Ai-Yai! It's Pad Thai!

The day after our visit to the Wat Thai Temple's food court, the Missus asked me to make Pad Thai. The request filled me with a bit of apprehension. You see, first of all, I hadn't made Pad Thai in about 6 years, and have never used the Big Kahuna to make any type of noodles. Also, I must admit, I really don't deal with last minute cooking requests real well.

First of all, I had to find "My" recipe. We used to cook alot more when we lived in Los Angeles, and became obsessed with Pad Thai. Not cooked using any particular recipe, but made to our taste. We must have made at least a dozen versions of these noodles before coming up with something that we enjoyed. Now after all these years, I dug up the crumpled sheet of yellow legal pad paper I wrote the recipe on. What follows, is that recipe, though this version was a bit different, which I'll get into later. And of course a quick trip to 99 Ranch Market was in order.

This time, the Missus wanted Shrimp as the meat for her Pad Thai, so we replaced the Chicken and Dried Shrimp with fresh shrimp. The other item I really feel strange using in Pad Thai is Ketchup, yes, I use Ketchup. I never said it's authentic, it's just the way we like it. Also, we tried to cut out the amount of oil when we originally made Pad Thai, and ended up using low-sodium chicken broth to keep the noodles from sticking to the wok. High heat has made the chicken broth a relic. Amazing what 50,000 BTU's can do! In this case shell and devein 1/3lb shrimp; season with salt and pepper(I added 1 Tb Xiao Sing), and stir fry over high heat:

Also as with any stir-fry, have everything prepped. It's especially important if using high-heat!

Here's my original "crumpled" recipe:

Pad Thai
1/2 lb dried rice noodles - soaked in warm water about 20-30 minutes, drained, cut in half.
1/3 cup chicken broth
2-3 TB oil - most Pad Thai recipes use 1/4-1/2 cup of oil - we get away by using chicken broth to avoid sticking
3 cloves garlic minced
1/4 lb chicken sliced thin and seasoned with S&P and marinated in 1 tsp cornstarch mixed with 1 tsp water for 15 minutes
1/4 lb baked or fried tofu sliced
2 eggs beaten - can use 2whites/1yolk season with S&P
1/4 cups chopped roasted peanuts
1/2 lb bean sprouts
2-3 stalks green onions - green portions cut chinese style, parts of the whites finely sliced
1 lime

Pad Thai Sauce:
3-4TB Brown sugar or Palm sugar
3TB Tamarind Paste - we use dried tamarind and reconstitute it in boiling water into a paste and strain
3 t finely chopped dried shrimp.
2TB Ketchup – Yes, ketchup
5-6TB Fish Sauce - We use Tiparos - you can adjust. Pad Thai tastes best with Tiparos which has almost a caramel fragrance when used.
3-4TB Shoyu
1t(or more) Red Pepper - optional

Head oil and saute garlic and white part of green onion until garlic is light brown.
Add some chicken broth to make sure that bottom of wok is covered.
Add chicken and tofu, then add egg, let set about 5 seconds and then stir fry until chicken is cooked
Add juice from 1/2 of the lime
Use broth to keep from sticking as necessary

When chicken is cooked add 1/2 of the bean sprouts, green parts of green onions, and rice noodles and mix

Add sauce and cook for a few minutes until cooked and well mixed - use chicken broth to keep from burning/sticking

Plate Pad Thai, add the rest of bean sprouts, chopped peanuts, place sliced lime wedges around plate. You may also want to garnish with chinese parsley.

The verdict? Well, we've never achieved that bright orange-red color of some of the Pad Thai we've eaten, but it tasted pretty good. In my rush I bought some pretty lousy noodles, but that'll be rectified in future versions.

Whew, I survived Pad Thai! We included some of the Papaya Salad we bought at Wat Thai.

Again, the recipe is just our broad interpretation. Barbara of Tigers & Strawberries has a nice version here.

Comments

[Kathy]

Who cares if it isn't authentic? All that matters is that it tastes good :)

[Rachel]

Hi Kirk! I used to work at a thai takeaway restaurant (with a real thai lady) and guess what she also used in her pad thai???
Ketchup!!! :) Maybe its modern pad thai?

[elmomonster]

Because of you I asked for a Big Kahuna for Christmas and got it! I've made some tasty meals on it already, but you were right about its power...quite overwhelming at first!

[elmomonster]

Because of you I asked for a Big Kahuna for Christmas and got it! I've made some tasty meals on it already, but you were right about its power...quite overwhelming at first! You are right about the noodles sticking to the hot spot. I made pad see ew recently and c clump of the noodles fused after I neglected to turn it for three seconds.

[mealcentric]

Looks incredible. I really like how you substituted out some of the oil for stock. I do that a lot when I cook as well. Just makes you feel as if you can eat more!

