On Monday Greg, Alyssa and I went took a cooking class in downtown Bangkok on our off day. It was such a treat! Our class was with Silom Thai Cooking School and included a market tour before we got down to cooking.
We were in an international class with students from Hong Kong, Singapore, Belgium and South Korea. Meeting people from all over the world and sharing cultures was one of my favorite parts of the experience!
Traditional Pad Thai incorporates shrimp in the recipe. The hardest part is gathering all the ingredients at the grocery store. Each country I’ve visited has unique fruits and vegetables that may be difficult to find in the states. For instance, Thai radishes appear to be very large white carrots, instead of small and red like at home. I also learned that the use of fish sauce is to salt your food, instead of the dry salt we use at home.
Pad Thai Sai Kai
Ingredients
| 100 grams |
dried rice noodle, pre soak in warm water until soft, drain (soak for 30 min) |
| 5 | medium sized prawns, peeled and deveined (vegetarian option: mushroom) |
| 2 tbls | vegetable oil (except olive oil or sesame oil) |
| 1/8 | chive or green onion, cut into 3 cm. pieces |
|
1 tbls |
palm sugar or brawn sugar |
| 2 tsp | fish sauce (vegetarian option: soy sauce) |
| 1 | egg |
| 1/4 cup | raw bean sprouts or cabbage |
| 1 tbls | garlic (minced) |
| 1/3 cup | tofu – extra firm cut in 1 cm strips (small amount) |
| 1 tbls | tamarind paste or white vinegar |
| 1 tbls | pickled white radish, finely chopped or pickled cabbage |
| 1 tbls | ground roasted peanut or ground roasted cashew nut |
| 1/2 tsp | ground dried red chilies powder |
Preparation:
- Heat the oil over low heat, add garlic and fry until fragrant.
- Add prawns, tofu, bean sprouts, chives stif until prawns are cooked. (around 30 seconds)
- Crack the egg straight into the wok, stir rapidly until it becomes scrambled and dried.
- Add noodles and season with fish sauce, palm sugar, ground roasted peanuts, ground dried red chili powder, tamarind paste and picked white radish. Mix everything together. Keep frying.
- When the noodles become softened and translucent, switch off the heat.
- Serve with fresh vegetables. Top with ground peanuts and ground dried chili powder.
- Go to the market and purchase your Pad Thai for 10 baht – because those from Bangkok don’t actually have kitchens or the patience to make it. You’ll save time and money purchasing it from a street vendor. 🙂
