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April 13th, 2008 |
Duck’s Basic Pad ThaiSome of my Friends have been asking me for this recipe for a long time - the only problem was, I never really had a recipe. Pad Thai is a staple around my house - hardly a week goes by without us having it at least once. It's also one of those recipes I just make from memory - nothing really gets measured, and if I'm missing an ingredient I'll just improvise. However, I recently got around to actually measuring out my ingredients while I make it. The recipe below is what I'd consider my 'Basic' Pad Thai - everything else kind of branches from this as a base. This should take about 20-30 minutes from start to finish, and will make about 4 servings. Enjoy!
| Ingredients: | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1-2 | Chicken Breasts, Diced | |
| 1-2 | cups | Cooked Shrimp |
| 1 | cup | Firm Tofu, Sliced |
| 1/2-1 | lb | Fresh Bean Sprouts |
| 2 | teaspoons | Green Onion, Minced |
| 1 | Egg | |
| 1-2 | tablespoons | Cooking Oil |
| 1 | tablespoon | Fish Sauce |
| 1-2 | teaspoons | Minced Garlic |
| 2 | tablespoons | Tamarind Paste* |
| 2 | tablespoons | Sugar |
| 1 | teaspoon | Red Chili Flakes* |
| 2 | teaspoons | Cardamom |
| 1/2 | cup | Peanuts, Crushed |
| 2 | teaspoons | Lime Juice |
| 1/2 | package | Thai Rice Noodles* |
Begin by soaking the Rice Noodles in water. Most packages will tell you to soak them in cool water for about 20 to 30 minutes. I usually just use hot tap water, which cuts the soaking time by half. You can also boil a kettle of water and soak the noodles in that, getting the soaking time down to about 5 minutes, but you need to watch that they don't soak too long doing it this way.
In a Large Wok, bring Oil to temperature and begin cooking Chicken. When the Chicken no longer appears pink, add the Tofu, Minced Garlic, and Green Onion. Fry this until the Chicken is fully cooked. By now the Noodles should be soft and flexible - if they start to expand or look 'bloated' they've been soaking too long (they're still edible, they'll just fall apart). Strain the noodles, and add them to the Wok. If you have a lot of liquid left in your Wok, leave the heat up to help boil it away, otherwise turn it down somewhat.
Add the Fish Sauce, Tamarind Paste (or White Vinegar if you can't find Tamarind), and Sugar to the Wok, and fold this into the Noodles. Add the Lime Juice, Red Chili Flakes, and Cardamom, and again fold this into the Noodles (trust me, you don't want the Chili Flakes in one clump!)
At this stage, push the noodles to one side of the Wok, and crack your Egg into the hollow spot. Scramble it up until it's nearly cooked, then fold into the Noodles.
Last, add your Shrimp, Bean Sprouts, and Peanuts, folding the whole mix together again. Let this cook for a few more minutes, stirring and folding occasionally. At this point your noodles should be fairly tangled, and the other ingredients should be pretty evenly spread through them.
There's really nothing left to do at this point but to serve it up and enjoy! Crushed Peanuts, slices of Lime, and Chili sauce can be served with the dish to top it off.
If you don't have a Wok, any large frying pan or skillet will also work. If you're also lacking those options, you can fry the Chicken/Tofu in a smaller frying pan, and then mix everything in a large pot.
As an alternative, I'll often replace the Rice Noodles with about 1 lb of Cooked Spaghetti Squash. You'll have to simmer the dish a while longer as a result (or just eat it soggier!) but you end up with a very tasty, low-carb alternative that's absolutely loaded with veggies.
Enjoy!
Duck L'Orange
I just can’t stand that much fish sauce to be honest.
Looks quite similar to my Pad Thai recipe. Although I usually skip the tofu, and just add another breast of chicken. I usually use about 2 tablespoons of fish sauce, and no cardamom. Other than that it’s almost the same.