For my cultural dish I decided to make Pad Thai, with a recipe I found on YouTube, as led by Chef, Jet Tila (https://youtu.be/dBSmCwUXZF0).Even though I improvised for items I didn't have with like items.
First, a little history on the dish:
According to article: "The Invention of Pad Thai" on "Priceonomics" The dish's full name is kway teow phat Thai, and it is originally derived from a Chinese dish, and was altered with Thai added ingredients such as Tamarind, chilies and palm sugar to make it a Thai dish. Created in the late 1930's, this dish is a very popular street food in Thailand, specifically in Bangkok. (Mayyasi, 2015)
I have made this before, and I love the flavors it has, along with the much cheaper price of making it in large quantities at home. The only relationship I have to the Thai culture is my dads wife Puk, who he met in Thailand, however she's never made Pad Thai when I was visiting. The only times I've had this dish were at Thai, or noodle specific restaurants in Minnesota.
I first watched the video a few times to get all the ingredients Jet suggested, and there were a few I didn't have, in particular the Tamarind paste, and fish sauce. Fish sauce is something I've been meaning to buy, but always pass by in the store. I wanted to look for authentic ingredients, and I also needed the fresh ingredients needed, so I visited a store that I never knew was there, United Noodles. A very nice store, with a huge selection of purely Asian ingredients you don't find many places in the Twin cities. There is a second, larger location in Minneapolis, off of cedar with a full ramen restaurant.
One caveat - as you can see my kitchen is being remodeled and my situation is less than ideal, but that's another reason I selected this dish, it's filling, and I can make it in one pot.
Unfortunately my kitchen won't be complete until January, so this is what I'm working with!
On to the ingredients:
Bottles of liquid: Avocado oil, fish sauce, oyster sauce, soy sauce, peanut butter, tamarind paste/sauce, agave in the raw, rice wine vinegar, and a chili garlic sauce for heat, or you could use Sriracha as defined in the video.Fresh ingredients: Bean sprouts, Cilantro, Chives, Garlic, Chicken(I had left over rotisserie), 3 limes, and 2 eggs(not pictured)
Other: Rice noodle sticks
Pictured is sesame oil, I chose not to use that.
The Process
1-Jet recommended soaking the rice sticks to loosen them up, and it worked nicely. Using a luke-warm water, I soaked the noodles for about 20 minutes while I chopped the fresh ingredients, and prepared the sauce.
2- For the sauce, I simply combined the Tamarind, vinegar, peanut butter, agave, chili garlic sauce, soy sauce, oyster sauce, the juice of 1 full lime, and fish sauce into a measuring bowl and whisked until combined. Tasting to assure a good balance of each. What's nice about this mixture is if you make too much for the dish, you can put it in a jar in the refrigerator and save for a another dish.
3- Next to begin the layering in the pan, I heated enough oil to saute the garlic and chicken until lightly browned.
4 - Moving the chicken and garlic to a cooler end of the pan, add a T of oil into the direct heat and allow it to heat through. Add the two eggs to the hot oil, first allowing them to set in the heat, then scrambling until mostly cooked, then combine them with the chicken/garlic.
5 - Immediately, add the soaked rice noodles directly from the water to the pan, as the water draining into the hot pan created a steam that helped to saute and cook the noodles in the dish. Allow the noodles to steam for a bit, using the soaking water to add more of a steam element if needed.
5- When the noodles are nice and hot, and the pan has regained its heat, pour the prepared sauce into the pan and allow it to bubble, and reduce. You can add bean sprouts at this time, saving some for the end of the process.
6 - Once all the ingredients are heated through and the noodles are nice and pliable, you can add the remaining bean sprouts, folding them into the noodles, and turning off the heat. The bean sprouts should be fully warmed before dishing.
7 - finally, dish the noodles into a preferred vessel, and garnish with fresh cilantro, chives and limes for squeezing. In the video, Jet uses crushed peanuts which is traditional, not peanut butter like I used, but I altered the recipe to what I already had to avoid buying more than I needed. For added crunch I included extra chives and bean sprouts.
This dish turned out wonderful, I almost couldn't get enough and I had to cut myself off! However it was too spicy for my children to enjoy, oh well, more for me! next time I may leave out the chili sauce though.
References Links:
https://priceonomics.com/the-invention-of-pad-thai/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFeChtLaHy4
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