Pad Thai

You might have noticed I only prepared three Costa Rican meals, compared to the four to five that I have been making. The biggest reason for this was that I couldn't find a lot of Costa Rican meals; apparently they don't have a large diet. I know this can't be true because, hello, there are more than two people living in that country, but it was hard to find a lot of recipes that were appealing and different from each other. Most of the recipes involved rice and beans, which is fine, but that can be boring after a couple of days. I had read that a big part of Tico diet is rice and beans so I expected that going into researching meals but I had no idea just HOW big. They're like in every meal. I've stated numerous times how much I love rice and beans but even though that love is strong, it's not every day strong. It's more like once a week strong. Maybe even every couple of week strong. What I'm saying is that Costa Rican food has made me rethink my relationship with rice and beans. So if anything came out of last week's cooking, it's that rice and beans and I are now in therapy and working out some stuff.

We'll be fine. I know we will.

Moving on.

This week we're eating Thai food. I was and am super excited about this week! I haven't had a lot of experience with Thai food but what I have eaten has been great so I know this week will make my belly very happy! Since I didn't really enjoy looking up recipes online for Turkey and Costa Rica weeks, and because I know I'll want to make more of this cuisine, I went out and bought a Thai cookbook. Today's meal, however, came courtesy of my running partner. Last week I mentioned I was doing Thai food and she said she had some great recipes a friend had shared with her so, here is Usha's Friend's Pad Thai

Ingredients

2 handfuls of rice sticks, soaked in cold water for an hour. When shopping for my rice sticks, which are also known as rice noodles, I was very overwhelmed with the selection. There are a lot of rice sticks/noodles out there! That's when I busted out my trusty phone and Googled it. Rice sticks/noodles come in different sizes: small, medium, and large. It's apparently up to you to decide what size you want but from what I read, you can't go wrong with medium. You also want to use sticks/noodles that were made in Thailand because they are made differently than in other countries. I can't remember the details and I could Google it but I'm tired. I just spent an hour arguing with the waste company that services our neighborhood over a replacement trash can. I learned a lot about how trash works in this area and I just can't learn any more right now. My brain will literally not take anything else in.

2 small bunches of Chinese chives or green onions, chopped into 1 1/2 in long pieces. I used green onions but I wish I would have used the Chinese chives because they are pretty! I don't know about the flavor but if we're going on looks, sorry green onions, you do not win this contest.

2 tsp oil

1 shallot, minced

2 eggs

4 oz extra firm tofu, cut into small cubes and deep fried. Use double the amount if not using another protein.

6 shrimp or 2 oz chicken. Or just use tofu.

1 tsp salted radish. I couldn't find this so I didn't use it.

1/2 tsp roasted Thai chili flakes. I used regular red pepper flakes. If you want to make Thai chili flakes, buy dried Thai chilis and roast in a pan or in the oven at 350 for 10 minutes. Then put them in a food processor and blend until they're flakes.

2 handfuls bean sprouts

2 tbsps crushed roasted peanuts

lime wedges

For the sauce

2 tbsps fish sauce

2 tbsps palm sugar

1 tbsp white sugar

2 tbsps tamarind water. To make tamarind water, soak a tablespoon of tamarind paste in water for 10 minutes and strain.

Drain the noodles. Make the sauce by simmering the sauce, sugars, and tamarind water until the sugars dissolve. Heat the oil in the wok and fry the shallots until fragrant. Add the eggs and stir. Add the tofu (and shrimp or chicken if using), chili flakes, and radish. Stir until tofu is heated through and then add the noodles. Turn up the heat and stir fry until the noodles are translucent and almost brown. Add the sauce and a pinch of chili powder. Stir for a few more minutes and then add most of the bean sprouts and chives. Cook for another thirty seconds. The noodles should be sweet, sour, and salty.

Serve with lime wedges, roasted peanuts,and the rest of the bean sprouts and chives.

I made more than two handfuls of noodles but I did not double the amount of sauce so my Pad Thai came out a little dry. I don't know why I didn't double the sauce, I remember thinking to myself "You're making more noodles, double the sauce" but I just forgot when I started cooking. I'm going to blame the girls, they probably distracted me. 

Even with it being a little dry, it was delicious! It wasn't as good as other Pad Thai I've had but that's probably more on the chef than the recipe. That sauce really makes a big difference. I actually made Pad Thai once a long, long time ago, but the recipe was more Americanized. I remember it was pretty bland and I now know why: the palm sugar. When preparing the sauce, I instantly recognized the sauce I've come to know when eating Pad Thai at a restaurant. My point is do not skip out on the palm sugar. If you want authentic Pad Thai, you need this. You also need to double the amount of sauce if you're making more than two handfuls of noodles.