Pad Thai With Banana Flower Recipes

AUTHENTIC PAD THAI

Steps:

• Soak the dry noodles in lukewarm water while preparing the other ingredients, for 10-15 minutes.
• Julienne tofu and cut into pieces 1 inch long.
• Cut up Chinese chives into 1 inch long pieces. Set aside a few fresh chives for a garnish.
• Rinse the bean sprouts and save half for serving fresh.
• Mince shallot and garlic together.
• Heat the oil in a wok on high.
• Fry the peanuts until toasted and remove them from the wok.
• Add shallot, garlic and tofu and stir them until they start to brown.
• The noodles should be flexible but not expanded at this point. Drain the noodles and add to the wok. Stir quickly to keep things from sticking.
• Add tamarind, sugar, fish sauce, chili pepper and preserved turnip. Stir. The heat should remain high. If your wok is not hot enough, you will see a lot of juice in the wok at this point. Turn up the heat, if it is the case.
• Make room for the egg by pushing all noodles to the side of the wok. Crack the egg onto the wok and scramble it until it is almost all cooked. Fold the egg into the noodles.
• Add shrimp and stir for a minute.
• Add bean sprouts, chives. Stir a few more times. The noodles should be soft and very tangled.
• Pour onto the serving plate and sprinkle with the fried peanuts. Serve hot with banana flower, a wedge of lime, raw Chinese chives and raw bean sprouts.

PAD THAI WITH BANANA FLOWER

Steps:

• By far, the trickiest part is the soaked noodles. Noodles should be somewhat flexible and solid, not completely expanded and soft. When in doubt, undersoak. You can always add more water in the pan, but you can't take it out.
• In this recipe, pre-ground pepper, particularly pre-ground white pepper is better than fresh ground pepper.
• Tamarind adds some flavor and acidity, but you can substitute white vinegar.
• If you decided to include banana flower, cut lengthwise into sections (like orange sections). Rub any open cut with lime or lemon juice to prevent it from turning dark.
• The original Pad Thai recipe calls for crushed roasted peanuts. Many people in Thailand avoid eating peanuts because of its link to cancer.
• Soak the dry noodles in lukewarm water while preparing the other ingredients, for 5-10 minutes.
• Julienne tofu and cut into 1 inch long matchsticks. When cut, the extra firm tofu should have a mozzarella cheese consistency.
• Cut up Chinese chives into 1 inch long pieces. Set aside a few fresh chives for a garnish.
• Rinse the bean sprouts and save half for serving fresh. Mince shallot and garlic together.
• Use a wok. If you do not have a wok, any big pot will do. Heat it up on high heat and pour oil in the wok. Fry the peanuts until toasted and remove them from the wok.
• Add shallot, garlic and tofu and stir them until they start to brown.
• The noodles should be flexible but not expanded at this point. Drain the noodles and add to the wok. Stir quickly to keep things from sticking.
• Add tamarind, sugar, fish sauce, chili pepper and preserved turnip. Stir. The heat should remain high.
• If your wok is not hot enough, you will see a lot of juice in the wok at this point. Turn up the heat, if it is the case.
• Make room for the egg by pushing all noodles to the side of the wok. Crack the egg onto the wok and scramble it until it is almost all cooked. Fold the egg into the noodles.
• Add shrimp and stir.
• Add bean sprouts, chives. Stir a few more times.
• The noodles should be soft and very tangled.
• Pour onto the serving plate and sprinkle with peanuts. Serve hot with the banana flower slice and a wedge of lime on the side and raw Chinese chives and raw bean sprouts on top.
• In Thailand, condiments such as sugar, chili pepper, vinegar and fish sauce are available at your table for your personal taste. Some people add more pepper or sugar at this point.

VEGETARIAN PAD THAI

Steps:

• Soak the rice noodles in room temperature water for 30-45 minutes before you cook. Do not soak in hot water or your noodles will get sticky. You want them to be soft enough to bend, but still firm. When finished soaking, drain, rinse, and set aside. Prepare the tamarind paste by squishing 1/8 cup tamarind pulp with 1/8 cup water in a small bowl with your fingers. Take out all the tamarind veins and seeds, and squish the fruit until the water turns into a thickish paste. Strain the pulp with a strainer and set aside. Prepare the sauce by adding 1 tablespoon of that tamarind paste you just made with the soy sauce & palm sugar in a small bowl. If your palm sugar is rock hard and doesn't dissolve, you can cut into small bits and microwave the mixture for 10 seconds or so. That should soften the sugar enough to dissolve. Fry the tofu in hot oil until medium brown on each side. Remove from oil and set aside. Add more oil to the pan, if necessary. Wait until the oil is hot, and 'dancing' around (look at the surface - is the oil moving?) Add the pickled radish and fry for a few seconds to get the flavor out. Add your noodles and stir. You may want to add about 1/8-1/4 cup water too, depending on how hot your wok is. When the noodles soften a bit, add the sauce and the 1/8 teaspoon of the chili powder (leave the rest for garnish). Mix well - but be careful not to make a noodle mush. Try to keep the noodles separated as much as possible, covering the entire bottom of the pan. Spread them out. Cook until the noodles are soft - it may take a minute or two. Taste to be sure they are done. If they get too dry, you may need to add a bit more water. When the noodles are done, push them to the side to create room for the egg. Crack the egg into the space and scramble it with your spatula and cover the bottom of the pan. Throw the noodles on top of the egg. Add the chives, 1/2 of the peanuts and 1/2 bean sprouts. Mix well, and remove to a plate. You may get egg bits stuck to the pan. Scrape them off and eat them. I call these 'wok crispies'. You actually want to try to get them. Garnish with the rest of the sprouts on top, a slice of lime, and a pile each of the white sugar, the rest of the peanuts and the rest of the chili powder. You can also garnish with a few uncut garlic chives and 1/4 small banana flower too.