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Thai Cuisine: Pad Thai
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Pad
Thai (or Phad Thai, "Thai style
frying") is a dish of stir-fried rice noodles with eggs,
fish sauce, tamarind juice, red chilli pepper, plus any combination
of bean sprouts, shrimp, chicken, or tofu, garnished with crushed
peanuts and coriander. It is normally served with a piece of
lime, the juice of which can be added along with Thai condiments.
In Thailand, it is also served with a piece of banana flower.
There have evolved two different styles
of Pad Thai: the version most often found in the streets of
Thailand, which is relatively dry and light; and the version
that seems dominant in many restaurants in the West, which may
be covered in a red oil and can be heavy tasting.
Though the dish had been known in various
forms for centuries (it is thought to have been brought to the
ancient Thai capital of Ayuthaya by Vietnamese traders), it
was first made popular as a national dish by Luang Phibunsongkhram
when he was Prime Minister during the 1930s and 1940s, partly
as an element of his campaign for Thai nationalism and centralization,
and partly for a campaign to reduce rice consumption in Thailand.
The Thai economy at this time was heavily dependent on rice
exports; Phibunsongkhram hoped to increase the amount of it
available for export by launching a campaign to educate the
poor in the production of rice noodles, as well as in the preparation
of these noodles with other ingredients to sell in small cafes
and from street carts.
Outside of Thailand, Pad Thai is one of
the best-known Thai dishes, and is very popular in Thai restaurants
in America and Australia.
Pad Thai Recipe
INGREDIENTS
8 oz Thai rice noodles
1/4 cup tamarind paste
1/4 cup warm water
4 oz skinless, boneless chicken breast
4 oz fried tofu
6 tbsp roasted unsalted peanuts
3 tbsp fish sauce
2 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp lime juice
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp chopped garlic
8 large shrimps, shelled and deveined (50 oz)
2 eggs
1 cup bean sprouts
2 stems green onion, cut into 1-inch pieces
1/2 tsp roasted chilies
Strips of red pepper
Fresh coriander leaves
Wedges of lime
PREPARATION
1. Soak noodles in plenty of cold water for at least 1 hour.
2. Combine tamarind paste with a 1/4 cup
warm water in a small bowl and let soak for at least 15 minutes.
3. Slice the chicken into 1/4-inch strips.
If you find it difficult to cut thinly through fresh meat, leave
it in the freezer for 15-20 minutes to harden slightly and then
slice. Reserve.
4. Slice the fried tofu into 3/4-inch cubes.
Reserve.
5. Blend or process peanuts into coarse
meal. Reserve.
6. Return to your reserved tamarind paste
in its water. Mash it and transfer the mud-like mixture to a
strainer set into a bowl. Mash and push with a spoon, forcing
liquid to strain into the bowl. Scrape off the juice that clings
to the underside of the strainer. You will have about 5 tbsp
of tamarind juice. Add to it the fish sauce, sugar and lime
juice. Beat to thoroughly mix and reserve. Discard the solids
left in the strainer.
7. Heat oil in a wok (or large frying pan)
until it is just about to smoke. Add garlic and stir, letting
it cook for about 30 seconds. Add chicken and stir-fry for 1
minute. Add tofu and shrimps and stir-fry for 1 more minute.
Break eggs into wok and let them fry without breaking them up
for 1-2 minutes.
8. While eggs cook, quickly drain the noodles
and then add to wok, giving them a quick fold, stir-frying for
1 minute from the bottom up. Add reserved tamarind juice, etc.
(from step #6) and continue stir-frying, mixing everything together
for 1-2 minutes. Your noodles will have subsided to half their
original volume and softened up to al dente.
9. Add about 2/3 of the reserved ground
peanuts and stir. Add about 2/3 of the bean sprouts and all
the green onion pieces. Stir-fry for 30 seconds and take off
heat.
l0. Transfer noodles to a serving dish
and sprinkle with roasted chilies. Top with the rest of the
ground peanuts, the rest of the sprouts, some strips of red
pepper and fresh coriander leaves. Stick a couple of lime wedges
on the side and serve immediately.
Recipe from:
Simply Thai Cooking
By Wandee Young and Byron Ayanoglu
Robert Rose, Inc., 1996
$17.95/trade paperback
ISBN 1-896503-18-7
