Pad Thai it is then

The people have asked for Pad Thai…. So Pad Thai is what they will get and what a good choice it is.

My story about Pad Thai starts at the beginning of my story. We had landed in Thailand about four days before, and I had been in a haze of jet lag, humidity and a pretty awful case of prickly heat. We went down to what can really only be described as a large outside shed, which enticed you to come in and eat with signs like “welcome, drink here, do not die”.

You end up sitting on the floor on these traditional Asian triangle cushions (I am sure they have a name, but I don’t know what it is) sat around glass tables and you get chatting to other travellers. Staring at the menu with complete confusion, a fellow traveller said to me, just try the Pad Thai, everyone likes Pad Thai, well he wasn’t wrong. It was simple, but delicious!

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So here it is, the traditional recipe for Pad Thai: 

Ingredients (for two people):

• 300 grams of straight to wok rice noodles or egg noodles
• 2 garlic cloves
• A handful of cooked tofu (optional)
• 1 tablespoon of oil
• 60 grams of bean sprouts
• 1 egg
• 6 Spring onions
• 2 chicken breasts and/or 6 king prawns
• A handful of crushed peanuts
• ¼ of a cup of water

For the sauce;

• 2 teaspoons of fish sauce
• 2 teaspoons of white sugar
• 1 dessert spoon of tamarind paste
• 2 tablespoons of light soy sauce
• If the sauce ingredients seems too much like hard work, you can cheat and buy some tasty pre-made Pad Thai sauces.

How to make it:

Step one: Place the oil into a wok and heat. Once the wok is hot, add the crushed garlic, tofu chunks and chicken cut into small strips and cook until the chicken has turned brown.

Step two: Add the noodles and water to the wok and cook on a high heat for about 1 – 2 minutes until it is hot.

Step three: Turn the heat down slightly and add the fish sauce, white sugar, tamarind paste and soy sauce. Cook for two more minutes.

Step four: Add the bean sprouts, spring onions and king prawns and cook for a further two minutes.

Step five: The next bit is tricky and takes practice. To make it real Thai style, you need to add a beaten egg, but so that it doesn’t turn your dish into mush, you need to push all your noodles to one side of the wok, then turn the heat up really high, beat the egg, and then quickly pour it in on the empty side of the wok, you are almost trying to make it fry like a thin omelette before it hits the noodles. Mix it all back together and heat for a further minute.

Step six: Plate up your dishes and then add the crushed peanuts on top.

In Thailand, you can buy Pad Thai from any restaurant but some of the best Pad Thai is from the street vendors in the cities for around 20p. If only we could buy food from the streets of our towns for that price and it taste better than the restaurants!

As with my other recipes, if you get a chance to make it, let me know what you think!

Next blog entry: Malaysia…….a food identity crisis?