Pad Thai

Palin’s Kitchen

Ingredients

Sauce

• 50 g chopped garlic, about 1 head
• 115 g chopped shallot, about 1 cup
• 140 g palm sugar, roughly chopped
• 120 ml fish sauce
• 180-240 ml tamarind paste

Directions

1. In a medium sized pot, heat the oil over medium high heat. Add the garlic and shallots, and saute until soft and translucent - about 5-8 minutes. Remove from the pot.
2. Return the pot to the stove over medium heat, then add the palm sugar and let it cook until it melts; pressing on any hard chunks to help them dissolve more quickly. After it melts, let it cook a little further until it caramelizes into a slightly darker brown for a richer flavour, being careful not to let it get too dark.
3. Turn off the heat then add the tamarind paste; it will bubble aggressively and the sugar will harden initially. Turn the heat back on to low to help the sugar dissolve and add the fish sauce. Turn off the heat after the sugar is mostly dissolved; don’t worry about a few chunks left over, they will dissolve eventually.
4. Stir the garlic and shallots back in and let cool. You can also add the chili flakes at this stage if you wish to make it spicy.
5. Measure the volume of the sauce by pouring it into a liquid measuring cup. Divide the volume by 8 to get the amount of sauce you need per serving (if using my pad thai recipe). Write this number down and tape it to the container of the sauce, also note on the label that you need to add 1 ½ tablespoon of water per serving when you cook.

[America’s Test Kitchen]

Ingredients

Garnishes

• 1/3 cup white vinegar
• 1 Serrano Chile, sliced thin
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• Radishes or Daikon

Sauce

• 1/4 cup fish sauce
• 3 Tbs sugar
• 3 Tbs tamarind concentrate

Dried Shrimp

• 4 shrimp, peeled and cut into small pieces
• 1/8 tsp sugar
• 1/8 tsp salt

Noodles

• 8 oz dried rice noodles
• 6 cups boiling water
• 2 Tsp veg oil
• 4 scallions, whites minced, greens chopped and reservced
• 1 clove of garlic minced
• 1 pound of shrimp (-4 used for dried)
• 4 large eggs
• 2 cups bean sprouts
• 1/4 cup lightly chopped, roasted, unsalted peanuts

Directions

1. Add Chile to vinegar and set aside.
2. Add radishes sliced into match sticks to brine and set aside for 15 minutes - pat dry before serving.
3. Whisk sauce together until the sugar dissolves.
4. Toss shrimp with sugar and salt, spread out on a plate and microwave on 50% power for a few minutes until they are dry
5. Toss noodles in boiling water for about 8 minutes until they are soft. Drain and rinse well. Toss with 2 Tsp of oil while waiting for skillet.
6. Add 2 tsp oil to skillet and heat.
7. Add dried shrimp and cook 3 mins until golden - remove to bowl.
8. Add 1 tsp of oil, and add garlic and scallions to pan - cook for 1 minute, remove to bowl.
9. 2 tsp of oil, crank heat to high and cook shrimp - cook about 3 minute until browned.
10. 2 tsp of oil, add eggs to pain and cook with shrimp until done.
11. 2 more tsp of oil, add moodles and sauce. Cook for 3 minutes until the sauce is absorbed.
12. Add nodles and sauce to the bowl, 2 tsp of serrano vinegar, scallion greens, bean sprouts and radish and toss.
13. Serve with lime and peanuts.