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.

Read More

Grilled Tamarind Prawns

Grilled Tamarind Prawns with Nam Pla Prik

One of my all time favorite food experiences occurred during a trip to Thailand a few years back. We were staying on the island of Koh Samui and spending a day wandering along some of the beaches when we came across a small restaurant with incredible fresh seafood. The standout dish was tamarind prawns - large head on prawns with a delicious sweet-sour tamarind sauce and garnish of cilantro and fried shallot.

After our trip I searched long and hard for a "tamarind prawn" recipe in an attempt to recreate the dish at home. After a couple years of searching and experimentation I developed the following recipe for delicious Grilled Tamarind Prawns. The recipe below includes insights gathered from a few recipes I found scattered across the web. Which websites and what insights came from each has been lost to time, since I apparently never bookmarked any of them! In any case, these prawns definitely remind me of the ones we had in Thailand that day on the beach.

My version of Grilled Tamarind prawns marinates and glazes the prawns with a sweet-sour tamarind, palm sugar, and fish sauce based sauce, accented with a little garlic and a healthy punch of ginger. Cooked over very high heat, preferably on a charcoal grill, the prawns pick up smoky flavors before a sprinkling of cilantro and fried shallot and a squeeze of lime adds crunch and brightness. Serve the prawns with Nam Pla Prik on the side to counterbalance the sour-sweet glaze with the irresistible spicy-sour of the famous Thai condiment and you will have a showstopping appetizer that is hard to beat. These prawns are the "chicken wings of the sea" - tender, saucy, and just messy enough to require finger-licking!

For those who might be hesitant to work with head on prawns, here is some advice: buy the freshest you can from a reputable supplier. If you have access to fresh spot prawns, I highly recommend them for this dish. Despite the head being attached, you don't need to go all "Anthony Bourdain" on them and suck on it if you don't want to. If the prawn heads still have you avoiding this recipe, feel free to use shell on, headless large prawns.

Servings: 4 or more as an appetizer

Time: 60 minutes

Equipment:

• wood skewers (one per shrimp)
• 9"x13" or 8"x10" dish with sides for marinating prawns
• a very hot grill, preferably charcoal

Ingredients:

• 8 large fresh prawns with heads on (U-15 to U-12 size)
• ¼ cup fish sauce
• ¼ cup palm sugar, grated
• ¼ cup tamarind juice (2 Tbsp tamarind concentrate plus 2 Tbsp water)
• 1 tsp soy sauce
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 inch piece of ginger, julienned thinly
• a pinch of white pepper
• 2 Tbsp cilantro, leaves and tender stems, rough chopped
• 2 Tbsp fried shallot
• 1 lime
• Nam Pla Prik
• 1 small shallot is about 1 Tbsp shallot. I minced the shallot.
• use at least 4 Thai chiles and as many as you like

Directions:

Prepare the prawns:

1. Devein each prawn using kitchen shears and the tip of a skewer. Using shears, make a cut along the back of the prawn from just below the head down to the tail to split the shell and expose the dark colored digestive tract of the prawn. Pull or scrape the tract out using a knife, scissor tip, or the tip of a skewer.
   
   
2. Skewer each prawn from tail to head with a single wood skewer. The skewer is inserted through the back of the tail until the tip is just into the head of the prawn. This prevents the prawn from curling during cooking. Place skewered prawns into the marinating dish.
   
   
3. If using headless prawns, the tip of the skewer should just stick out the head end of the prawn's body.

Prepare the marinade and glaze:

1. Mix the marinade ingredients in a small bowl. Pour half of the marinade on the prawns and set the other half aside. Rotate the prawn skewers to coat each prawn with marinade. Marinate prawns for 30 to 60 minutes, rotating prawns to recoat a couple times.
   
   
2. Make the glaze. Add a little neutral oil to a small saucepot over medium heat. Add garlic and ginger then cook until fragrant, a minute or two. Add reserved half of marinade to pot along with a pinch of ground white pepper then simmer to create a sticky glaze. The glaze should be thickened but still easily pourable.

After prawns start marinating, prepare your grill:

1. Prepare a grill for very high heat cooking. On a charcoal grill this means that you should barely (or not) be able to hold your hand a few inches over the grate above the coals for one second.
   
   
2. Exactly when you start preheating your grill will depend on what type of grill you have! The marinating time does not need to be exact, but I recommend no more than 60 minutes if possible.

