Art of Cooking

Ingredients: 

 

• 9 oz./250 g. Pad Thai rice noodles (click to see some details of the brand I used)

• 10-12 medium raw shrimp 

• 1/2 lb of chicken breast chopped up into small pieces

• 2-3 cloves garlic, minced

• 1-2 fresh dry red chillies crushed

• 4 stems of green onions, sliced (keep green separate from white, green part cut to long pieces and chop white onion part to small peices)

• Carrots sliced to thin long peices (small quantity)

• Mushrooms thinly cut (small quantity)

• Bean Sprouts (small quantity)

• Cooking Oil for stir frying Veggies and Chicken/Shrimp

For Pad Thai Sauce:

• 1.5 Tbsp. Soy sauce

• 2 Tbsp. Fish Sauce

• 1 Tbsp Oyster Sauce

• White Vinegar 1 Tbsp

• Crushed Palm Sugar ( Jaggery) - 1/2 cup

• Tamarind Concentrate (i.e Thick Tamarind Juice) - 2 Tbsp

Serving:

• Crushed Dry Roasted Peanuts - 1/2 cup for garnish

• Lime wedges for serving

 

 

Preparation Method:

 

• Heat a sauce pan and add palm sugar with little water and stir until it dissolves completely. Now add tamarind concentrate, soy sauce, oyster sauce, fish sauce, white vinegar, also squeez in some lime juice to give authentic pad thai taste. Cook until the sauce becomes thick and keep aside.

• Bring a large pot of water to boil. Soak in rice noodles and switch off heat. Allow noodles to soak approximately 8-10 minutes, OR until soft enough to bend easily, but still firm and 'undercooked' by regular standards. Drain and rinse noodles briefly with cold water to keep from sticking. Set aside.

• Heat a wok or large frying pan over medium-high heat. Drizzle in the oil and swirl around, then add the garlic, chili flakes, carrots, mushrooms and the white parts of the green onion (reserve green tops for later). Stir-fry for a minute. Remove the veggies from pan and keep aside

• Add chicken to the wok and stir-fry 2 minutes. Add the shrimp, continuing to stir-fry until they turn pink and chicken is opaque (2-3 minutes). When pan becomes dry, add 1-2 Tbsp. of the pad Thai sauce - just enough to keep ingredients frying nicely.

• Using your spatula or cooking spoon, push Chicken/Shrimp to the side of the pan (if pan is dry, drizzle in a little oil). Crack egg into center and stir-fry quickly to scramble. Add veggies and mix. Then add rice noodles plus 3-4 Tbsp. of the pad Thai sauce. Using two spoons or prefer tongs to lift and turn noodles with other ingredients. Continue in this way, adding more sauce every minute or two, until all has been added and the noodles are chewy-delicious and a little bit sticky (5-8 minutes). Add some crushed peanuts at this point and mix (reserve rest of peanuts for garnishing) 

• Fold in bean sprouts and Chopped Green Onions into the noodles. Remove from heat and taste-test, adding more fish sauce until desired taste is achieved (I usually end up adding 1 Tbsp).

• Portion out onto individual plates and add a lime wedge on the side. Top with remaining green onion and a small heap of crushed peanuts. ENJOY!