Pad Thai

Okay, I finally got around to writing up my Pad Thai recipe:

Pad Thai

Pad Thai that Thai food staple of restaurants everywhere in the US...  This isn't that, the original author says it's the Pad Thai you'd actually get in Thailand, and it's something you'll probably decide is superior as long as you don't mind seafood.  This recipe isn't mine originally, and you should definitely go hit up http://shesimmers.com/ because I'm not going to go into anything like the detail she does, but I have a few changes including those for the lazy, or ingredient challenged - her's calls for banana blossom, which I think I've seen once around here.

So to start, you're going to need a few implements:
a couple of spoons, spatulas, or the like, preferably at least one set up for moving and straining pasta.
A wok or a nice big flat bottomed skillet with some walls.  Cast iron is great, as is anodized aluminum; non-stick would probably work as you're never getting up to temperatures hot enough to damage the teflon.

Noodles:
You need rice noodles, about 3mm wide, but there's some play in that.  Take half a pound of those noodles and dump them in slightly warm water (and a lot of it) for about half an hour.  Make sure you can take any of those noodles and easily wrap it around your finger, but that it's still unpleasantly chewy.  Then give it another 5-10 minutes in the water.  You'll also have a much easier time down the road if you break them up some so you don't end up with a tangled noodle ball while cooking.

The Sauce:
150g tamarind pulp
180g fish sauce
226g palm sugar
60g brown sugar
 This is a lot more than you're going to need for one batch according to this recipe, but the sauce keeps well.

Other stuff:
roughly 1.5 T of shrimp paste in soy oil (this isn't the block stuff you'd use in other Thai dishes)
roughly a cup of slightly crushed roasted nuts (peanut or cashew)
1/4 cup of sliced garlic chive greens (can be left out, but I like them)
slightly less than 1/3 C of small dried shrimp (the little tiny whole ones complete with eyes)
3/4 C extra firm or fried tofu
1-2 C bean sprouts
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 shallots, minced
Thai chiles to taste, minced
1/3 C preserved daikon (sweet), chopped (optional, but nice if you can find it)
1/2 lb of chicken or shrimp (if using chicken slice it fairly finely to make it cook more quickly)
Very finely julienned carrot as a garnish (optional, if you can cut it that finely)
A handful of chopped cilantro leaves as a garnish (optional)


Add vegetable oil to the pan over medium high; when a noodle sizzles in the oil you're ready to go.  Add the noodles and approximately 2/3 C of the sauce, as well as the shrimp paste.

Keep everything moving around the pan, and once the pan gets back up to temperature another 30 seconds to a minute and everything should loosen up.

Add in the garlic, chiles, shallot, dried shrimp, tofu, preserved daikon, and shrimp or chicken; you may need to add some more oil.  Now is the important time, KEEP EVERYTHING MOVING.  You need to get the protein cooked, and make sure the noodles soften and loose that unpleasant chew; you may find that you need to add a little extra sauce or a little water.

Check to see if the noodles are about done when the protein is about right; if they're still unpleasantly chewy you want to cover them and cook a little more, adding a little water if necessary.

Kill the heat, add the chives, bean sprouts, peanuts, and carrot and toss to combine.

Serve it up, you might want to include some dried red pepper, lime juice, fish sauce, or, if you're a bad person, some soy sauce on the side.