Help! I want to make chicken pad thai for dinner tonight!

cookielady ↓

Tue, Oct 28 2008, 3:44 pm

I don't like the recipes I'm finding online. Does anyone have one to share??

What is tamarind? This seems to be in pad Thai and I haven't cooked with it or seen it in a recipe before.

DefyGravity

Tue, Oct 28 2008, 3:49 pm

I've used this recipe several times and really liked it. I used spaghetti noodles instead of rice noodles. Just add the chicken in.

Title: PAD THAI - VEGETARIAN
Categories: Thai, Vegetables, Vegan
Yield: 4 servings

-JUDI M. PHELPS
2 qt ;water
3/4 lb Mung bean sprouts
6 oz Rice noodles (1/4-inch wide)

MMMMM---------------------------SAUCE--------------------------------
3 tb Fresh lime juice
3 tb Catsup
1 tb Brown sugar
1/4 c Fish sauce* or soy sauce

MMMMM-------------------REMAINING INGREDIENTS------------------------
3 tb Peanut oil or vegetable oil
3 To 4 cloves garlic; minced
-or pressed
1 tb Fresh chile; minced OR
1 1/2 ts Crushed red pepper flakes
2 c Carrots; grated
4 lg Eggs; lightly beaten with
-a pinch of salt
2/3 c Peanuts; chopped
6 To 8 scallions; chopped
-(about 1 cup)

*Fish sauce is made from fermented salted fish. It can be found in
Asian food stores and requires no refrigeration after opening.

In a covered pot, bring the water to a rolling boil. Blanch the mung
bean sprouts by placing them in a strainer or small colander and
dipping it into the boiling water for 30 seconds. Set aside to drain
well. When the water returns to a boil, stir in the rice noodles and
cook for 3 to 5 minutes, until tender but firm. Drain the cooked
noodles, rinse them under cool water, and set them aside to drain.

Prepare the remaining ingredients and have them near at hand before
you begin to stir-fry. Heat the oil in a wok or large skillet. Add
the garlic and chile, swirl them in the oil for a moment, and stir in
the grated carrots. Stir-fry for 1 minute. Push the carrots to the
sides to make a hollow in the center. Pour the beaten eggs into the
center and quickly scramble them. When the eggs have just set, pour
in the sauce mixture and stir everything together. Add the drained
rice noodles and mung sprouts, and toss to distribute evenly. Stir in
the peanuts and scallions, and serve at once.

↑ cookielady ↓

Tue, Oct 28 2008, 3:52 pm

thanks, that sounds quite doable. I'll give it a try later if I get out buy some bean sprouts or convince someone to go for me.

Clarissa

Tue, Oct 28 2008, 4:12 pm

I've made pad thai a bunch of times. One recommendation. Don't mix the sauce in and let it sit. Serve it at once. The rice noodles absorb the sauce and, over time, the flavor fades and becomes a lot less interesting. It's okay to make the components in advance (I do all the time), but don't mix until you're ready to bring it to the table.

Tamarind is the pulp of the fruit of the tamarind tree. It's sold in several different forms.

Mrs Bissli ↓

Tue, Oct 28 2008, 5:08 pm

If you cannot find tamarind (neither could I, with hechsher), you can use
apricot jam or prune jam (lekvar), lemon juice, and ketchup all mixed in
equal proportion. The aim is to get sweet-sour fruity taste.

If you cannot find fish sauce, you can also use ground up anchovy diluted
with a bit of water. Use very sparingly as it can get quite fishy.

Noodle to use is flat/thick rice noodle. You don't need to boil it--just soak
in boiling hot water for about 3-4minutes and drain.

I prefer to make omlettes/scrambled eggs separately, and use toasted
sesame oil (or half and half sesame oil and veggie oil) for stir-frying.
I also add sliced baby corn, and julienne sweet red peppers or chopped
water chestnuts (tinned).

You can also use fried onion (like the osem packet) instead of peanut
if anyone is allergic to nuts. I like to sprinkle chopped up corriander leaves
on top (though it's really a pain to check for bugs). Beteavon!

↑ cookielady ↓

Tue, Oct 28 2008, 6:05 pm

OK. I combined a bit from e/o recipe. It turned out really great. I used rice sticks. I should have cut them in half because we were all slurping them up. It was quick and really tasty. Def I would make this again.

sarahd ↓

Thu, Oct 30 2008, 10:42 am

Did you use tamarind sauce? I don't see it in Defy's recipe, but it sounds like it would taste interesting. I want to make this next week.

↑ cookielady

Thu, Oct 30 2008, 6:54 pm

sarahd wrote:

Did you use tamarind sauce? I don't see it in Defy's recipe, but it sounds like it would taste interesting. I want to make this next week.

No I didnt. I actually made a sauce using what defy suggested and added some peanut butter and toasted sesame oil to it as well as some fresh ginger. Not traditional pad thai but excellent.

↑ sarahd ↓

Fri, Oct 31 2008, 5:35 am

Thanks, sesame oil and ginger sound good. My sesame oil is three months past its use-by date. Think I should use it?

↑ Mrs Bissli

Fri, Oct 31 2008, 5:46 am

sarahd wrote:

Thanks, sesame oil and ginger sound good. My sesame oil is three months past its use-by date. Think I should use it?

It should be ok--assume the sesame oil is in dark-colourd bottle and not kept near heat.
If in doubt smell it--it should smell pleasant, something nutty.

Not sure where in Europe you are, but if you're in UK/London I started to see more Asian
products in kosher stores. I tried thai (could be vietnamese?) lemongrass marinade with
KF (Federation hechsher)--shame it has fish sauce so can't use it with chicken--made a
parve version with vegetarian protein (used Quorn chicken pieces), came out really nice.
Use sparingly if you don't like foods to be too spicy.

↑ sarahd

Sun, Nov 02 2008, 5:11 am

Ha. I live in a place where we will get all that new stuff about 10 years after you, and it will cost about three times as much as it does in London.

They sell Quorn in the supermarkets here, but it's not on the kosher list. Sad

I would love to buy it. Maybe one day (I.e. ten years from now) it will arrive on the list.

ihyphenated

Mon, Dec 08 2008, 10:32 pm

tamarind with a hechser can be very easily found in any kosher market in the syrian parts of flatbush.. it is a big syrian cooking staple!!