TINAD Pad Thai

This recipe seems to be long but that’s because it’s got a lot of vegetables in it – basically it's really simple; there’s two steps: making the sauce and then cooking the rest.

For 4 people

The flavours of pad thai without using all noodles and adding lots of vegetables (traditional pad thai has minimal vegetables!)

The key to pad thai is the sauce which coats the noodles. You could make a big lot of the sauce and keep it in the fridge. This is like making a stir fry except instead of pouring stuff out of a bottle, you make the sauce.

You can use the vegetables I have indicated or replace with whatever is in the fridge!!

Pad Thai Sauce

35gm palm sugar (chopped fine and tightly packed)

3 tblspns water

4 tblspns tamarind paste

2 tblspns fish sauce

Pad Thai

150g noodles –

use whole grain if possible, or sweet potato noodles. Soak in room temp water for half an hour.

OR use vegetables noodles such as zucchini

2 tblespons dried shrimp (optional, but this add so much flavour!) (or a half teaspoon of balachan)

5 cloves garlic, chopped fine

½ cup shallots, chopped rough

200 g tofu/bean curd (firm) cut into ½” cubes)

3 tblspns fine chopped sweet preserved daikon radish (from the Asian part of Rigters)

Dried chilli flakes (to taste)

1 tblspn oil

½ cup roasted peanuts, chopped (half for in the mix, half for garnish)

Garnish

Garlic chives, chopped, for garnish

Lime, (1/2 a lime squeezed onto each plate)

chilli flakes

peanuts

extra beansprouts

½ cup roasted peanuts, chopped (half for in the mix, half for garnish)

routs

3 eggs (optional, see notes below)

Vegetables (suggested list)

1 cup sliced mushrooms

3 cups bean sprouts

1 carrot, cut into batons

I cup small broccoli florets

1 cup Chinese veg, chopped

Asparagus is also really good! (Get thin stalks and cut into three)

To make pad thai sauce

Add the palm sugar to a small pot and melt over medium heat, carmamelise the sugar til brown. Add the other liquids (water, fish sauce and tamarind paste). The sugar will go hard, that’s fine. Bring it all to the simmer and turn off while you do the rest of the dish.

To make the Pad Thai

Drain the noodles – they should still be a bit hard (have tooth!). If they’re really soft put them aside until the end.

If you’re using vegetable noodles, put them in at the very end so they don’t get limp.

In a bowl combine tofu, garlic, shallots, preserved radish, dried shrimp and chilli paste

In another bowls, combine all the vegetables

Quickly roast the peanuts in a small pan, roughly chop and put aside

In a wok or very large frying pan/saucepan heat the oil (you don’t need oil but the noodles will “clump” more).

Add the vegetables, stir fry for one minute.

Add the contents of the other bowl (garlic, tofu, radish, shrimp and chilli)

Stir one minute more.

Add the noodles and the sauce. Combine all, separating the noodles as best you can.

EGG - Pad Thai traditionally contains egg. If you want to do this. Break three eggs into a bowl. Combine. Push the noodles to one side of the wok, pour the egg in, stir and bring the noodles in until all combined.

SERVING

Serve the pad thai with a garnish of fresh beansprouts, chopped peanut, chilli flakes and lime juice.