Cooking Light Magazine Pad Thai Recipes

COOKING LIGHT MAGAZINE PAD THAI

Steps:

• Soak tamarind paste in 3/4 cup boiling water for about 10 minutes, then push it through a mesh strainer to remove the seeds and fibers and extract as much pulp as possible. Stir fish sauce, rice vinegar, sugar, cayenne, and 2 tablespoons oil into tamarind liquid and set aside.
• Cover rice sticks with hot tap water in large bowl; soak until softened, pliable, and limp but not fully tender, about 20 minutes. Drain noodles and set aside. Beat eggs and 1/8 teaspoon salt in small bowl; set aside.
• Heat 1 tablespoon oil in 12-inch skillet (preferably nonstick) over high heat until just beginning to smoke, about 2 minutes. Add shrimp and sprinkle with remaining 1/8 teaspoon salt; cook, tossing occasionally, until shrimp are opaque and browned about the edges, about 3 minutes. Transfer shrimp to plate and set aside.
• Off heat, add remaining tablespoon oil to skillet and swirl to coat; add garlic and shallot, set skillet over medium heat and cook, stirring constantly, until light golden brown, about 1 1/2 minutes; add eggs to skillet and stir vigorously with wooden spoon until scrambled and barely moist, about 20 seconds. Add noodles, dried shrimp, and salted radish (if using) to eggs; toss with 2 wooden spoons to combine. Pour fish sauce mixture over noodles, increase heat to high, and cook, tossing constantly, until noodles are evenly coated. Scatter 1/4 cup peanuts, bean sprouts, all but 1/4 cup scallions, and cooked shrimp over noodles; continue to cook, tossing constantly, until noodles are tender, about 2 1/2 minutes (if not yet tender add 2 tablespoons water to skillet and continue to cook until tender).
• Transfer noodles to serving platter, sprinkle with remaining scallions, 2 tablespoons peanuts, and cilantro; serve immediately, passing lime wedges separately.

LIGHTENED-UP PAD THAI

Steps:

• Soak the rice noodles in a bowl of warm water until pliable but not too soft, about 30 minutes. Drain.
• Run a vegetable peeler along the length of the carrot and zucchini to create noodle-like ribbons. Keep the two separate and set aside.
• Mix together the fish sauce, lime juice, sugar, oyster sauce and Sriracha in a small bowl. Remove 1 teaspoon of the sauce and toss with the shrimp, let sit at room temperature.
• Heat 1 teaspoon of the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Scatter the shrimp in one layer in the skillet. Sear for 1 minute, then remove to a plate.
• Add the remaining tablespoon of oil to the skillet over medium-high heat. Add the garlic, red pepper slices, carrot ribbons and soaked noodles; stir-fry for 30 seconds. Add the sauce and 1/2 cup water; stir until the noodles have softened, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the zucchini ribbons, bean sprouts, scallions and reserved shrimp. Stir-fry for another minute. If the noodles look too dry, add a little more water.
• Divide evenly among four plates. Sprinkle with peanuts. Serve with lime wedges, Sriracha and fish sauce on the side.

CLASSIC PAD THAI

Steps:

• Cover noodles with boiling water and let stand for 5 minutes; drain well and reserve.
• Heat half the oil in a wok or deep skillet set over high heat. Crumble in chicken and add hot sauce; stir-fry for 3 to 5 minutes or until browned. Reserve on a platter.
• Add remaining oil and peppers to pan; stir-fry for 3 minutes. Add shrimp and stir-fry for 2 minutes. Stir in garlic, ginger, broth, ketchup, lime juice, sugar and fish sauce. Bring to a boil. Add noodles and reserved meat; toss mixture to combine. Heat through.
• Add sprouts and toss gently. Sprinkle with onions, coriander and peanuts.

PAD THAI

Steps:

• Tip the noodles into a large bowl and pour over a kettle of boiling water until they are covered. Leave to stand for 5-10 mins until the noodles are soft, then drain well. (You can do this part ahead of time - then just run the noodles under cold water until cool, and toss through a little oil to stop them from sticking.) Next, mix together the tamarind paste, fish sauce and sugar in a small bowl.
• Peel and finely chop the garlic. Trim the ends off the spring onions and cut into thin slices about 1cm long. Heat a wok or large frying pan over a high heat. When it's really hot (a drop of water should sizzle straight away), pour in the oil and swirl around. Tip in garlic and spring onions. To stir-fry, take a spatula or tongs and toss the veg around the wok so they're moving all the time. Cook for 30 secs, just until they begin to soften.
• Push the vegetables to the sides of the wok, then crack the egg into the centre. Keep stirring the egg for 30 secs until it begins to set and resembles a broken-up omelette.
• Add the prawns and beansprouts, followed by the noodles, then pour over the fish sauce mixture. Toss everything together and heat through. Spoon out onto plates. Serve with some chopped peanuts sprinkled over and wedges of lime.

AUTHENTIC PAD THAI

Steps:

• Soak the noodles in warm water for about 20 mins until softened but with plenty of bite, then drain. Meanwhile, mix together the tamarind paste, fish sauce, sugar and lime juice until the sugar dissolves. Season with a pinch of chilli powder if you like it spicy. Can be made up to two weeks ahead and kept in the fridge. If you make pad Thai regularly, double the quantity and keep half.
• Heat half the oil in a frying pan and cook the tofu on each side until golden. Add the prawns and fry until they just start to turn pink. Tip the noodles into the pan and drizzle over the tamarind mixture with about 5 tbsp of water. Stir everything together and cook over a high heat for 3 mins until the noodles are just cooked. Add a splash more water if needed.
• When the sauce has reduced, scatter over the beansprouts and fold them into the noodles. Push everything to one side of the pan, then pour in the rest of the oil on the empty side and crack in the eggs. Fry for 2 mins until the white is just set and beginning to crisp around the edges, then roughly scramble the runny yolks in with the whites. When the eggs have just set, combine with the noodles.
• Scatter over half of the peanuts, half the spring onion and all the turnip, and quickly toss together. Divide between two plates with the remaining peanuts, spring onion, chilli powder, lime wedges and soy sauce on the side, to garnish as preferred.