Pad Thai

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.

Mapodofu

Inspired by Chen Kenichi, I learned to make mapodofu. It's quick, it's cheap and by God, it's tasty.

Ingredients

2 tablespoons of vegetable oil

400g minced beef or 1 cup of beef mince style TVP, soaked in 1 cup of water
2 tablespoons of fermented black bean paste (or locally available equivalent - ie: Tenmen jyan)
1 inch of finely chopped fresh ginger (at least!)
2 birds eye chilli, chopped finely
3 spring onions, sliced into thin rounds
1/2 cup of vegetable stock
2 tablespoons of dark soy sauce
1 tablespoon of chilli paste (or locally available equivalent - ie: Shisen toban jyan)

1 teaspoon of miso (optional - red miso works best)
2 tablespoons of Chinese rice wine
450g of firm or silken tofu, according to your preference (I like silken best)
2 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped
1 tablespoon of cornflour
2 tablespoons of sesame oil
Szechuan Pepper, to taste (if not available use white pepper)


1. Crush your Szechuan Pepper (also called Prickly Ash) in a mortar and pestle. Heat the oil in the wok, add the mince and season with salt and pepper. Break up any lumps with your wooden spoon, and brown the mince.
2. Add the black beans, ginger, spring onions and chilli and stir fry for a further 2 minutes.
3. Add the stock, soy sauce, chilli paste, miso and rice wine. Cut the tofu into little cubes (about 1.5cm) and add to the wok with the garlic and stir until the tofu is well coated. Cook over a low heat for a further 3 minutes.

4. Comine the cornflour with 3 tablespoons of water and stir with a fork until it forms a smooth paste. Add to the wok with the sesame oil and Szechuan pepper. Stir over a low heat until thickened slightly. Serve by either pouring over rice or in an iceburg lettuce leaf.


*The Koon Yick Wah Kee Soy Chilli Paste that I use is reallly intense. Approach with caution.

Overfeeds 2 people, 2 times.

Updated 7 April 2010.

NOTE: this recipe is also an excellent way to hide vegetables from fussy eaters. Just slice the vegetables into tiny cubes, fry them off briefly in a little oil before commencing step 1 of this recipe. Acceptable vegetables include eggplant, onions, mushrooms, carrots, broccoli, capsicum, or similar. Makes a delicious dinner treat into a nutritious espionage dinner.