Pad Thai Power!

Since I'm getting all excited about Thailand, I thought I would tackle making Pad Thai, the quintessential Thai dish that Americans know about. I've never really had Pad Thai that I liked, but I figured that it was redeemable, especially if I made it myself. 


The only ingredients that really call for a special trip are Tamarind Pulp and Rice Noodles, or "Rice Stick" as the package says.


The recipe and very helpful instructions hail from SheSimmers. Despite the many explicit instructions, I improvised a lot, including making it vegetarian, and slightly spicier. 

So rice noodles don't actually get 'cooked'. Instead they sit in room temp water.
 I soaked mine for about 45 minutes but they were still a bit too gummy for my taste. 

My sauce was comprised of prepared tamarind, brown sugar, soy sauce and some hot sauce.

I decided to pre-cook my tofu, since it takes a while.

Chinese chives, AKA garlic chives

Adding a lot of oil and keeping the noodles moving is rrl important.
They are vulnerable to sticking to the pan in the first minute or so

You divide the pan in half at first...

...then into three parts to accommodate cooking all of your ingredients,
while keeping everything moving all the time.

Action shot!

Ta Da!

Mini-Limes and toasted peanuts for garnishes.

Clearly a success.

It was pretty empowering making this dish. It's stressful putting it all together, but very rewarding in the end. I'm excited to try it again.

In order to get a feel for how stressful the cooking part can be, here's the SheSimmers video of the process.