debating if I should even post this recipe. It s not exactly a recipe I think the everyday cook would go out and try, and some of the ingredients are rather obscure. For someone that has been CRAVING for a GREAT PAD THAI recipe, and you have the desire to find all of the items. This posting will be everything you have hoped for, since I have decided to detail every last step to ensure you get this recipe right. This is one of those recipes that even true Thai people will tell you can be rather complicated, and usually they are amused that even a Westerner would even try to attempt. Once you have tasted good Pad Thai, you dream of getting all of the secrets that make this magical dish possible. It s one of those dishes that if you get it right, you will have everyone asking you to make again and again.

I went on a mission to try to find the best Pad Thai recipe. I scoured the internet, Kitchenlink.com/ Recipelink.com, went through numerous Thai and Asian Noodle cook books, not to mention my old standby Cooks Illustrated . I realized that there must be as many versions of Pad Thai, as perhaps there are versions of Meatloaf.

I definitely had in mind what I wanted my recipe to taste like. I must admit. In most Asian/Thai recipes it calls for dried shrimp (an ingredient that is easily found in large metropolitan China Towns ). But elsewhere...good luck! I actually prefer the taste of fresh shrimp, but realize that it may have just been a preference created from regular exposure to fresh shrimp here in the States. Who knows?! If I had grown up in a culture that regularly used dried shrimp perhaps that would be my preference.

I also noticed that a lot of Western versions of Pad Thai, even one listed in an Asian Noodle book, had ketchup as an ingredient in the Pad Thai sauce!!

I was working a flight with a colleague who owns a couple of upscale Thai restaurants here in Manhattan. As we discussed my mission she explained to me that it was a very difficult task even for her well trained chefs. I asked her about the idea of ketchup in the sauce, and she **winced**. But as I discussed with her my other ideas of what exactly I was looking to achieve and how I was achieving it. She seemed very interested.

I had brought with me some of my Asian dressing for a salad I like to serve with the Pad Thai, and served it over Romain/iceburg lettuce, with bean sprouts, sliced radishes, match stick sliced, red peppers and carrots...and then finally chopped dry roasted peanuts. I knew since she owned a Thai restaurant she perhaps may be my biggest critic, and I enjoyed her straight forward approach with me. She tasted my Asian dressing and said it tasted very good. However, I was not so certain since I know many asian cultures place preserving a person s dignity/spirit in higher esteem than a mere disagreement of preference. Later, I passed by the galley area to notice that she not only was finishing off her salad, but she was sipping the dressing out of the bottom of the dish. And saying that it was addictive.! So I definitely think I got that part right!!

I have been working on this mission for a couple of months now. We have had Pad Thai about once a week for the past few months. I quickly discovered a few things. Not only is it important to get the sauce right, but it is equally important to get the noodles right too.

My first few attempts at Pad Thai, I ended up with noodle Pergatory. One important thing to know from a Westerner s perspective is...asian noodles *** are NOT*** prepared in the same way that the most familiar italian Pasta noodles are prepared. You do **NOT** use water that you have brought to a boil to cook the noodles. You must use a deep pan of HOT water. When I say hot... I am saying that the hottest water you can get from your tap would be fine, or you can use bottled water that you have brought to a boil but allow to sit and cool down a bit or so that it is no longer steaming . Do NOT apply additional heat while they are soaking in the hot water.

The noodles are also a mystery for those of us that do not read or speak Chinese, Japanese, Cantonese, Mandarin or Thai. I m sure that the noodle packages must have directions listed on them, but I am unable to read them since they are in picture/character of the dialect. Usually, even in Asian communities, they will have a few written words that we can understand.

Many of the Pad Thai recipes are made using Rice Noodle or Rice Vermicelli . They are a narrow flat noodle shaped like the italian pasta cousin, fettuccini. In the asian stores they are usually wound up in small ball like bundles and dried. Sometimes you may find them flat in a box like the Italian cousin, but I think that packaging that way is more geared towards the Westernized person. In my research I realized that there really is no set standard in noodles like you would find in Italian pasta (ie. All the specific names and shapes, etc ) rice noodles could fit a myriad of shapes and sizes since it is more a description of what the noodle is made from, rather than its shape.

I bought a number of different types of clear or white narrow flat noodles that were rice noodles and by mistake I also picked up a noodle that I thought was a rice noodle called Bean Thread or as the only English written ingredient list said, Mung bean starch. This is refered to as Cellophane noodles, and are more gelatinous and springy than pasta like. They were EXACTLY what I was looking for, an error that had the luck of winning the lottery for your first time. They also absorb the flavor of the Pad Thai sauce, incredibly well.

