Ever wonder why the neighborhood Thai take out place always give you pad thai as the complimentary item if you exceed a certain ticket amount?  Because pad thai is so easy to make and the cost of the ingredients pretty darn low.  This is what they call it in business schools term, highly leverage items.  Low cost, low work, high flavor, high rewards.  The secret is really in the sauce.  Once you boil a vat of it, place it in jars and it will last forever, or at least till you run out. Everytime you feel like a pad thai, it will take you literally a few minutes to whip out the yummy dish.

Chef’s tip: Make it in small batches – no more than 2 servings at a time. You can sub the shrimp with meat of your choice.

Sauce:
2/3 cup tamarind concentrate
2/3 cup white vinegar
1/3 cup light soy sauce
1/3 cup fish sauce
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup palm sugar
3 Tablespoons garlic powder
1/4 cup Sriracha chili sauce

Noodles:
1 lb dried rice flat noodles, soaked in warm water 30 mins, drained
½ cup canola oil
8 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 ½ cup firm tofu, cut into small ¼ X ½  X 1 inch strips
1 lb medium shrimp, shelled and deveined
12 garlic cloves, peeled and finely minced
6 Tablespoons pickled sweet radish, chopped finely
1 bunch Chinese chives, cut into 2 inch length (substitute with green onions if unavailable)
4 cups fresh bean sprouts
1 cup roasted and unsalted peanuts, finely chopped

2 Lime, cut into wedges, for garnish

Prepare the sauce:
1.     Combine tamarind, vinegar, soy sauce, fish sauce, salt, palm sugar, garlic powder and Sriracha in a medium saucepan and heat over medium heat. Bring to a boil and cook until the sauce becomes thick, about 15 minutes. Set aside.
Prep mise-en-place:
2.     Separate all ingredients into 4 batches, including sauce and placed mise-en-place.
Cook noodles in batches:
3.     Heat a wok over high heat until smoking. Add a Tablespoon of oil and swirl to coat the sides. Add the egg and fry for 1 minute, move it to the side.
4.     Next, add the tofu and fry till it is golden.  Move it to the side of the wok.
5.     Next add another Tablespoon of oil, then garlic and shrimp.   When the shrimp is pink, add in the radish.
6.     Next, stir in noodles, followed by the pad thai sauce. Toss back eggs and tofu. Toss to coat noodles.  Let the sauce boil and cook the noodles.  Stir occasionally to prevent sticking, until the sauce is absorbed.  Do not over stir or else the noodles will fall apart.  Check the noodles for doneness. If they are not completely cooked through, add more sauce or water. Immediately remove the wok from the heat.
7.     Stir in half the beansprouts and half the chives. Toss together and transfer noodles to a large serving platter. Scatter peanuts on top.  Place remaining bean sprouts, chives, and lime on the side. Serve immediately.
8.     Repeat for subsequent batches.

Serves 8

Tags: noodles, street fo, Thai.

Perhaps the most popular Asian dessert.  Sticky, chewy, sweet, salty, sour.  Truly a great texture + flavor combo.  If you can find black glutinous rice, it makes for a dramatic presentation.  And it’s so simple to make.

Chef’s tip: You would ask, why is there salt in this dessert recipe?  Salt brings out the full flavor of coconut.

Rice:
2 cups sweet glutinous rice, soaked overnight
4 pieces of pandan leaves*
2 ½ cups coconut milk
¾ cup coconut milk, reserve
¾ cup sugar

1 teaspoon kosher salt

Fruit:
3 large ripe mangos
2 limes, zest only

Preparing the rice:
1.  Wash the rice and cover with water.  Set aside at least 6 hours to overnight.
2.  Prepare a large pot of boiling water with steamer.  Line steamer with cheesecloth.
3.  Drain rice.  Place rice evenly on the cheesecloth.   Place a knotted pandan leaves in the rice.
4.   Steam for about 20 minutes.  Test for doneness ie rice is tender and cooked through.
5.  In the meantime, combine sugar and salt with the coconut milk and bring to boil until sugar is dissolved.  Make sure you don’t over boil the mixture.
6.    When rice is done, quickly transfer to a serving bowl.  Pour the coconut mixture into rice mixture and stir.  Leave to stand 10-15 minutes.

Preparing the fruit:
7.   Peel the mango and cut the flesh into slices.
8.   Using a rind peeler or a peeler with a knife, make fine lime rinds strips.

Serving:
9.   To serve, place the fresh mango on top of a scoop of rice, drizzle the reserve coconut milk and garnish with lime strips.

Serves: 12

Tags: Dessert, Thai.

I haven’t spent as much time eating/standing/awake in Bangkok as I would like to — during my many trips there when I worked in corporate in Asia, I was either stuck in a conference room, or if there were any free hours, getting heavenly massages at the many wonderful spas there!  My company put us up at the Westin Banyan Tree which has an amazing spa and a wonderful buffet dinner spread (yeah, buffets are pretty popular higher end dining in Asia) and I loved walking into the buffet lounge lobby smelling the lemongrass incense and hearing the soft pounding sound of Som Tum being prepared.  The green papaya station is always my first stop at the buffet.  Ah, Sawadee!

Chef’s tip:  Green papayas are essentially unriped papayas.  You can get them at Asian food stores.  They often times wrap it in newspaper to prevent it from ripening.  Other finer points: “Som Tum Thai” has peanuts and dried shrimp mixed in, “Som Tum Bu” has small pickled crabs pounded in, or “Som Tum Lao Sai Pla Ra” has fermented mud fish mixed in it.

Dressing

4 Tablespoons fish sauce
4 Tablespoons palm sugar/ brown sugar
4 Tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 Tablespoon tamarind concentrate

Salad

1 green papaya, peeled – yields 4 cups shredded
2 roma tomatoes – yields 1 cup of sliced roma tomatoes or 1 cup cherry tomatoes
1 handful Chinese string/long beans (or baby haricot vert) – yields 1 cup
4 cloves garlic, peeled
2-4 small Thai red chilies, deseeded, finely sliced – number depending on heat level
2 Tablespoons dried shrimp – presoaked in water
1 shallot, peeled, sliced
½ cup peanuts, roasted

1 cup cilantro leaves

To prepare the dressing
1. Mix together dressing ingredients.  Taste.  Adjust if needed. Set aside.

To prepare the vegetables:
2. Using a food processor (medium grate) or grater, shred the green papaya flesh
3. Deseed the tomato and cut into long slivers (or if using cherry tomatoes, half them)
4. Cut the beans into 1 ½ inch lengths.  Blanch in hot water for 3 minutes or until bright green and quickly plunge into cold water.  Drain.

Assembling – make per serving.  Divide ingredients into 6 parts.
5. In a mortar and pestle, pound the garlic, chili and dried shrimp into a paste
6. Add the sliced shallots and pound slightly to bruise the shallots
7. Add the long beans and pound to bruise the beans.
8. Add the peanuts and lightly pound again to crush the nuts
9. Add the shredded papayas and lightly pound until it is limp and soft
10. Add sliced tomatoes and press gently to blend
11. Add dressing and toss to combine.  Garnish with cilantro.
12. Serve immediately.  Repeat per serving.

Serves: 8

Tags: salad, street foods, Thai.