The road to Pad Thai…sort of

Right, have I mentioned that I am currently working in a very small town in SW Ontario? Well if I haven’t now you know. Well anything that doesn’t consist of meat and/or potatoes is hard to find here. Not that there is anything wrong with meat and potatoes, but sometimes I feel like something else. I suppose if I were to look at this in a positive light, the fact that I can’t find things like pad thai or sushi here has driven me to learn how to make them…case in point. (Stay tuned for a sushi lesson in the near future)

This is my 2nd attempt at pad thai, which was better than the first, but it’s still a work in progress. I’m not sure what’s missing, but I think I’m getting closer. What I’m trying to get at, is that this recipe isn’t exactly 100%, but I haven’t posted anything all week and really wanted to. So think of this as a base from which to begin your personal homemade pad thai experience. When I try it again, I will post a picture (I had eaten it all by the time I realized that I hadn’t taken a picture…oops!) So without further a due, the beginnings of a great pad thai recipe (one day!)

Here are the sites I went to for inspiration.

http://www.thaitable.com/Thai/recipes/Pad_Thai.htm

http://www.thaifoodandtravel.com/recipes/padthai.html

Ingredients: (Enough for (2) people or (1) very hungry person

1/2 package pad thai noodles

1/2 package firm tofu, cut into 1 cm strips

3 or 4 cloves of garlic, chopped

1/2 medium onion, chopped

1 handful of bean sprouts

1 egg

3 or 4 tbsp. fish sauce

juice from 1/2 lime

pinch of sugar

chili powder and/or chili sauce to taste

cilantro, chopped

1. Get your noodles into a bowl of hot water from the tap. Make sure they are all nice and covered up in their bath and then leave them there for a bit.

2. If you have a wok, here’s it’s time to shine. If you’re in the same boat as me and wok-less, a big pot works too. So, heat up some oil and add the onions and garlic being sure to stir things around so nothing burns.

3. Next add the tofu. It tastes better when it’s a little crispy on all sides. Be careful when you’re mixing the tofu because it’ll break apart. So just sort of flip it on all of its sides until things are looking golden and pretty

4. Now take the noodles from their warm bath, drain them and add them to the pot. Stir things up quick to avoid the noodles from sticking to the bottom.

5. Add the fish sauce, chili powder and/or sauce, sugar and lime juice and keep things stirred

6. Here’s the tricky part. Slide all the stuff in the pot to one side so you have an empty space at the bottom of the pan. That’s where the egg is going to go and be fried. The first time I tried this, the egg jsut sort of stuck to the bottom of the pan and kind of burnt. This time, I added a little more oil and then added the egg. If you have a non-stick wok, you won’t have this problem, but I just thought I’d warn you about my experience.

So fry up the egg, and once you see the yok is pretty much cooked, gently fold in the rest of the noodles/tofu/onions/ garlic mix so that everything is well distributed

7. Add the bean sprouts and some chopped cilantro and turn off the heat.

8. Garnish with more cilantro, and some lime.