I absolutely love Pad Thai….BUT, the only time I have ever had it at a restaurant and actually liked it was at Big Bowl. I have ordered it so many times all over during our travels but am so disappointed. I have been tweaking a recipe over the years and I think I have finally have it (dare I say) perfected. .jpg)
I have it pictured above with sesame seeds but I don’t usually use them. Also, pictured is my daughter’s cute doggo “Junie” they were over visiting for the day. She is the sweetest dog I have ever met, you can follow her story on here Instagram
So, anyhoo….back to the recipe:
Must have:
Crushed peanuts
Fresh Bean Sprouts
Fresh lime juice (one or 2 limes)
Fresh cilantro
large cuts of green onion
Flat Thai rice noodles
the sauce (recipe below)
Optional:
julienne carrots-about 2 large
about a half of an onion thick sliced
rough chopped garlic 2 large cloves
snap peas chopped-handful
1 large jalapeno pepper (mandolin or very thin sliced)
1 or 2 chili thai peppers (mandolin or very thin sliced)
Cubed firm tofu
Make the rice noodles, rinse in cold water, strain, set aside.
Make the sauce-in small saucepan combine and heat on high:
(heat just to boil then set aside)
3 T. Fish sauce
1 heaping T. chili oil sauce (see pic below) got this at Whole Foods
1 T. Soy Sauce
5 T. brown sugar
1 T. rice vinegar
If you like it really spicy you can add Sriracha to add more heat or more hot sliced peppers.
In a large fry pan, heat up about 5T. peanut oil on high, add cubed tofu or other desired protein, heat until a little crispy on edges. Some of it will stick to the pan, that’s ok. Add garlic & onions, then carrots, toss. Remove pan from heat, squeeze the juice of 1/2 of a lime over everything in the pan, let it sit and “sweat”. Once things cool down a bit it will loosen and a spoon or spatula will easily scrape everything loose that’s stuck to the pan. Now bring back to high heat, add noodles and sauce, mix around in pan, then push everything over to the side, add a T. butter to the pan, then 2 eggs, stir them up a bit so they will be “scrambled” and let sit a bit. Once pan has heated up nicely and eggs are almost cooked fully, mix everything up. remove from heat again and add rest of ingredients (crushed peanuts, green onions, cilantro, fresh bean sprouts, more lime juice) just before you plate the food (or even after its plated-will look pretty).jpg)
This stuff is magical, you HAVE to get some…seriously so good!!!