When preparing the noodles, you do not want them overdone. When the noodles are *over done* they will resemble fettuccini that has been cooked and then sticks together like paste in a hopeless mess. When done properly, they will be sticky and but remain separate. They will be like al-dente pasta when bitten into.

Finally when making the sauce, I use an ingredient called Tamarind. In my Food Lover s Companion it states that it is also known as Indian date ...native to Asia and northern Africa and widely grown in India... its pulp is sour-sweet and is used much like lemon juice is in Western culture...used to season chutneys and curry dishes...and an integral ingredient in Worcestershire sauce. It can be found in East Indian and Asian markets in various forms: jars of concentrated pulp with seeds; canned paste; Whole pods dried into bricks

I also found that a lot of the carribean latin countries also use this ingredient, perhaps from African descent. I was able to find a brick that was dark brown, mahagony colored with pits...that was labeled from the Dominican Republic. It is the SECRET ingredient to my sauce. You may use lime juice or lemon juice as a substitute but it just will not have that illusive taste that will make you addicted to the flavor.

So here is my recipe for Pad Thai, For those of you who have actually taken the time to read this far... Once you have gotten the ingredients on hand, you will find yourself making this SPECIAL dish time and time again.!!!! By the way. I wouldn t attempt to make more than 2 portions at a time since it becomes very difficult to stir fry that many noodles etc. I have tried...but not with success. In addition, you may substitute cubed tofu or chicken in lieu of your protein.
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Start by making the Pad Thai Sauce

Pad Thai Sauce:

Soak 1/4 cup of Tamarind Paste in 1 cup of boiling water for about 10-15 minutes, then push it through a mesh strainer to remove seeds and fibers, Extract as much pulp as possible.

*Or you may substitute (1/2 cup lemon or lime juice mixed together with 1/3 cup water)

Using liquid from pressed Tamarind paste (or if substituting lemon or lime juice with added water)

Add:

3 Tablespoons fish sauce
1 Tablespoon rice vinegar
3 Tablespoons brown sugar
2 teaspoons chilli paste in soy bean oil (Namprik Pao)
1 teaspoon cayenne
1/4 tsp. Accent (you may omit)
4 Tablespoons lime juice (or 2 limes)
2 Tablespoons Vegetable oil.

Whisk until completely mixed and then set aside


2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
2 eggs

3/4 to 1 pound shrimp, peel and deveined.
Or you may use 8 ounces of firm or pressed tofu

2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
8 ounces soaked rice noodles/bean thread/ mungbean noodles
(soak in HOT water-**NOT BOILING water, for 15 minutes)

3 scallions thinly sliced. Some white and green parts
1/3 cup coarsely chopped peanuts
Pad Thai sauce from above

Last minute stir-ins just before serving.

2 cups bean sprouts
1/2 chopped fresh cilantro (is about 1/4 cup after chopped)
lime wedges

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In a large nonstick fry pan ( I use 12-inch pan):

1. Heat 2 Tablespoons vegetable oil in a non-stick fry pan over MED heat about 1 minute.

2. Lightly scramble 2 eggs with 1/8 teaspoon salt in the pan for about 30 seconds.

3. Raise heat to HIGH, and then add shrimp/chicken or Tofu and stir fry until opaque about 6-7 minutes.

4. Add additional 2 Tablespoons of vegetable oil to the pan, and then toss in the soaked noodles. Stir fry 5 minutes until noodles are firm but tender.(you may need to add a little additional vegetable oil to keep the noodles from sticking to the pan bottom)

5. Add scallions, peanuts and Pad Thai Sauce and continue to stir fry for about 1-2 minutes more.

6. Stir in bean sprouts and serve hot, garnished with cilantro and lime wedges.

*** if noodles seem a little dry or start sticking to the pan...add a little extra vegetable oil.

Here is my

Asian-Style Salad Dressing

1/2 cup of vegetable oil
1/4 cup sesame oil
1 clove garlic minced
1/2 cup rice vinegar or white wine vinegar
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon dried pepper flakes
1/4 cup Asian fish sauce (sometimes called Nuoc Mam)

1. Place into a jar with a tightly fitting lid and shake well.

My version of an Asian salad is composed of:

Hearts of Romaine torn into mouth size pieces
Radishes thinly sliced and then halved.
Carrots cut julienne style or into matchsticks.
Crispy bean sprouts
Dry roasted peanuts or cashews chopped

Toss well with the above dressing and look out!!! Better make sure you have made enough salad!

I hope this has been helpful.