Pad Thai, a famous stir fried noodle worldwide

Beside the famous, Tom Yum Kung . I am sure that people who have visited Thailand have tried it. This is Pad Thai or sweet and sour stir fried noodle. Pad Thai is cooked with small rice noodle which is very soft and sticky making the taste awesome. With tamarind condense juice, fish sauce and palm sugar mixed together for stir frying sauce, this is a brilliant dish that nothing can compare.

Pad Thai was named for Thai style stir fry noodle. It has its origin during WWII when rice was very expensive. Thai government at that time by Priminister Plak Piboonsongkram, he named this kind of noodle in order to be the campaign for reducing rice consumption by having noodle instead.

For one who loves cooking, I think it is weird, if they don’t want the recipe after trying Pad Thai. Some of its ingredient might be difficult to find oversea but no worry, there are substitutions. Here are the main ingredients

1/2 lime or lemon

1 egg

4 teaspoons fish sauce

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 teaspoon ground dried chili pepper and ground pepper

1 shallot, minced, but red onion is fine

2 tablespoon Sugar , it is better to use if you can find palm sugar in Asian store

2 tablespoon tamarind juice (Venegar is optional for the worst case if none in

Asian grocery)

1/2 package Thai rice noodles (only small strip)

1 tablespoon small dried shrimp (Available in the Asian store, but it’s fine if you cannot get it)

2 tablespoon vegetable oil

3-4 normal size prawns (optional)

1/3 cup extra firm tofu cut to very small cube peace

1/2 cup Chinese chives – green or leak for optional

2 tablespoons crushed bake peanuts

1/3 cup bean sprouts (optional)

First, you need to soak the dry noodles in warm water while preparing the other ingredients for 10 minutes or until it is soft but not be expanded. Cut the extra-firm tofu into around 1/3 inch cubes. Cut up Chinese chives into 1 inch long pieces or very small peace for leak. Mince shallot and garlic together. Tamarind juice is prepared by soaking sour dried tamarind in water for 5 minutes and soaked water can be put while cooking.

Then this is cooking method. Wok will be used. Big pot is fine, if you haven’t got a wok. First, heat the wok up on highest heat of your stove and pour oil in it. Remember, cooking stir fry dishes will be at the best with maximum heat or the strongest flame until the oil has the smoke but you need to watch out for burning. Then, add shallot, garlic, tofu and normal size prawn and stir them until they get brown. Drain the noodle and put it to the wok. Stir quickly to prevent from it sticks for 10 seconds then put tamarind juice, sugar, fish sauce, chili pepper and stir. No need to keep the heat down. Not enough heat, noodle will be too wet. Put dried shrimp in the noodle and stir. Add bean sprouts, chives or leaks and stir a few more times until the noodles soft and very tangled. Then make space for the egg by pushing all noodles to the side of the wok. Crack the egg into the wok and scramble it until it is almost cooked. Drag the noodles on the egg. Use spade to turn noodle up side down with egg on the top and put it to the dish. If you are not keen with this way, you just put the egg together with shallot and garlic and stir together with noodle.

You can just pour crushed peanuts and then serve noodle hot with the banana flower slice and a small cut lime on the side with raw Chinese chives and raw bean sprouts, if you have got them.

It is not too difficult for this menu but you might need to have some skill on stir frying. No worry, just practice a lot and a lot then you will have a wonderful Thai dish such as Pad Thai.