[milgwimper]

Kirk,

Looks good and sounds good to me, and sometimes you have to go with taste (or what you have to work with) more than authenticity. :)

[Kirk]

Hi Kathy - Thanks! I just wanted to make clear that this was "Our version".

Hi Rachel - How funny and fascinating. You may be right!

Hi Elmo - I'll be waiting for your "Kahuna" post. I was so amazed at how good just plain old stir fried shrimp was. Trying to take photos when cooking with the Kahuna is really difficult. Turn your head for a second and everything might be charred....

Hi MEalcentric - The "stock-swap" allows us to justify eating foods that are a bit higher in fat when we eat out!

Hi Mills - Thanks. Just didn't want to outrage any purists.

[howie]

You know, now that I think about it, I wouldn't be surprised if lots of restaurants here use ketchup. Now that I think of the pad thais around here, many do have a hint of ketchup taste.

I wonder if it's possible that they use Sriracha sauce. It actually reminds me of ketchup, except that it's spicy. Sriracha has become my preferred condiment for french fries.

[Barbara Fisher]

There is no one "authentic" version of pad thai anyway--so it is all good, Kirk!

Yours looks tasty--I may have to try to make it myself!

[Jack]

Kirk, How sturdy is the stand for the Big Kahuna? Can you move the wok back and forth without feeling like the stand is going to tip over?

I'm sure all of your neighbors were drooling from the scent coming from your yard.

[Kirk]

Hi Howie - I think you could be right. It seems that every Pad Thai is different.

Hi Barbara - Thank you! I hadn't made Pad Thai in about 6 years or so, and wasn't quite sure how it would turn out.

Hi Jack - It's very sturdy, and the legs telescope - it can also double as a turkey fryer. Here's my post when I first got it:

http://mmm-yoso.typepad.com/mmmyoso/2005/06/yosogreedyeastm.html

I made my decision based on may of the comments on Amazon. Which you can click on from the post - the stand can handle up to 50 lbs.

[Gigolo Kitty]

Happy Chinese New Year!
xinniankuaile!
lishiduolai!

The last one is considered a little rude but that was what I always thought about when I was little.

I am inspired to make Pad Thai now. I'm breaking out my favorite Thai cookbook, The Taste of Thailand. I haven't made anything from it since Son-in-law eggs. It was interesting. Hmmm.

Maybe I should try it with the eggs I got from the Farmer's Market. That is if my egg loving roommate doesn't clobber me when she wants her poached egg on buttered toast.

GK

[Kirk]

Hi GK - Happy Chinese New Year to you too!

[Reid]

Hi Kirk,

How ambitious of you to make pad thai at home. I made it once a long time ago, and haven't made it since. Perhaps, I need to bust out the wok sometime soon.

Looks delicious!

[Kirk]

Hi Reid - Yep, bust out that Wok! Wasn't too hard, justhadn't made it in a while and felt out of synch.

[Donna]

We've made pad thai a lot using the recipe which appeared in Cook's Illustrated awhile back; it's ver good, ut now I'll have to try some other versions to compare!

[Kirk]

Hi Donna - Thanks for stopping by and commenting! I haven't heard from you since, well about maybe November or so, and am wondering how Your vacation went. I think that everyone has their own version of Pad Thai, and there's alot of leeway, which allows us to all be a bit creative!

[Debbie]

Hi,

I was amused by this discussion of Pad Thai...I admit, it's a labor-intensive dish, and anxiety-producing because I always worry about overcooking the noodles and having them all break apart in little mushy pieces... but when one is craving it, it's worth the trouble to try and do it.

I recently threw together a sort-of pad thai dish on a whim after years of not making it. here's what I did:

1. Boiled half package of bean thread vermicelli for about 4 minutes, set aside
2. Sauteed sliced onions, small chunks of eggplant, and garlic, and quickly added some frozen, pre-cooked jumbo shrimp, cooking just enough longer to heat the shrimp
3. Created a sauce from:
a. 1/4 peanut butter
b. 1/2 can of tomato paste (I guess ketchup would work fine instead?)
c. 2 tablespoons of tom yum soup paste (other similar thai flavored paste should work too)
d. One teaspoon Sriracha
e. One teaspoon or more to taste of soy sauce
f. juice of one lime (or more if you like)
g. enough water to thin out this mixture into a sauce consistency

Heat a through f in the same wok or pan you sauteed in and cook enough to blend the flavors and simmer until you get the right consistency. Toss with noodles in large enough container and add meat/veggies and mix well. Add more lime juice, chopped basil or cilantro, bean sprouts, you get the idea...

If I did this again, I would leave out the eggplant- it didn't seem to go well with Pad thai. Carrots or brocolli should work better!