Today is the recipe for the most famous thai street food, which is a real pad thai like in Bangkok. This is a dish that can be found practically on every street made on the spot in a few minutes in the food cart. Pad thai is everywhere and it is perhaps the most famous thai dish!
And here’s a funny thing… it is not a thai recipe, but chinese … ☺And its full name is kway teow pad thai, and kway teow in chinese means “rice noodles”.
Historically, the dish was popularised in the 30s of the last century by the prime minister. It was nutritious and cheap source of protein, good for times of economic crisis, which the country then passed. Rice noodles was very cheap, and the remaining components widely available (dish not always have to be so rich). Time made pad thai has grown to become the symbol of thai cuisine.
But what amuses me most is the fact that most thais do not eat it – so say my thai friends ☺
I personally really like this dish, and from time to time I do at home.
It is trivial to prepare and is made literally in a minute. I prepared for You step by step description, but in fact, it can be closed in the words “throw the ingredients in the wok and fry”. Although there’s s little bit of work with prior preparation and chopping ingredients, so i divided the recipe to stages – I hope it will be helpful for you. I personally prepare it this way, that all of the ingredients I translate into separate bowls and fry separately for each person, so everyone can freely choose their ingredients they want. It’s quintesence of street food.
Ingredients (serving for 2-3 people):
1/2 package of rice noodles 5mm/0,2in width
1 single chicken breast
black tiger shrimps 12 (approx. 150g/5,3oz)
3 spring onions with chives
1 cube of tofu
1 egg
100g/3,5oz mung bean sprouts
2 tbsp dried shrimp
3 cloves of garlic
2 chillies (optional)
oil for frying
Tamarind sauce:
50g/1,7oz tamarind paste in the cube
130ml/4,4fl oz water
4 tbsp fish sauce (vegetarians can substitute it with soy sauce)
2 tbsp sugar
Decoration:
1 lemon
50g/1,7oz peanuts (optional)
20g/0,7oz bean sprouts
Accessories:
large bowl
wok or frying pan
cutting board
sharp knife
several small bowls
Prior preparation of ingrediends:
Break noodles in half. Put them in a large bowl and pour lukewarm water to completely cover. Soak for 30 minutes, meanwhile preparing remaining ingredients
Cut chicken breast into cubes 1cm/0,4in
Onions cut into as narrow as possible stylus 1mm/0,04in
Spring onions cut into 3cm/1,2in pieces
Bake or fry Tofu using this recipe
Egg disorter in a small bowl, then fry small omelette, and cut it into strips 1x4cm/0,4×1,6in
Dried shrimp chop into small pieces
Peel and chop the garlic
Chop chili
Roast peanuts on a dry frying pan, stirring frequently, until browned on tight. Then separate the brown husk (at the bottom you will find a hint how to do this), and crush nuts into smaller pieces (I do it in a mortar, but you can also use a food processor or a knife).
Prepare the sauce:
Cut tamarind paste into 1cm/0,4in pieces
Blend all ingredients until smooth paste
All things ready? Cook ☺
Recipe:
In a frying pan or wok warm up 2 tablespoons oil
Add garlic, onions, chili, dried shrimp and fry for 1 minute
Add chicken and fry for 3-4 minutes
Add prawns and fry for 30 seconds
Add noodles
Add the tamarind sauce, tofu, egg and fry for 2-3 minutes stirring frequently. If the dish is too dry, you can add a little more sauce, or water
Add the sprouts and chives and sprinkle with lemon juice
You can add some more sugar, fish sauce and lemon to taste. The dish should be sweetish and sour
Transfer on a plate, sprinkle with peanuts and sprouts
Serve with a piece of lemon to the individual souring
Tips:
Tamarind paste gives the dish a distinctive sour flavor. If you do not have it, you can replace it with a bit of vinegar and sriracha sauce
Do not boil the pasta. Soaking is enough. It really comes during frying. If it still is to hard during frying add a little water into the wok
The secret of the dish is to achieve good balance between the three key ingredients: fish sauce, tamarind paste and lemon
Peanuts are optional. In Thailand, many people don’t use them because in that climate if they are poorly stored, they coveres in mold, which is harmful to the health and carcinogenic
To get rid of brown skin from roasted peanuts I put them into medium bowl and cover it with another bowl or plate, and then shake intensively for few seconds
Nice recipe!
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