Thai la Thai in Lygon Street is a reason to move to Melbourne in itself. Their Pad Thai is the best Pad Thai I've ever wrapped my chops around. My other half has concocted plans to have friends send him Thai la Thai Pad Thai in the mail, but it's probably illegal. In the meantime, we have this recipe to keep us going between visits to Melbourne.
Ingredients
1/4 of a block of tamarind or 3 tablespoons of tamarind concentrate
The juice of half a lime
3 tablespoons of fish sauce
2 tablespoons of palm sugar
White pepper, to taste
250g packet of dried, flat, long life, noodles
1 free range chicken breast
8 prawns (pre-boiled makes this easier)
1/2 a block of firm tofu
2 eggs
1 cup of peanuts
2 cloves of garlic
1 inch of lemongrass
1 inch of ginger
100g of bean shoots
2-3 spring onions
1/2 a red capsicum
Fresh coriander to taste
Wedges of lime to serve
Method
1. Prepare the tamarind by mincing it with a knife, put it in a heat proof bowl and pour 2 cups of hot water on it. Mush it around with a fork, and let sit for 5 minutes. Force through a sieve to get the lumps out. Add the lime juice, fish sauce, and sugar to the tamarind. Set aside whilst you prepare the rest of the dish. 2. Put the noodles in a big bowl and cover them with water. Let soak until soft. Alternatively you can cook them as per the instructions on the packet. Wrap the firm tofu in a fresh, clean, tea towel and place a weight on top of it. I like to use a carton of unopened soy milk to weigh upon the tofu. This will remove excess water from the tofu, and improve its texture when you fry it.
3. Slice the chicken breast into strips. Melt some butter in a wok and brown the chicken pieces in batches on quite a high heat. Set aside.
4. Crack the eggs into a bowl and beat with fork. Using the fat and butter still in the pan, empty the eggs into the pan. Flip when solid enough to do so. Cook until it is completely solid, take out of the pan and slice into strips.
5. Throw out the oil that's in the wok. De-vein and shell the prawns, leaving the tail on for decorative purposes. Fry in a little oil until cooked through. Set aside with chicken and omelette.
6. Pour 1cm of peanut oil into the bottom of the frying pan. Slice the tofu into 2cm x 2cm x 5cm rectangles. Shallow fry in the peanut oil until the tofu is puffy. Set aside with the chicken, prawns, and omelette.
7. Drain the noodles and shake well to get as much water as you can off them. Mince the lemongrass, ginger and garlic. Put 4 tablespoons of peanut oil in the wok. Fry the lemongrass, ginger and garlic for about 1/2 a minute, add the noodles, and fry for a further 2 minutes, being careful not to let it stick. Add the tamarind sauce and cook for another minute or two, stirring constantly. Put the chicken, omelette, prawns, and tofu in the wok, along with 1/2 the peanuts and bean shoots and the sliced spring onions. Heat through all the ingredients. 8. To serve, arrange the noodles in a bowl, put bean shoots, peanuts, coriander, slices of red capsicum, and lime wedges on top. Heavenly!
*Eat the prawn tails. They're crunchy and have lots of calcium. My friends in Japan got me into it, and now I think it a terrible waste to discard these tasty little morsels.
PS: I had the left overs for breakfast. It's even good cold.
