An authentic recipe for Pad Thai made with spring veggies and authentic Thai ingredients, adapted from the Pok Pok Cookbook.
One of our favorite Thai dishes – Pad Thai – gets a vibrant Spring makeover, enlivened with fresh Spring veggies- like fresh peas and asparagus.
For many, making Pad Thai at home has been challenging and disappointing, only to discover that after all the work, “something was missing”.
It is my hope that this recipe will help change that. With authentic ingredients and a little practice, the recipe will teach volumes about the extraordinary balance of flavors – sweet, sour, pungent and salty- that makes Thai food so delicious. I think of this as a teaching recipe, because once it’s mastered, it really expands our reach in the kitchen.
If pressed for time or ingredients, here’s a much simpler recipe for 15 Minute Pad Thai – that tastes great and comes together easily and quickly with common grocery store ingredients.
But if you want to challenge yourself, try this authentic recipe. You may be wondering what makes this recipe authentic? Afew ingredients that will require you to take a trip to your nearest Asian Market: tamarind, dried shrimp, fish sauce, and salted radish.
Most of the other ingredients you can purchase a conventional grocery store, but while you are at the Asian market, you might as well explore, look around, soak it up and experience it- like the poem below, both the beautyand the terror.
In thisolder post, Thai Chicken Noodle Soup, I have written down a list of ingredients that I always take with me to the Asian market, so I don’t forget things- as it’s easy to get sidetracked and distracted there at times. Prices are generally less expensive than at a grocery store, so I stock up on staples like coconut milk, rice wine vinegar, tofu, fresh turmeric, lemongrass and sesame seeds. The list is really helpful.
So before you begin, make sure to have all the ingredients out and ready. Then the recipe is fast and easy.
Read the recipe all the way through to get a general idea. It seems like a lot of steps, but it’s really not hard or complicated. The prep takes 20 minutes, the cooking takes 10 minutes. It’s a fast meal really–but the key is to have everything ready before you start the wok. If youdon’thave a wok, use a large skillet- turning the heat down a bit.
The first step is to soak the rice noodles. Fill a large bowl with lukewarm water, break the noodles in half andsoakthe noodles for 20 minutes. They will be bendy but not soft.Don’tworry that they are not soft, they will get soft in the wok. While the noodles are soaking get your other ingredients ready.
The top bowl contains the dried shrimp. Chop it up a bit and toast it in a skillet, on medium heat until crispy, about 5 minutes. Set aside. The bottom bowl contains the salted radish ( fermented radish), which will need to be soaked in lukewarm water for 10 minutes, in order to remove a bit of the saltiness. If you can find garlic chives at the Asian market, grab them and use instead of scallions.
Toast the dried shrimp
Soak the salted, preserved radish in water.
Tamarind is an essential ingredient in Pad Thai. It’s what gives it its unique tang. I use a tamarind “concentrate” -because strait tamarind paste, is quite hard and dry and difficult to break up. While at the Asian market, a Thai woman, who saw me reaching for the tamarind paste, suggested I try the tamarind concentrate instead, to make Pad Thai, because it’s easier to work with. I took her word for it, and tried both. The concentrate is definitely easier and faster.
In a medium bowl, mix the tamarind, fish sauce, warm water and brown sugar (or palm sugar) .
To give this a seasonal quality, I added fresh shucked peas and asparagus. If your asparagus is big like this, you may want give it a quick blanch ahead. If it’s pencil thin, it will cook in the wok.
In this version, I added tofu and shrimp. But feel free to use one or the other. Cut extra firm tofu, and patdown hard with paper towels to release some of the moisture, into strips or cubes.
Have your prawns peeled and ready, and all your other ingredients prepped. You can use pre cooked prawns too. Group the egg, tofu, radish and dried shrimp together, next to the stove. Then fire up the wok. Once you start, it will only take a few minutes to cook everything on high heat, with constant stirring, so it’s really important to be completely ready, and have things close by. A metal spatula is very helpful.
Heat peanut oil (or vegetable oil), on high heat. Swirl it around the edges of the wok, coating it. Add the chopped shallot and garlic and stir until just golden. Crack the egg in the center. It will bubble and spatter. Add the tofu, radish and dried shrimp, around the edges of egg, stirring them constantly with a metal spatula, careful to keep the egg intact, for a minute, until they get golden. When the edges of the egg are golden brown, flip, and break it apart into a few pieces with the metal spatula, and then stir it all together, letting it brown up a bit, for another minute.
Add the noodles and bean sprouts –constantly stirring and flipping for a minute or more- until the noodles begin to soften.Add the prawns, peas, asparagus and tamarind-fish sauce. Stir until the prawns are cooked through, the noodles are soft, and the liquid has evaporated about 5 minutes. Add the scallions ( or garlic chives) and ½ of the peanuts.
And serve immediately, garnishing with lime, more peanuts, scallions ( or chives) , fresh bean sprouts and chili flakes.
Enjoy!!
God speaks to each of us as he makes us,
then walks with us silently out of the night.
These are the words we dimly hear:
You, sent out beyond your recall,
go to the limits of your longing.
Embody me.
Flare up like a flame
and make big shadows I can move in.
Let everything happen to you: beauty and terror.
Just keep going. No feeling is final.
Don’t let yourself lose me.
Nearby is the country they call life.
You will know it by its seriousness.
Give me your hand.
Rilke, translated by Joanna Macy -Book of Hours
