Before I start jotting down my recipe for this Pad Thai, I’d like to make a disclaimer: this is not the authentic style. The flavor, ingredients and technique were based on my and husband’s own liking and palate, also at least 3 recipes from the web which I will mention later.
Pad Thai and Panang Curry with either beef or chicken are two of my favorite Thai dish. I have not been to Thailand but hoping to have a vacation sometime, so for the mean time, I can only imagine myself savoring their food and their culture as I am truly fascinated by the country. If my palate is divided into countries of my food preference it would be: Filipino/Japanese/Thai/Vietnamese particularly Pho/Persian/Italian and dare won’t put in my most favorite to least order except I’d put my own country first understandably.
My first Pad Thai encounter in Australia was when we’re few weeks close to a month of our residency here. TJ’s colleague then, who became a dear friend to us who happens to be Thai, introduced us to a restaurant near our place. She said that their food is almost like the same one back to their home country, and maybe the only difference is the location. So we tried it for ourselves, ordered Pad Thai and fell head over heels instantly. At that time, I was not paying attention with the external environment as I was being mindful of the ingredients and the taste of the Pad Thai and knew right there and then that I am going to make one in my own kitchen. That moment it was like every flavor activating my palate would produce an orchestra sound and the experience became more of a concert tapping the home cook in me.
I’m used to ordering no meat Pad Thai comprised of tofu and veggies at the Thai Restaurants here in Central Coast but you can always modify this recipe by adding shrimp, chicken and/ or beef. TJ and I are trying to moderate our meat consumption both for better health and better environment, so I preferred this recipe plant- based. I find that there is no hard and fast rule about which veggies to add because veggies from the restaurants and even the recipes I checked differs so I guess it’s for anyone’s liking as the base asian-tropical flavor is there: SWEET/ SOUR/ SALTY/ SAVORY and even SPICY.
The first time I cooked the Pad Thai was a let down for me. The taste wasn’t the way I expected it to be or how I remembered it, but to my surprised TJ liked it. I wasn’t convinced enough so I asked TJ to let Vee (our Thai friend) taste it, and turned even more of a blunder (well, as for my own thought) as she said it wasn’t how Pad Thai tasted exactly. She then sent a recipe from Pailin’s Kitchen from YouTube. As I was watching, I recalled I had all the elements of sweet, sour and salty but her ingredients were fresh from a tropical country and some are not readily accessible here. Pailin prepared her own Tamarind Puree which I wouldn’t dare to do as of yet so I bought a ready made. Her Pad Thai was so original and ideal, I won’t pluck up courage and claim the crown of authenticity as I haven’t been to Thailand so I created an EASY RECIPE, but her technique inspired me to do better in the future and even more desperate to visit Thailand (Although, Pailin’s kitchen made an earlier recipe of Pad Thai and the one that was sent to me is the best authentic version so better check it out as well). That led me to watch one of the Food Network resident Chef Jet Tila, who is a well- known American Chef whose roots are from Thailand. I was so glad that he used a Tamarind concentrate so I thought I wasn’t a lost cause. Then I visit google and checked other easy recipes from RecipeTin Eats and Taste then merged everything.
So to date, this is my third time cooking it. I am still not an expert, I know but I am taking a leap here. The time I went shopping for ingredients was during Black Friday, so some ingredients I couldn’t find anymore like the Chives, the Thai Basil and I still have other ingredients in the fridge that can make do like the lime replaced by lemon so that prompted me to make some adjustments. My apologies! I will still include on the ingredients I would definitely add but I really wanted to put this down and post this for future reference before I forget it.
Let’s begin!
Materials:
- wide pan or wok
- wooden spoon/ thongs
- bowl for soaking the rice noodles
- bowl for mixing the sauce
- warm water
Ingredients:
A. SAUCE
- 2 tbsp oyster sauce
- 2 tbsp Tamarind Puree/liquid/concentrate
- 2 tbsp fish sauce
- 1 tsp lime (preferrably)/ or lemon juice, freshly squeezed
- 1 tsp Sriracha (optional)
- 3 tbsp brown sugar (I prefer muscovado or coconut sugar but if you see palm sugar as recommended by Pailin’s kitchen, might be better)
B. OTHERS
- 1 portion of Pad Thai rice noodles (I used the gluten free one) check: RecipeTin Eats for the particular brand
- Firm tofu chopped into cubes
- Shiitake mushroom (optional)- just for additional replacement for meat
- 2 eggs, lightly whisked
- chopped onions
- crushed and chopped garlic (4 cloves)
- fresh coriander leaves
- fresh Thai basil or Australian basil
- Garlic chives (can be replaced by scallions)
- carrots (optional, shape as you prefer)
- zucchini (optional, shape as you prefer)
- red chillies (preferrably cayenne)
- crushed unsalted peanuts, 6 oz
- red chillies (optional)
- lime wedges preferably or lemon wedges (as what I used)
- 2 tbsp of peanut oil
- Daikon raddish (for more authenticity, but I wasn’t able to find one so optional in my case)
Procedure:
- Soak 1 portion of rice noodles in warm water.
- Then incorporate and mix all the ingredients for the sauce.
- On a small pan or same pan, fry the tofu. I usually prefer frying it first to add more firmness to it but there are available packed fried tofu or bean curd. No need to fry it all the way, once you see some golden brown on the sides, that would do. Set aside once satisfied.
- On a medium sized pan/ wok over a low to medium fire, add 2 tbsp of peanut oil. Once on moderate heat, add the chopped garlic. Once golden brown, add the onions.
- Add the carrots and mix.
- Add the mushroom and mix (THIS IS OPTIONAL. I mean, don’t cringe. I just like extra meat-like texture :D)
- Push the mixed ingredients to the other side of the pan and add the whisked egg on the other side.
- Once semi-cooked, may incorporate all ingredients. Add the fried tofu and the zucchini.
- Add half of the sauce mixture to the contents of the pan and incorporate well.
- Then drain the rice noodles and place the noodles to the the pan and incorporate well with the contents.
- Add the bean sprouts, basil, coriander, garlic chives, and crushed peanuts but leave a little for the garnishing.
- Then add the remaining half of the sauce and incorporate well.
- Serve on a plate, add more sprouts, garnish with basil and coriander, and sprinkle with red chillies (if you like it spicier) and more crushed peanuts.
- serve with lime wedges (or lemon in this case).
- Share and Enjoy!
** In my video, I added the eggs first before the mushroom and other veggies, but in the procedure it came later. Maybe interchangeable, at my own terms! LOL 😀
Total time: 25- 30 minutes (10 minutes prep time and 15-20 minutes cooking time)
Serves: 3 persons
SHARE and ENJOY!
The Housewife, MD 