I've written a post about Pad Thai before, but this version is so quick and easy that I decided to post it anyway. This was a fab Sunday treat, fulfilling a need for spicy noodles, brought on by the atrocious weather and a shopping trip to Korea Foods.
So, first of all you need to soak some flat rice noodles in a bowl of cold water. There are loads of brands if you have an Asian supermarket nearby, otherwise you will probably be able to find a box of "Thai Taste" brand in most general supermarkets.
The other bit of prep you'll need to do, unless you've bought pre-made tamarind paste, is to cut off a peice of tamarind and soak it in a little water.
While the noodles are soaking, prepare the vegetables and meat. The essentials are the red chilli, beansprouts, spring onion and garlic, other than that any mix of veg, seafood and/or meat will do. I had some greens, mushrooms, boned chicken leg meat and king prawns. Once everything has been sliced and diced, sprinkle corn flour over the chicken until lightly coated.
Put a frying pan on the heat with some oil and let it get really hot, before popping the chicken in and the garlic. Cook until browned then chuck in the prawns.
When the prawns are cooked, throw in all the other veg along with several squirts of fish sauce (nam pla), a slosh or two of soy sauce, a couple of spoons of palm sugar and the strained tamarind juice. Adjust the amounts to your taste.
When the veg are almost cooked, add in the drained noodles. They won't be completely soft from the soaking but don't worry that they feel uncooked, a few minutes cooking in the pan and they'll be perfect. Finish up with some fresh coriander and chopped peanuts.
I got the idea for this from "Cook Malaysian" by Lee Sook Ching but, as usual, I had to tailor it to what was in our fridge. The peas are definitely not in the original recipe but they were perfect with it.
So, first put together a couple of diced purple onions (shallots would be better but I didn't have any), lots of sliced garlic, and a couple of tablespoons each of: chopped ginger, lemongrass and lime leaves.
This lot goes into a big frying pan with some oil and a chopped, red chilli. Fry these up for a minute or two, until the aromatic smells start to fill the kitchen, then add a can of coconut milk, a tablespoon or two (depending on your tastes) of tamarind paste, one or two of palm sugar (again according to taste) and a big teaspoon of shrimp paste.
Stir together and bring up to a simmer, then lower the heat and leave it to cook for a while, maybe 10-15 minutes. Taste it, I added fish sauce because I love it, but whether you do is up to you.
I shelled a load of peas because I had fresh but frozen would have done just as well. Throw them in the sauce and let them cook almost through before adding whatever white fish you have; I had whiting fillets.
Cook the fish through but take care not to overcook it. Finally stir in a load of coriander, fresh is best but I didn't have any and the frozen kind is really very good. Spoon over a bowl of rice (instructions for perfect rice here) and sprinkle a sliced spring onion on the top.