Grill and garnish:

1. Grill the prawns over direct, very high heat for 30 seconds per side until just done. The prawns should just be opaque, although this will be hard to see until they are peeled. I suggest cooking one or two at a time first until you are comfortable judging when they are perfectly cooked.
   
   
2. Transfer prawns to a serving platter and pour the glaze over top. Garnish with fresh chopped cilantro, fried shallot, and lime wedges on the side. Serve with Nam Pla Prik as a dipping sauce.

Enjoy! (aka, how to eat):

1. For each prawn, wiggle the skewer while pulling the prawn to slide it off. Twist the head off the body to remove, and give it a suck if desired. You can also give the prawn legs a suck as they tend to trap the glaze and garnishes.
   
   
2. Peel the shell off the prawn body, give the meat a dip into the Nam Pla Prik, a swipe through the glaze on the plate, or both and enjoy!
   
   
3. Rinse (lick your fingers) and repeat!

Top row: tamarind glaze and Nam Pla Prik Bottom row: prawns on the grill

Notes:

• 1 to 2 prawns makes a great appetizer. 3 to 4 (or more...I ate all 8) is enough for an entrée portion. Perhaps serve with sticky rice and some of your other favorite Thai dishes. 
• This recipe can easily be doubled (or beyond). Simply skewer more prawns and make more marinade.
• Overcooked prawns are tough, chewy, and kind of rubbery, and must be avoided at all costs. Thus, to get both a little charred and smoky flavor without overcooking your grill needs to be very hot.

Read More

Pad Gra Pao (Thai Stir-fried pork with basil)

Pad Gra Pao ready to eat!

Pad Gra Pao is a delicious Thai pork stir-fry featuring salty, sweet, and spicy notes that is a regular in our weeknight meal rotation. Erin introduced Mark to this dish a few years ago, having become a fan of it herself during her time in Thailand and Southeast Asia. When we visited Thailand a couple summers ago, I (Mark) had the chance to try the dish from a local vendor and was shocked by how similar the version we make at home was to the version we had in Thailand. The main difference between our version and what we enjoyed in Thailand is the spice level: we use fewer chili peppers.

The recipe we use originally comes from Leela at SheSimmers. The main difference in our version is that we typically use only regular soy sauce and use fewer Thai chili peppers. Regardless, it is still delicious. Every time we make this dish it turns out slightly different depending on the spiciness of the chile peppers, the amount of garlic or shallot we use, or the exact mixture of sauce ingredients. However, it never disappoints and this stir-fry is a staple in our weeknight diets.

Ingredients

The aromatics - garlic, shallot, Thai chile pepper, and Thai basil

The sauce - oyster, soy, and fish sauces

• 1 pound ground pork
• 5-7 garlic cloves
• 2-3 Thai chili peppers
• 1 large shallot
• 2 Tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 Tbsp fish sauce
• 2-3 Tbsp soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp oyster sauce
• 1 cup Thai basil leaves, packed
• Thai Jasmine Rice for serving
• Fried egg for serving

Directions

Minced aromatics ready for sautéing

1. Finely chop or mince garlic, chili peppers, and shallot together. If you have a mortar and pestle, pound these ingredients together into a coarse paste.
   
   

   

   Sautéing the aromatics

   
   
   
2. Heat oil in a large pan over medium-high heat, then add garlic, chili peppers, and shallot mixture. Fry until fragrant.
   
   

   

   Stir-frying the pork with the aromatics

   
   
   
3. Add meat to pan and break it up into small pieces as it cooks.
4. When the meat is nearly cooked, add remaining ingredients (except basil), and stir well to incorporate.
   
   

   

   Adding Thai basil to the stir-fry

   
   
5. Once meat is cooked through, add basil leaves and stir a few times, then remove pan from heat and continue to stir basil in until it wilts from the residual heat.
6. Serve over Thai Jasmine rice and then top with Thai-style crispy fried egg.

Notes

• Feel free to substitute ground beef or chicken for the pork for a variation on the dish. I don't think we have ever tried, but tofu crumbles might also work for a vegetarian (protein-wise) variation.
• The soy sauce can entirely regular soy sauce or a combination of thin/light soy sauce and dark sweet soy sauce in 2:1 ratio.
• The Thai-style crispy fried egg can be replaced with a sunny-side-up or over-easy egg.

Read More

Stir-fried Red Curry Green Beans with Tofu

Stir-fried Red Curry Green Beans with Tofu (and a fried egg)

We frequently cook Thai or Thai-inspired dishes for dinner or lunch in our house, with this dish being a favorite. One of the best things about this recipe is how easily it comes together with ingredients that we usually have in the refrigerator: red curry paste, tofu, shallot, and green beans. When we want something tasty and easy we can crank this out in less than 30 minutes.

