Ever been intimidated by all the ingredients that go into making Pad Thai? Yeah, so was I. Finally I gave it a shot this week; and even though I couldn't find one key ingredient at the store (tamarind paste), I did not give up on the dish. I found that tamarind paste provides the dish with a sour tang that can be mimicked with some lime juice, white vinegar and a bit more brown sugar than was planned. Crisis averted!
My recipe is not precise as far as the sauce goes, but taste as you go and remember that the sauce needs to be a bit strong since it will coat a ton of rice noodles. I added roughly 1/2 cup lite soy sauce, 1/2 cup H2O, juice of about 3 limes, a splash of white vinegar, 1 tsp or 2 of Sriracha chili sauce, 1/2 tsp garlic powder (too lazy to chop fresh stuff), 1/2 tsp of low sodium chicken bouillion, and about 1/2 cup light brown sugar.
Whisk those ingredients together and set aside while, in another bowl, covering the rice noodles with very hot tap water and let sit for 15 minutes - according to my noodle package's directions. They will still be al dente and ready to finish cooking later...
Coat a hot wok (or large pan) with oil and then add some raw thinly sliced chicken breast that you marinated in about 2 tsp cornstarch and some soy sauce. Brown for about 6-8 minutes until done. Remove from wok and add some more oil. To this add about 8oz shredded carrots and 1 bunch of sliced scallions. Throw in 2 scarmbled eggs as well. After 2 minutes, add your SAUCE! Let this cook down for about 3 more minutes and then add your al dente rice noodles. Allow this entire mixture to absorb some of the sauce for 3 minutes, add the chicken back, and then throw in some bean sprouts. Traditionally, uncooked sprouts are put on top of the dish during plating, but apparently this poses a slight risk for pregnant women so we heated ours through.
Serve up the Pad Thai with another lime wedge, some cilantro and some peanuts, and more hot Sriracha if you are like Michael! Honestly, I was amazed at how much this tasted like Pad Thai from a resto and I didn't need to buy that $5 jar of pre-made sauce from the market!
5 comments:
As a home cook it's nice to have pad thai in the repertoire.
Your homemade pad thai looks very restaurant-worthy. I like how you improvised :). I would love to feature your recipe on our Demy, the first and only digital recipe reader. You can find out more about it here: http://mydemy.com/
Please email sophiekiblogger@gmail.com if you're interested. Thanks and have a great weekend :).
Gave it a try last night and turned out great. Glad that I found your blog. I have a feeling I will be visiting often.
Need to try the recipe, due to the wife really enjoying the jar of sauce from Wegmans I am at a disadvantage. I will say, blanching the sprouts and green onions in boiling water for 30 seconds is key before the saute begins! The smell alone makes me feel that I am in a Thai restaurant. Give it a shot, next time.
We tried this last night, and it was AMAZING! Not difficult either. My whole family enjoyed the taste.
Next time I think I'm going to try it w/ marinated venison! Thanks for sharing this!
Post a Comment