Friday, August 13, 2010

Pad Thai, by request

I just noticed that my Mom asked for the Pad Thai recipe a couple of days ago, so here it is!

Ingredients:
1/2 package of Thai rice noodles
1 pound of protein (chicken, tofu, or mock duck would go best. I supposed tempeh would go as well, but it's really gross and you should not eat it because it is disgusting)
1/4 cup of Soy Sauce (or less. At least 3T, in any case. I know, it's a lot. Get low-sodium soy sauce)
2 T vinegar
1 T peanuts
4 cloves garlic
1 1/2 cup green onion (I just used onion, because I didn't have any green onion on hand, and it tasted fine)
1 cup bean sprouts
1/2 t ground chili powder
2 T sugar
1 egg
Vegetable oil. The more you add, the better it tastes! (but remember that your daily recommended serving is as little as possible. But you know, canola oil and olive oil are healthier than most oils, so use those and you can add more with less guilt)

Soak the noodles in warm water for 10 minutes or so while you prepare the other ingredients. The nice thing about these noodles is that they only need to be soaked before you toss them in the pan/wok. No other cooking is necessary. Cool.

Anyway, cut your tofu into matchstick-like pieces, (or if using mock duck or chicken, make sure it's in bite size pieces. Also any meat needs to be pre-cooked). Then julienne the green onion so its the same size as the tofu (and the bean sprouts). Reserve half the bean sprouts and onion. Mince some of the onion with the garlic.

Anyway, heat up some oil in a wok (I don't have a wok, so I used a large pot, but a 12" pan would also work, but I don't have one of those, either). Fry the peanuts until toasty-looking, then remove them and set them aside for now.

Add the minced onion, garlic, and tofu to the pan. Stir fry until brown. Drain and add the noodles when they are soft and flexible, but don't soak them too long. Stir and mix quickly to coat the noodles with the oil and everything, otherwise they will stick.

Add vinegar, soy sauce, chili powder and sugar. Stir some more until evenly coated. The dish should not be very wet, so if you have a lot of juices at the bottom, turn up the heat a bit. Push everything to one side of the pan, and scramble the egg in the empty space (or if your pot is too small to do that, cook your egg in a separate pot), and fold it into everything else.

Add some of the bean sprouts and green onion and mix it in. While that's cooking, take those roasted peanuts and crush them. I used a bowl and glass as a mortar and pestle, but if you have a mortar and pestle, use that.

Anyway, the Pad Thai is finished, so serve it up in bowls, and sprinkle the rest of the bean sprouts, onion, and crushed peanuts. Voila! It takes only around 20 minutes of intense cooking and it's super delicious. You can also add squirt some fresh lime juice on there, and it'll taste nummy.

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