Pad Thai - September 30, 2007

I thawed out some shrimp for dinner a few nights ago and suddenly felt like eating Pad Thai. I would have abandoned the menu for that night and made some, but I didn’t have all the ingredients. I pledged that I would learn how to make Pad Thai the next day.

Well, I didn’t make it the next day, either. I was too lazy to go grocery shopping.

This morning, I planned on going to the Asian food market early to get the ingredients I lacked. When I arrived, I was greeted by a “Sorry, We’re Closed” sign. Lame. They don’t open until noon on Sundays. We had wonton soup for lunch.

I finally managed to get my missing ingredients this afternoon, and made it for dinner tonight. It didn’t turn out as pretty as I had hoped, but I blame that on the wok. It’s not a real wok. It’s a non-stick pan shaped like a wok, but it is flat on the bottom to accommodate electric stove elements. It’s a wannabe wok. Poser.

In any case, I didn’t want to take pictures of the process, for fear of failure, so I took a picture of the leftovers.


Here's a list of ingredients:

Brown sugar (replacing palm sugar)
Fish sauce
Sriracha sauce
Garlic chilli sauce
Tamarind powder
Minced garlic
Shrimp
Eggs
Extra-firm tofu
Chicken breast
Bean sprouts


As you may have already figured out, I’m not huge on recipes. I just eye-balled a lot of it, and adjusted it to taste. It's the way our family cooks. I’m not even going to bother trying to explain how to make it, since I followed the instructions from Chez Pim (thanks so much!).

You’ll notice that I didn’t use roasted peanuts. That was an oversight on my part. I knew I was forgetting something as I paid for the groceries, but I ignored it and left the store. Dang. I was sooooooo sad when I realized I forgot to buy peanuts. They’re definitely essential to the Pad Thai experience. Also, I didn’t use lime or garlic chives. I didn’t remember to buy those… oops!

Still, I thought it tasted pretty great. Close to the real thing. If I had remembered to buy ALL of the ingredients, it would have been BETTER than the real thing! Muahahahahah! No, I’m just flattering myself. But it really did taste great. I surprised myself this time. Pad Thai part deux will be awesome.

*end scene*