Pad Thai

This traditional Thai noodle dish is usually made with long, chewy rice noodles, but ramen noodles make a fine stand-in. You might be surprised to learn how few ingredients the sauce contains, considering it achieves such a complex-tasting balance of salty, sweet, sour, and spicy. Look for tamarind paste and fish sauce in the Asian section of your supermarket, and refrigerate what you don't use for this dish; both ingredients last for months.

Ingredients:
3 tbsp tamarind paste
3 tbsp fish sauce
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tspn soy sauce
1/2 tspn Thai chili paste
1 package ramen noodles, any flavor
2 tspn vegetable oil
3 oz. baked tofu, Thai flavor
2 scallions, light green and white parts, thinly sliced
1 large egg

Garnishes:
2 tbsp chopped peanuts
1/4 cup mung beans
1 tbsp chopped cilantro
2 lime wedges

Preparation:

1. In a small saucepan, combine the tamarind paste, fish sauce, and brown sugar. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat and cook until thickened and the brown sugar is melted, about 5 minutes. Stir in the soy sauce and 1/2 tspn chili sauce or to taste. Remove from the heat and set aside.
2. Break the ramen noodles into 4 pieces and cook in boiling water for 3 minutes, or according to the package directions (discard the ramen seasoning). Drain.
3. Heat the vegetable oil over high heat. Add the noodles, tofu, and scallions, and stir-fry for 3 to 5 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium and break the egg into the pan. Stir the egg into the noodle mixture until the egg is scrambled, 45 seconds to 1 minute. Pour the sauce into the pan and cook until all of the ingredients are heated through, 2 to 3 minutes, stirring to combine all the ingredients.
4. To serve, transfer to a serving bowl. Garnish with the peanuts, mung beans, cilantro, and lime.

Serves 2

Recipe courtesy of Ramen To The Rescue Cookbook by Jessica Harlan

Thailand [ print this recipe for Pad Thai ]