I have to say, I was pretty excited for this culinary adventure. I have eaten Pad Thai a few times when dining out, but I sure hadn’t tried it at home, so it was definitely time for me to tackle this dish. I came across this particular Pad Thai recipe at The Curvy Carrot site via Pinterest.
There were a few ingredients I had to pick up at the store, but it was well worth it. The two items that required a tiny bit of extra searching for were the rice noodles and the bean sprouts. The recipe calls for narrow rice noodles, but all I could find were wider rice noodles, so hey I figured it would work as well as narrow…and it did. 😉 I had to go to two stores for the bean sprouts, but I finally found them, and all was right with the world again.
Ok, please note that I am a carnivore, and I had every intention to grab some shrimp or chicken for the dish. The recipe calls for tofu, and I am usually a stickler for making the recipe as is the first go. But I was fully prepared to go off course a bit…until in my hunt for bean sprouts the tofu was right there. I sighed, grabbed the package and continued shopping. I figured it was a sign. Next time, I am going to try substituting the tofu with some shrimp perhaps, but the tofu worked well.
I have to say I was pretty pleased with my first attempt at Pad Thai. It was really delicious. The sauce made of soy sauce, white vinegar, chili paste (you’ll find this in the Asian food section of your grocery store), the juice of a lime, and brown sugar was lovely and spicy but not too spicy.
Here’s one tip for you…definitely get your hands on some rice noodles. You’re not going to get the right texture without them and the cooking method is intended for these delicate noodles, so it’s very worth the effort. The noodles were cooked by layering them over cooked shallots and the heated sauce, and then carefully flip the noodles. Cook them a bit more and flip again until they can be easily be tossed with tongs. Then you simmer them for another 15 minutes adding a little water at a time. The end result was so super flavorful that I almost forgot to add the remaining ingredients.
I cannot wait for you to try this dish. The delicious sauce, nifty noodles (yeah, I said nifty), sprouts, tofu, scrambled eggs and chopped peanuts all came together in an uber flavorful Pad Thai. So flipping good. Head on over here for the recipe and step by step instructions.
A look back:
One year ago: Mini Frittatas = Maximum Cuteness
Two years ago: Learning to Love Salads – Part 1: Greek Salad
Kelli, this looks delicious! Rice noodles are on my grocery list, and I can hardly wait to make this.