Perfect Pad Thai

It's been a while since I shared a recipe, other than stuff I mix in the Vitamix, ha, but today I have a goody for you, Perfect Pad Thai.

I absolutely love Pad Thai. It's one of my top 5 favorite dishes ever and up until this week, I've always been too intimidated to try making it myself. I mean, have you seen the ingredient list on some of those recipes? And few of those I ever have on hand so I don't mind paying $10 for someone else to make it.

Well, I also started doing this food co-op thing and last time there was an option to get a Thai basket. I immediately knew I'd be making Pad Thai in the near future. So my basket came in and this is what was in it:



All kinds of goodies! So I took to instagram to get some recipes and tips for these ingredients, one of those being how to make Pad Thai.

I'm pretty sure I've mentioned this guy before, but if you like food, want to be inspired to try new ingredients or just be hungry all day by his pictures, follow @omarchris. He amazes me with all the dishes he creates from scratch. Anyway, he emailed me a link to a recipe he uses, you can find it here.

That's what I used for my version, minus a few things. It was so good. Exactly what I was looking for. And one of the best things about this recipe is that it makes a lot of sauce that you can store in the refrigerator up to 3 months. Needless to say, I'll be making Pad Thai a lot in the coming months!!

Like I said, I did a few things different, so here's how I made it.

First I made the tamarind water the day before. Really easy after you find tamarind paste! I found some, along with the remaining ingredients I didn't get in my basket, at an Asian market.

After the tamarind water was made, I went ahead and made the Pad Thai sauce and refrigerated it over night.


The next day I made the rest.

I got all the toppings ready: chopped cilantro, washed some bean sprouts, cut up some green onion, mashed some salted peanuts, and cut the limes.



Then I soaked the rice noodles for 40 minutes or so and got to work.

I like chicken in my Pad Thai so I pan fried some sliced chicken and set it aside. Next, I sauteed 5 cloves minced garlic, 5 crushed, dried peppers and some sliced green onion.



You know I like spicy so that's why I added 5 peppers. It had some kick but I'll probably add 7 or so next time. But, if you don't like spicy, you may want to use less.

Anyway, then you just add the softened noodles and toss to coat.



Then I pulled the noodles to the side and cooked an egg, the recipe calls for 3 eggs but I just did one. I felt all fancy at this point.



Once the egg was set I broke it up and tossed it with the rice. Then add the Pad Thai sauce. The recipe calls for 8 tablespoons but I ended up using about 12. I like the sauce.



Toss to coat and continue cooking until the noodles are to your liking. Then add some of the peanuts, bean sprouts and chicken and toss to coat.

Now it's time to top it!

I love lime juice, cilantro, sliced green onion, a little fresh bean sprouts and a little more crushed peanuts on mine. And what's great about making it at home is you can put as much or little of each as you want. I like more lime than the husband so we each got our own perfect plate of Pad Thai.



The only thing I thought was wrong with this recipe was that I said it served 4. I could, and nearly did, eat the entire pan by myself. Next time I'll double the noodles.

So if you want to make my version, adapted from this recipe, here's what you need:

Pad Thai noodles:

• 1 lb medium Rice Noodles
• 4 tbsp. vegetable oil or peanut oil
• 1 cup cooked, sliced chicken
• 5 cloves garlic, minced
• 5 green onions, sliced in half then in 1 inch lengths
• 5 dried whole chili peppers, chopped
• 1 egg
• 12 tablespoons Pad Thai Sauce - recipe here
• 1/2 cup bean sprouts
• 1/4 cup salted, roasted peanuts, crushed with a mortar and pestle

Toppings:

• 1/3 cup salted, roasted peanuts, crushed with a mortar and pestle
• 1 lime, cut into wedges
• 4 scallions
• handful of fresh cilantro, roughly chopped
• 1/2 cup bean sprouts

Enjoy!