Pad Thai

Pad Thai with Shrimp

Pad Thai (or Phat Thai) is one of the most widely recognized Thai dishes in the United States, offering a delicious combination of salty, sweet, and sour flavors soaked up by tender rice noodles. This recipe is my version of the dish as found stateside. I encourage you to search the web for more information about the dish, its history, and its variations - the short version of which is that Pad Thai as you know it is probably different than the original dish or from how you'll find it served in Thailand. In any case, and in my opinion, as long as the sauce doesn't have ketchup or tomato sauce, the ingredients are fresh, and it is prepared with care, even our western-palette-adapted versions are a worthy one-plate meal.

Servings: 2

Time: 45 minutes

Sauce Ingredients:

• ¼ cup palm sugar, grated (or light brown sugar)
• ¼ cup fish sauce
• ¼ cup tamarind soup base, made from 1 Tbsp tamarind concentrate plus 3 Tbsp water
• 1 tsp sriracha sauce (optional)

Stir-fry Ingredients:

• 1 good handful of rice noodles (a little more than 1" diameter bundle)
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 8 to 10 fresh shrimp (U20-24)
• 1 tablespoon minced shallot
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• [optional] 1 tablespoon chopped salted radish
• ¼ cup extra-firm tofu, pressed to expel moisture, cut into ½" x ½" x 1" pieces
• ¼ to ⅓ cup water
• 1 cup fresh bean sprouts
• ¼ cup carrot matchsticks
• ¼ green onion, cut into 1" pieces
• 1 or 2 teaspoons sugar (palm sugar or white sugar)
• 2 tablespoons chopped roasted peanuts
• 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
• a few lime wedges
• [optional] fried garlic, shallot, or both for garnish

Directions:

1. Prepare sauce by grating palm sugar, adding sauce ingredients to a small bowl, and stirring until mixed and sugar is dissolved.
2. Prepare tofu by draining, sandwiching between paper towels and applying pressure with a dinner plate to press out moisture. Cut into ½" x ½" x 1" pieces.
3. Soak rice noodles in warm water for 15 minutes. It is okay if they sit for a little longer while preparing other ingredients.
4. Mince garlic and finely dice shallot. Rinse then gently squeeze dry preserved radish and mince, if using.
5. Prepare vegetables. Rinse and dry all produce. Peel and cut carrot into matchsticks (approximately 1/8" square by 2 inches long), cut green onion into 1" pieces.
6. Beat egg lightly in a small bowl.
7. Heat 1 Tbsp neutral oil in a wok over medium-high heat. When hot, add egg and stir-fry until just cooked. Remove and set aside on a plate.
8. Heat 1 Tbsp neutral oil in a wok over medium-high heat. When hot, cook shrimp until until just done, being careful not to overcook.
9. Heat 1 Tbsp neutral oil in the wok over medium-high heat. When hot, add garlic, shallot, and radish. Stir-fry until fragrant.
10. Add tofu and fry until tofu is lightly browned.
11. Increase wok heat to high. Drain and add rice noodles along with ¼ to ⅓ cup of water. Stir-fry until water is absorbed and wok is dry.
12. Add carrot, green onion, bean sprouts, egg, shrimp, about ¼ cup of sauce, and 1 or 2 tsp of sugar. Stir-fry until sauce is absorbed and vegetables are tender.
13. Divide among two plates or bowls, topping with cilantro, peanut, fried shallot or garlic, and garnish with a wedge of lime. Provide fish sauce, sugar, and chili flakes as condiments on the table.

Notes:

• Prepare all of your ingredients before starting to cook. The cook time is short, but everything must be ready to go when needed.
• Between steps, add neutral oil as needed to wok and heat over medium-high heat to reach the quantity specified.
• Substitute light brown sugar for palm sugar in sauce if needed.
• If you don't have a wok, use a non-stick frying pan.

Pictures:

Ingredient mise-en-place.

Noodles soaking in warm water. I use a sauté pan as it is wide enough to fit the noodles and tall enough to hold the water.

Fry the egg.

Cook the shrimp.

Sauté aromatics.

Add tofu and cook until lightly browned.

Add noodles and water, cook until dry.

Add remainder of ingredients and sauce.

Stir-fry until sauce is absorbed and vegetables are tender.

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Shan Noodles (ရှမ်းခေါက်ဆွဲ)

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Erin spent a significant chunk of the previous decade in Myanmar's Shan State - a beautiful mountainous region in Northeast Myanmar. Not only is the region beautiful, but the people are incredibly friendly, and the food is fresh and delicious. 

Shan noodles (Shan khao sway) is a well-known Shan dish that you will find throughout Myanmar. It's an ideal comfort food or an easy lunch/dinner. Erin has also been known to seek out a good bowl of Shan noodles for breakfast in Myanmar!

This recipe calls for ground chicken or pork, but you can also use chicken breast that you cut up into small pieces or make this vegetarian using tofu. 

The recipe that Erin uses is based on the Burma Superstar recipe, although she has modified it some to her liking!

This recipe will make 4 nice servings. Rice noodle dishes don’t quite re-heat “the same,” and so I recommend eating this fresh (but it is certainly still edible and better than most things re-heated, just not quite as good as it is fresh).

 

Ingredients:

- 1 lb. ground chicken or pork

- 1.5 Tbsp paprika (don’t used smoked if you can)

- ¼ tsp cayenne pepper

- 1/3 tsp turmeric

- ½ tsp five-spice powder

- 1 tsp salt

- ¼ tsp dried chili flakes

- ¼ cup canola oil

- 2 cups minced yellow onion

- 3 roma tomatoes, diced like the onion (on-the-vine also likely fine)

- ¼ cup minced garlic

- ½ tbsp soy sauce

- 12 oz. rice noodles (dry)

- Green onions, sliced

- ¼ cup pickled mustard greens (OR I make bok choy)

For Bok Choy:

-          1.5 cup chopped bok choy (either baby or regular)

-          1 tsp soy sauce

-          Salt and pepper to season

Directions:

Mix the ground meat in a bowl with paprika, cayenne, turmeric, five-spice, salt, and chili flakes. Let this marinate while you prep the other ingredients (or at least 10 minutes). 

In a pot/pan (ideally a straight-sided sauté pan), heat the canola oil over medium-high heat. Add the onions and stir occasionally until they are turning translucent (~3-4 minutes). Then add the tomato and stir occasionally for another 3 minutes. Add the garlic, lower the heat to medium and cook another 3-4 minutes.

           

Put water on to boil for the noodles.

Add the ground meat and stir often until the meat is cooked through (~7-8 minutes). Cook the bok choy while this cooks.

-s.

Bok Choy: Heat about 1 tsp of oil over medium-high heat. Add the bok choy and stir. Add salt and pepper to season and cook until the bok choy starts to wilt (~3 minutes). Remove from the heat and stir in soy sauce. Serve on top of Shan noodle

Remove the meat from the heat when it is cooked and add the soy sauce. I like to leave it on very low/warm while everything else preps to keep the juices flowing as this makes a tiny bit of a ‘sauce.’

Once the water is boiling, add the dried rice noodles. I use ‘pad thai’ noodles and they take about 3-4 minutes to cook.

Strain the noodles using a colander and then add to your meat sauce and stir to combine. If your pot isn’t big enough, you can combine in a larger pot or serving dish.

Serve into a bowl and top with bok choy (or mustard greens) and sliced green onions.  

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