Foodie Friday - Asian Edition

You too have had lousy pad thai with a sauce composed of one part ketchup, one part fish sauce, and two parts icky vegetable oil. Fuck that. Real pad thai is closer to what we think of when we think of Vietnamese food, a subtle, light blend of bright and savory flavors, but with the characteristic piquant kick of thai cuisine. Although it's a simple recipe, even the experienced cook can run into trouble with the unfamiliar palate of Southeast Asian ingredients. Trust your senses of taste and smell, by which I mean, taste and smell anything unfamiliar before hand. Yes, raw. You'll live. You'll need a powerful flame to cook this dish properly, and either a wok or a very large frying/sauté pan. The contents of this recipe should be easily available at any Asian grocery. I use refined safflower oil for its clean flavor/odor and very high smoke point.

Pad Thai

1 package thai rice noodles (thin, but not "vermicelli")
6 cloves garlic, crushed and minced
4-5 medium shallots, finely diced
1/2 large carrot, roughly grated
1 1/2 cup mung bean sprouts
4-5 thai ornamental chili peppers, diced
1 1/2 cup blanched peanuts, crushed or ground (I use a food processor)
2 tbspns coriander, freshly and roughly ground
2 tbspns tamarind pulp
1 1/2 cup diced firm tofu
2 eggs, scrambled together
1/2 cup fish sauce
juice of 1 lime
1/4 cup vinegar (rice wine or plain white)
fresh cilantro and asian basil, chiffonade
sea salt
black pepper

Bring a large pot of water to boil for the noodles. Make sure you check the package carefully. Some rice noodles need to be actively boiled like Western wheat noodles; others are introduced to boiling water which is then removed from the heat. In either case, slightly undercook your noodles, drain, and set aside.

In your wok or pan, heat a generous amount of oil (in a flat-bottomed pan, the bottom should be thoroughly covered; in a wok, you'll want oil perhaps a half-inch deep at the center) until very hot. Add the garlic and shallots. Toss several times. Add the chilis, carrot, half the sprouts, and the tamarind, tossing together. Use your spoon or spatula to help break up the tamarind pulp. Add the coriander and half the peanuts. The nuts will quickly absorb oil and you may need to add a little more. Continue frying and tossing. Deglaze the pan with the vinegar and a bit of fish sauce. Add the noodles. Fry and toss together for a minute or two.

Push the noodles to one side of the pan and add the egg and tofu to the other. Cook the egg until slightly underdone and then fold it and the tofu into the noodles. Add the rest of the fish sauce and a nice handful of the fresh herbs. Salt to taste. Toss together until the noodles are well coated, tangled, and beginning to clump a bit. Transfer immediately to a large serving dish, garnish with the rest of the peanuts, fresh herbs, cracked black pepper, and raw bean sprouts.