Pad Thai

Menu: Pad Thai, Stir-Fried Broccoli, Sliced Pears

Lessons learned:

1. It takes 3 limes to get to 1/3 cup of lime juice.
2. Just adding broccoli and pears means there's twice as much that Sophie could potentially eat.

When I lived in Columbus, there was a place called Tai's Asian Bistro where you could get an enormous portion of good pad thai for less than $6, so it didn't seem worth it to find my own recipe.  But once I made it my mission to cook for my family every night and moved to a city where you can't find good restaurant pad thai at any price (Tallahasseeans, am I wrong?), I figured it was time to learn to make it myself.  I checked out several different recipes and found what looked like the best one in my cookbook from America's Test Kitchen.  They say it's good to use tamarind paste, but that you can substitute lime juice instead and it doesn't lose much.  Since I always have limes around and not tamarind, that's what I do.  I made a couple of other minor adjustments and added some Quorn cubes for my kids, who are spurning shrimp for the time being.

I've been really heavy on the Asian noodle dishes these days, I know.  But this is definitely a winner around here.

Pad Thai (adapted from The New Best Recipe from America's Test Kitchen)

8 ounces rice noodles
1/3 cup lime juice
1/3 cup water
3 tablespoons fish sauce
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
2-3 tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
4 tablespoons peanut oil
2 large eggs
Salt
1/2 pound medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 medium shallot, minced
4 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 pound Quorn or firm tofu cubes
2 tablespoons dried shrimp, chopped fine (optional)
1/3 cup chopped or shredded carrots
6 tablespoons chopped peanuts
5 ounces bean sprouts
5 medium scallions, green parts only, sliced thin on a sharp diagonal
1/4 cup loosely packed cilantro leaves (optional)

Cover the rice noodles with hot tap water and let them sit for about 30 minutes; they should be soft and pliable but not yet tender when it's time to use them.

Combine the lime juice, water, fish sauce, vinegar, sugar, cayenne, and 2 tablespoons of the oil; set aside.  Beat the eggs with a dash of salt; set aside.

Heat about a tablespoon of the remaining oil in a nonstick pan over high heat until it just begins to smoke.  Add the shrimp with a dash of salt; toss them to coat with oil and then let them brown on each side, for about 3 minutes total.  Transfer them to another dish and set them aside.

Turn the heat down to medium and add the shallots, garlic, and protein cubes; cook them until they are just starting to turn brown.  Add the beaten eggs to the pan and stir them until they are scrambled and barely moist.  Add the rice noodles (drained of water, of course), the dried shrimp, and the carrots and stir for a few seconds.  Pour the lime juice mixture over the noodles, increase the heat back to high, and cook, tossing constantly, until the noodles are evenly coated.  Scatter 1/4 cup of the peanuts, the bean sprouts, all but 1/4 cup of the scallions, and the cooked shrimp over the noodles, and toss everything together until the liquid has been absorbed.  Garnish with the remaining scallions and peanuts and the cilantro.

Makes a scant 4 servings... if I were serving 4 adults, I'd increase the proportions by 50%.