I never seem to make Pad Thai the same way twice. Sometimes I’m feeling all traditional and I keep it dry and mild, and other times I’m craving that sweet-and-sour tomato saucy, spicy mess you get at most Thai takeaways. But there are some constants, whatever way I do it. It has to be hot-sour-salty-sweet, in balance, whatever that ideal balance is, and it has to be MSG-less and bottled sauce-less.
Most of the time there are red peppers, cilantro, and bean sprouts, and there are always rice noodles (usually thick ones, not the rice vermicelli above) and fresh cilantro. Sustainable shrimp is ideal (I don’t use dried shrimp because of the antibiotic-laden fish farms they usually come from, and for this reaso I also don’t use fermented shrimp paste), but I’ll throw in chicken if I have it. And toasted peanuts add a lot.
I’ll either use fresh tamarind, soaked and sieved (which is a real mess and a pain), or a bottle of tamarind concentrate (which I don’t love), or chopped rhubarb that I keep in my freezer. The sweet comes from sugar – preferably palm sugar or cane sugar – the sour from lime, the heat from fresh and crushed chili peppers, and the salt from fish sauce (or just gluten-free soy if I have it. Also double check your fish sauce as some have gluten and definitely should not).I usually skip the tofu and keep it pretty simple, because for me it’s all about the sauce.
The trick to not using a ton of oil is to use a non-stick pot or a little chicken broth or (not too much) water. Traditionally there’s a lot of oil in this and I’ve heard people say it’s because it keeps the noodles separate. But I’ve never had any problems with noodles sticking together and especially if you use chicken there will be enough fat for flavour.
Sustainable Shrimp Pad Thai
adapted from Chez Pim
Sauce
1/2 cup sieved tamarind (from a golf ball-sized knob of tamarind pulp soaked in 1/2 cup hot water for 30 minutes and pressed through a sieve to remove the fibres. Or 1/2 cup tamarind concentrate. Or 1/2 cup chopped rhubarb)
1/2 cup fish sauce (or gluten-free tamari or soy sauce)
1/2 cup palm sugar or unrefined cane sugar (or 1/3 cup brown sugar, or 1/3 cup white sugar + 2 tsp molasses)
2 tsp chili powder, or 1/2 to 1 chili pepper, stemmed and optionally de-seeded
Stir-fry
1 1/2 tbsp canola or vegetable oil
1 tbsp minced or crushed garlic
1 chicken breast, chopped in 3/4″ cubes
1/2 or 1 red pepper, sliced
1/2 package wide rice noodles
2 eggs
1/3 cup unroasted, whole, halved, or crushed unsalted peanuts
2-4 cups bean sprouts (to put directly in and to serve on the side. Add as much to the stir-fry as you like and will fit in the pan…)
About 20-30 sustainable shrimp, peeled and deveined if necessary (I use the small Nordic shrimp so I use more, but if you have large shrimp you’ll need fewer, especially if you also use chicken.
Garnishes
3 tbsp chopped coriander, slivers of lime, extra ground peanuts, extra chilli powder, fish sauce, bean sprouts, and extra sugar
Directions
Combine sauce ingredients in a blender. Blend until smooth. Pour into a small saucepan and heat over medium heat. Stir to melt the sugar. When it comes to a simmer, adjust the balance to taste (more chili pepper – diced or blended with a little water – more tamarind paste, more fish sauce, more sugar). Remove pot from heat and set aside. It’s better to err on the side of mild for now since you can add more chili pepper slices or flakes at the table, but do as you wish. It’s a meal, not a dictatorship.
Soak the rice noodles in hot water. Don’t oversoak or they’ll get mushy and fall apart. Once they’re al dente drain them and leave in the colander until ready to use. If they dry too much in the colander return them to hot water before using.
Toast the peanuts in a small frying pan for about 5 minutes over medium heat, shaking the pan occasionally. They should be aromatic and slightly browned, so keep cooking them if they’re not. Or for a more even roast put them on a baking sheet in a 250 F oven and check them every minute after 5 minutes until browned and aromatic. Remove from heat. Transfer to a paper or plastic bag or mortar and pestle and crush lightly without getting peanuts all over the floor. Use a heavy, blunt object to crush in the bag, and don’t seal it or it will explode.
Check your rice noodles. If they’re sticking together or are too dry, re-dunk them in hot water and have a sieve handy to drain them right before you add them to the Pad Thai.
Heat a large wok or pot over high heat until very hot, to the point of smoking. Add the oil, then the garlic. Stir vigorously for 10 seconds. Add the chicken and red pepper and stir quickly to brown on all sides (about 1 minute). Add 2 tbsp of the Pad Thai sauce and reduce heat to medium-low. Stir to coat chicken. Add the drained rice noodles and almost all the remaining sauce. Stir to coat noodles. If the sauce evaporates too quickly and the pan starts to dry out add a few tbsp of water or chicken broth.
Taste a noodle to make sure it’s cooked enough. If not, add a little more water or chicken broth and let it cook for a few minutes, stirring occasionally. when the noodles are ready push the contents of the pan to one side and crack the eggs in the uncovered part of the pan. Let it cook 15 seconds or so and then break it up like you’re making scrambled eggs. Stir until fluffy but not dry.
Stir the scrambled eggs into the noodle mixture along with most of the roasted, crushed peanuts and as many bean sprouts as you want. Add the shrimp and the little bit of reserved sauce. Stir for 1 minute to coat and cook shrimp. shrimp are done when they’re bright pink. Larger ones may take up to a minute and a half, but no longer.
Serve with garnishes and adjust each serving to taste (squeezes of lime, sprinkles of chili or fish sauce or sugar).
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