This blog has changed not only what I cook, but in many ways how I cook. When I started the blog, I stole the idea of showing a picture of all of the ingredients for the recipe from a number of other cooking blogs that I viewed. In order to get that picture, the very first thing is to get everything out on the counter at once. Previously, I would often start one part of a recipe and use the downtime when something was cooking to get more ingredients out and prepped.
There is a sub set of recipes that both require quite a bit of prep (i.e. chopping or measuring out) and very fast cooking steps (cook for 1 minute then….). There is nothing like having all the ingredients at your fingertips for that kind of recipe to delude you into feeling like a professional chef. As noted in a previous post, I am now the owner of quite a few ramekins. Besides baking in them, they are ideal for holding small quantities of ingredients.
This Pork Pad Thai was excellent. Lighter than you would expect and very flavorful.
Lots of ingredients.
Starting the sauce.
Look at that completed prep work. Everything cut or chopped, measured and ready. I count six ramekins, two small glass dishes, two other small bowls, two measuring cups and my favorite container for large prepped ingredients, a large plastic container that originally held packaged lunch meat.
Frying up the pork.
The wispy noodles cooking up.
Getting the onions started.
Adding the noodles.
Beginning to look like Pad Thai.
Pad Thai Recipe
Prep Time: 10 mins | Cook Time: 20 mins | Makes: 2
Ingredients:
- 1/3 cup fish sauce
- 1/2 cup palm sugar
- 1/2 cup tamarind juice concentrate
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 4 ounces dried rice stick noodles
- 6 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- cup red onion, thinly sliced
- 1 ½ cups thinly sliced chicken, beef, pork, shrimp, or tofu
- 1 egg
- 1 cup carrots, match sticks
- cup green onion cut diagonal in ½ inch segments
- 1 cup mung bean sprouts
- cup cilantro
- cup toasted peanuts chopped
- Lime wedge
Directions:
To make pad thai sauce, heat a small pan on medium low and add fish sauce, palm sugar, tamarind concentrate, and garlic. Cook sauce until palm sugar has completely dissolve. At this point, you will want to taste the sauce and tweek the sweetness or hotness (be careful, the sauce will be hot). To make it more spicy add a little Thai chili powder. Remove from heat and allow to cool 10 minutes before storing it in a jar or plastic container.
Boil noodles for 4-5 minutes and drain immediately rinsing with cold water for a few seconds. Noodles should be slightly firmer than Al dente. But don’t worry, they will continue to soften and cook later when stir frying. Using kitchen shears, cut the noodle clump in half. This will make it easier to fry and eat.
Heat 3 tablespoons of oil in a wok or frying pan on high and cook raw chicken, pork, beef, tofu or shrimp for 3-4 minutes. Remove meat/tofu/seafood into a small bowl. Next, heat the remaining oil and then add garlic and red onions to the hot pan and stir fry for 1 minute stirring the garlic mixture so it will not burn. Add noodles and stir for 1 minute. Add 3-4 tablespoons Pad Thai sauce continually stirring noodle mixture until well coated with sauce. Add cooked meat/tofu/seafood back and fry for 2-3 minutes. Move the noodle and meat mixture to one side of the pan and crack an egg on the other side. Scramble the egg with a wooden spoon and cook for 30 seconds. Add carrots, green onions, and sprouts and cook for one more minute frying everything together. Test the firmness of the noodle. If the noodle is too firm, fry for an additional minute. If your noodles need more flavor, add another tablespoon of sauce and fry another half minute. Remove from heat and serve. Garnish with remaining raw carrot match sticks, spouts, cilantro, toasted peanuts, and a wedge of lime. Enjoy!
Source: http://savorysweetlife.com/2009/06/a-favorite-thai-stir-fry-noodle-dish-at-home-pad-thai-recipe/
