Pad Thai

Pad Thai is a great meal which you can make vegetarian, with chicken, shrimp or pork. It is packed full yummy things like rice noodles, tofu and eggs served with lime wedges and toasted peanuts or cashews. You can make it in a traditional wok however, if you don't have one just use a large pan and do it in a few stages. Once all the prep work is done the cooking is done quickly.

You will need:

• 100 grams of pork, chicken or shrimp - sliced into thin strips/pieces (or make it vegetarian)
• 1 tsp sugar
• 2 cloves garlic- crushed or chopped fine
• 2 tbsp soy sauce 
• 2 tbsp fish sauce
• 2 tbsp tamarind concentrate or chutney
• 1/2 tsp sambal olek
• rice noodles 
• boiling water to cover noodles and soak
• 1 cup bean sprouts
• 150 gram extra firm tofu - cut into strips (I used 1/2 a pkg of tofu)
• 2 scallions/spring onions- sliced fine
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup chopped salted peanuts
• coconut oil or peanut oil for cooking
• cilantro. lime wedges and sweet Thai chili sauce for serving

Step 1: chop and prepare all your ingredients in the order you like. Chop tofu, slice pork, chicken or shrimp if using. Chop scallions and peanuts.

Step 2: Pour boiling water over rice stick noodles and leave according to directions. Mine re-hydrated within a few minutes. Once soaked I like to drain and lightly dress the noodles with a bit of oil to keep them from sticking while you prep the rest of the dish. 

Step 3: In a small dish add the meat - in my case I used pork tenderloin because it cooks quickly and is very tender. Add 1 tsp of sugar and 2 cloves of finely chopped garlic, stir and set aside.

 It is a small amount of meat however if you prefer more then you can double the amount but, remember to double the amount of your sauce as well. I typically go very light on the sauce however,  you can double it if you like it more saucy. I will show you in Step 5. 

Step 4: in a small dish or measuring cup whisk your eggs. 

Step 5: in another small dish prepare sauce. Add 2 tbsp soy sauce, 2 tbsp fish sauce, 2 tbsp tamarind concentrate or tamarind chutney and 1/2 tsp sambal olek (double or even triple this sauce if you prefer your Pad Thai to be more saucy)

Step 6: in a very hot non stick pan or wok add 2 tbsp coconut oil and meat, shrimp or chicken. Quickly saute and once cooked remove from pan. This should take 2-3 minutes.

Step 7: add a bit more coconut oil and saute the tofu for a few minutes until lightly browned. Remove and set aside.

Step 8: add a bit more oil and eggs along with a sprinkle of salt and pepper. Cook almost like a crepe, flip over and once cooked remove from heat and roll up and slice into ribbons. Set aside.

Step 9: If you need a larger pan then heat to very hot and a bit of oil, your meat, tofu, egg ribbons, rice noodles, bean sprouts and sauce. Mix with tongs or two wooden spoons to quickly coat everything and reheat.

Serve with chopped cilantro/coriander, lime wedges, chopped peanuts and sweet Thai chili sauce. 

Eat right away.