My original source for this recipe is from Serious Eats (see here). Instead of making curry paste from scratch, since I didn't own a nice Thai-style granite mortar and pestle at the time, I opted for the store-bought red curry paste route. I also used easy-to-find, nothing-fancy green beans instead of long beans. With the acquisition of our air-fryer, we often opt to simply season and then air fry the tofu cubes while stir-frying the green beans, combining them at the very end.

Ingredients:

• 12-ounce block of firm or extra firm tofu, drained, pressed with paper towels to remove moisture, cut into 3/4" cubes
• 1 Tbsp red curry paste (we like the Mae Ploy brand)
• 2-3 Tbsp vegetable, canola, or peanut oil
• 1 pound green beans (or long beans), washed, trimmed, and cut into 1 1/2" pieces
• 1 small shallot, sliced into rings
• 1 tsp white sugar
• 2 tsp soy sauce
• Steamed white rice (Jasmine preferred) for serving
• Fried egg, over easy, for serving

Instructions:

1. Make the rice. We use a counter-top rice cooker and follow its directions.
2. Prepare the tofu by draining and pressing between paper towels to extract moisture. If you have time to start this step an extra 10-15 minutes early then you can get even more moisture out of the tofu. After pressing out liquid, cut tofu into 3/4" cubes.
3. Wash, trim, and cut green beans into 1 1/2" pieces. Drain well or pat dry.
   
   

   

   Curry paste, shallot, sugar, and soy sauce

   
   
   
   
4. Peel and slice shallot into thin rings, measure out white sugar and soy sauce (into a single small dish is fine) or set near stove for easy access.
5. Fry the tofu. We use an air fryer, which takes about 15 minutes. If you don't have an air fryer, heat 1 Tbsp oil in a large wok or skillet over medium-high heat. Swirl oil to coat the pan once oil is hot, then add the tofu in a single layer and cook until crisp on first side (about 3 minutes). Then flip pieces and cook until second side is crisp. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.
   
   

   

   Stir-fry the green beans

   
   
6. Heat 1 Tbsp oil in a large wok or skillet over medium-high heat (same pan used to fry tofu if not using an air fryer). Swirl to coat the pan after oil is hot then add green beans and stir-fry, stirring occasionally until blistered and tender. Transfer to same bowl with tofu and set aside.
   
   

   

   Add the curry past and fry until aromatic

   
   
   

   

   Green beans with shallots, ready for tofu

   
   
   
7. Add 1 Tbsp oil to the wok or skillet and return to medium-high to high heat. Add curry paste all at once and cook, stirring constantly to prevent paste from burning, frying until aromatic and sizzling. Return tofu and green beans to pan, along with sugar, soy sauce, and shallot. Stir and toss to combine and coat everything with the curry paste. Dish is done cooking once shallots have softened and everything is evenly coated with the curry.
   
   
   
   
   
8. Serve immediately over steamed rice and with an optional fried egg on top. Eat by breaking the egg yolk, cutting egg into pieces, and gently mixing in with the beans and rice.

Read More

Khao Soi (Northern Thai Curry Noodle Soup with Chicken)

Overview

Khao Soi is a Northern Thai specialty that is both exceptionally flavorful and filling. This dish is found throughout Northern Thailand, but is incredibly difficult to find at any restaurant in the United States. However, for those of you who have had the privilege of having it once in Thailand, you will crave it for the rest of your life.

Khao Soi is a curried noodle soup featuring egg noodles, a boiled or simmered chicken drumstick, a uniquely spiced curry paste, and a coconut milk infused broth. The noodle soup is then topped with fried noodles, pickled mustard greens, shallot, and Thai roasted chile paste.

The key to making Khao Soi is the curry paste. Imitation recipes often call for a mix of store-bought yellow and red curry pastes, but nothing can replace a true Khao Soi curry pasted. It is a unique blend of spices (black cardamom, coriander, cumin, turmeric), aromatics (ginger, garlic, lemongrass, galangal, shallot, and cilantro stem or roots),  and chile peppers. All of these ingredients, and a few others, are pounded together in a large granite mortar and pestle to create the unbelievable, yellow-red curry paste.

