Pad Thai
From Kamolmal's Thai Home Cooking
Soak 20 - 25 minutes in enough warm water to cover them, then drain
½ lb dried rice noodles 1/8” wide
1/2 lb shrimp (peeled and de-veined), chicken, or pork or a combination meat should be cut 1/8 thick by 1 - 2" long
Mix:
1/4 c fish sauce
1/4 c + 2 T granulated sugar
1/4 c + 2 T white vinegar
1 t paprika or 1 T tomato paste or 1 T ketchup*
4 scallions, sliced diagonally into pieces 1 1/2" long by 1/4" thick
1/2 c vegetable oil
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
2 eggs
-
Heat a wok, add oil, stir fry garlic until light golden. Add meat and stir fry until done (shrimp pink, other meat not pink).
Add noodles and toss. Add fish sauce mixture and bring to boil quickly. Fold noodles carefully to coat them. Push noodles to one side and break an egg into the wok (may need a little more oil). Cover with noodles. Do the same on the other side. When the eggs are done, fold them into the noodles and meat.
Add sprouts and scallions and cook 2 more minutes. Garnish with chilies, peanuts, lime wedges (to be squeezed on by individual eater).
When I was in Toronto, I went to a brilliant Thai restaurant that served me a Pad Thai that was a work of art as well as delicious. And their Thai iced tea was incredible. The Pad Thai had the peanuts in one corner of the plate (if a round plate even has corners), more scallions in another, and strips of carrot in a third. The whole thing was garnished with a shrimp sitting tail up in the center. It was fantastic. You could add as much of the peanut as you wanted, as if I would short myself in that department. These people had presentation down pat.
*For years I used paprika and then one day I had a Pad Thai at a local restaurant (now defunct) and realized that they were using ketchup. What the hell, I thought. If they can use ketchup, so can I.
