Pad Thai

One of my favorite Thai dishes is Pad Thai.  The combination of spices and fresh flavors will cause you to become addicted to this dish.  You can make it with anything from chicken, beef, tofu, to seafood.  My favorite is chicken.

This was Roger’s first time eating Pad Thai.  He is not exactly the biggest fan of noodles and didn’t like it very much – which is surprising to me because The Boys couldn’t get enough of it.  Roger was a good sport and ate most of it.  I’ll have to make him something extra special this weekend.  Something Korean…

Ingredients:

½ lime

1 egg

4 tsp fish sauce

4 garlic cloves, minced

½ tsp ground dried chili

1 shallot, minced

2 tbsp sugar

2 tbsp tamarind

½ package Thai rice noodles (I prefer the thin noodles)

3 tbsp oil

1 lb chicken breast, cut into bite sized pieces (you can use beef, seafood, etc.)

2 green onions, sliced (scallions)

1 cup bean sprouts

½ cup crushed, dry roasted peanuts

Directions:

1. Soak noodles in warm (almost hot) water while preparing other ingredients.
2. Heat 1 tbsp oil and 1 minced garlic clove on high heat in wok.
3. Add chicken and fry until cooked, set aside.
4. Add remaining oil, shallots, and garlic to wok, sauté until lightly browned.
5. Drain noodles and add to wok.
6. Stir quickly to keep ingredients from sticking.
7. Add tamarind, sugar, fish sauce, and chili pepper.  Continuously toss and keep wok on high heat.  If your wok is not hot enough you will see a lot of liquid at the bottom of the pan.  If this happens, turn up the heat.
8. Make room for the egg by pushing the noodles to the sides of the wok, crack the egg and scramble it until it is almost cooked.
9. Fold the egg into the noodles; add the cooked chicken, bean sprouts and green onions.
10. Toss a few more times - the noodles should be soft and tangled.
11. Pour onto serving plate and sprinkle with crushed peanuts.  Serve noodles hot with slices of lime and a sprinkling of raw bean sprouts on top.

It is traditional to have extra condiments at a Thai table.  The additional condiments could include, sugar, chili pepper, vinegar, and fish sauce.   This allows your guests to add any extras that they really enjoy.  I like to add extra chili pepper to my Pad Thai – extra spicy!