The following recipe is our best recreation of Khao Soi as enjoyed in Thailand. The recipe draws from a few sources, including a cooking class taken in Thailand (Cooking with Ann), Andy Ricker's Pok Pok cookbook, Erin's personal experience of living in Thailand, and a few other recipes from blogs and food magazines. With the abundance of global ingredients at both conventional and specialty grocery stores, this dish is within reach for the home cook. The only special tool required is a large Thai-style granite mortar and pestle.

Ingredients

Khao Soi Curry Paste

• 6 whole cloves
• 6 allspice berries
• 1/2 Tbsp black cardamom seeds
• 1 1/2 Tbsp coriander seeds
• 1 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
• 1" piece of turmeric, fresh, cut into a few pieces
• 1 1/2" piece of ginger, fresh, cut into a few pieces
• 3" piece of lemongrass (from 1 stalk), cut into small rounds
• 4 rounds of galangal, 1" diameter, no more than 1/8" thick, sliced against the grain
• 12 coriander (cilantro) stems (or roots if you have them)
• 4 oz shallot, sliced against the grain
• 1 oz garlic cloves, halved
• 4 red thai chile peppers, fresh, stems removed
• 4 dried red chile peppers, seeded and de-veined
• 1 tsp kosher salt (or 1/2 tsp fine sea salt)

Khao Soi Curry

• 1 1/2 Tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 Tbsp Khao Soi curry paste
• 14oz can coconut milk (unshaken)
• 2-3 Tbsp coconut cream (from top of unshaken coconut milk can)
• 1 Tbsp palm sugar, grated
• 2 Tbsp fish sauce
• 4 small skin-on chicken drumsticks
• 1 cup water

For the dish

• 1 package egg noodles (Chinese egg noodles work well)
• vegetable oil for frying noodles
• drained and chopped pickled mustard greens (Thai preferably, but Chinese work, too)
• 1/2 cup small shallots, cut into pieces
• a few small lime wedges
• Thai roasted chile paste
• Thai fish sauce
• [optional] coarsely chopped cilantro (thin stems and leaves)

Instructions - Curry Paste

1. Combine cloves, allspice, cardamom, coriander, and cumin to a small pan and dry roast over low heat until spices are fragrant, stirring and tossing often. Remove from heat and let spices cool slightly.
2. Add spices to granite mortar and pestle then pound/grind them to a medium-coarse powder. Scoop spices out and set aside.
3. Combine dried and fresh chiles in mortar and pestle with the salt and pound firmly until chiles are broken down into a paste.
4. In order, add one at a time then pound to incorporate into existing ingredients, the cilantro roots or stems, lemongrass, galangal, turmeric, ginger, garlic, and half of the shallots.
5. Add the reserved spice powder and pound to combine, then the remaining half of shallots, pounding to combine.
6. Use immediately or store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for about a week or the freezer for up to 6 months.

Instructions - Khao Soi Curry

1. Heat the vegetable oil in a large, heavy bottomed pot (such as a dutch oven) or wok over medium-low heat until it shimmers.
2. Add the curry paste and fry, breaking up the paste and stirring frequently, until the paste is very fragrant and loses the smell of raw garlic and shallot.
3. Add the coconut cream, increase heat to medium, and fry for about a minute, then add the chicken drumsticks, fish sauce, and palm sugar. Stir to coat chicken and fry another minute or two, stirring and turning the chicken a handful of times.
4. Lastly, add the coconut milk and water, stir to incorporate, bring to a simmer, then simmer covered for 45 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through and tender.

Instructions - Serving

1. After the curry and chicken has simmered, reduce heat to warm (or turn off) and cover to keep warm.
2. Heat about 3/4" to 1" of oil in a large saucepan or pot over medium-high heat. Heat the oil to 350F. You can use a thermometer or drop a piece of noodle into the oil, which should turn golden brown in about 20 seconds.
3. When the oil is at temperature, put a small bundle of noodles in. They will expand quite a bit while frying, so start small and see how many will fit in your pot. Let the noodles fry for about 10-15 seconds then flip over once and let fry another 10-15 seconds. Noodles will take about 20-60 seconds per batch. Once golden brown, transfer to a paper towel lined plate to drain.
4. Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil. Add remaining noodles and cook, stirring occasionally until noodles are fully cooked. Drain and divide into serving bowls.
5. To each bowl, add a chicken drumstick, ladle in about 1 cup of the curry, and top with a small bundle of fried noodles.
6. Serve bowls with a plate of pickled mustard greens, shallots, lime wedges, cilantro, if using, fish sauce, and roasted chile paste on the side for everyone to garnish as desired.

Read More