My time at the Lair taught me a thing or too about international cuisine. The Asian station served various Asian cuisines like Vietnamese, Chinese, and Thai food. Thanks to the helpful elders who spent close to 25 years at the Lair in the kitchen , I got some pretty good training. My favorite dish to feast on was definitely Pad Thai. Luckily, I was able to learn the secret to this incredible dish and now bestow it to you.
Have fun making the dish. The recipe below can serve at least 8-10 people generously. So make it a party by adding some rice wine or saki. It does take a lot of planning to gather some of the ingredients but it is well worth it. Homemade Pad Thai is satisfying and impressive. And of course don’t forget to spice it up if you can handle it.
The dish goes very well with brown rice on the side and spring rolls as an appetizer.
Pad Thai
Ingredients:
- 1 package flat rice noodles*
- 4 eggs
- 1 package Broccoli slaw or Cabbage slaw (next to salads in the grocery store)
- 1 cup chopped salted peanuts or other nuts
- 3 limes
- 1 bunch green onions
- 1 bunch cilantro
- Homemade Pad Thai Sauce (recipe below)
1. Prepare the pad thai sauce following the recipe below. Set aside and then begin preparing noodle mixture.
3. Cook the rice noodles. Follow the instructions on the package. Make sure to cook them only about 2 minutes and then immediately rinse them in an ice bath to stop them from cooking.
4. Drain the water from the noodles.
5. Add the package of cabbage or broccoli slaw. If you can’t find this already packaged then buy a head of red and green cabbage and chop them into slivers. You can shred some carrots too if you’d like. Then, add half a bunch of chopped cilantro.
6. Mix ingredients into the noodles, your hands probably work best. Make sure to use a big bowl for mixing, the one below was a little too small.
7. Prepare the garnishes (lime, cilantro, and peanuts). Slice the lime into wedges. Coarsely chop the remaining half bunch of cilantro. Chop the peanuts. Set aside in separate bowls.
8. Get the wok or large frying pan ready. Whisk the eggs together in a separate bowl. Put a generous amount of vegetable oil and heat the pan. Add the egg mixture to the oil and scramble lightly.
9. Add the noodle mixture to the eggs. Then, add the pad thai sauce.
10. Toss together with tongs until all ingredients are heated through and sauce coats all noodles.
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Pad Thai Sauce (for 1 package of rice noodles)
Ingredients:
- 1 cup boiling water
- 1 1/2 cups creamy peanut butter
- 1 Tablespoon or more Chile Garlic Sauce *
- 1 1/2 tablespoons Tiparos Fish Sauce*
- 3/4 cup ketchup
- 1 cup half and half cream
* Go to the Asian/international food aisle at your grocery store to find these items
Directions
1. Put the boiling water into a large bowl. Add the peanut butter to the hot water and whisk until the mixture becomes creamy and smooth.
2. Then, add the chile garlic sauce, fish sauce, ketchup, and cream. Whisk together and taste. Add more of any which ingredient if desired.
3. Set aside in a covered bowl until ready to assemble pad thai.
