cooking challenge week four: pad thai

With great trepidation I have made the pad thai! The day started with a run into the next town over, where there's a thai supermarket. After stocking up on a myriad of pastes and liquids and spices and sauces I was ready to begin. And I've got to say, it was pretty good. Maybe an 8/10. I think I've discovered the secret...fish sauce. I've always been a bit turned off by the idea of fish sauce and oyster sauce (something about them makes me wonder what kind of yucky fish organs have been squeezed...where...when...what...) but they really make a difference. So, without further ado, here's my recipe for really yummy pad thai.

You will need:

3 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 cloves garlic, chopped finely

Approx 200g flat noodles
2 eggs, beaten

150g firm tofu

1/2 cup crushed peanuts
5 tablespoons fish sauce
2 tablespoons light soy sauce
4 flat tablespoons caster sugar
3 heaped tablespoons pure tamarind paste
prawns (quantity to match your taste!) - deveined and butterflied
1/3 cup water
1 cup bean sprouts loosely packed
1/4 cup sliced eschallots loosely packed

What to do:

Place noodles in a large bowl and pour cold water over, to completely cover. Stand aside for ten minutes, or until softened.

Combine the soy sauce, fish sauce, tamarind and sugar in a bowl and stir thoroughly.

Heat oil in a large, deep frying pan. Once sizzling, add garlic, tofu and prawns. Fry for a few minutes until golden (but don't burn the garlic). Remove the prawns once cooked and set aside. Add the noodles to the frying pan and stir fry for a few minutes until all ingredients are well combined. Add water, continue to stir.

Pour the tamarind mix over the noodles and stir for several minutes, until the noodles are sizzling. Add the eggs and stiry fry constantly until eggs are hard. Turn heat right down to low. Add most of the eschallots (reserving some to garnish), most of the peanuts (reserving some to garnish), most of the beansprouts (you guessed it - leaving some to garnish!). Add the cooked prawns. Stir well and serve immediately, garnished with eschallots, peanuts, beansprouts and lemon or lime wedges to taste.