Tuesday, February 08, 2011

Prawn Pad Thai



We attended a dinner bbq party recently and met a Thai style cooking chef there. He was kind enough to give me a verbal run down on how he cooks Pad Thai. It seems easy enough, and given that I have tried it before, I thought I should give it another go. I felt that this version did not have enough gravy. It seems that each time I made pad thai, I will run out of something. The last time, it was fish sauce, this time, I realized I did not have brown sugar on hand! What a waste.. grrr.. I really have to be a more organize cook.



The chef also gave me a tip on presentation. He said that by adding a little cornflour/water mixture into the beaten egg, it provides a better "spring" to the omelette, allowing it to stretch and accommodate the noodles without breaking. I lined a bowl with the omelette and place some noodles in it. I fold the egg, pop a place on top of the bowl, flip it over and ta dah, a nicely omelette wrapped noodle dish. I scored it and sprinkle some peanuts in it.

The alternative method, is to make the omelette, roll it up and sliced it. I find this way much simpler but it was always interesting to try something new! 


Prawn Pad Thai (Serves 6) 
200 grams prawn meat 

sauce
around 6-8 pieces of tamarind
500 ml of water 
1/4 cup of brown sugar

pad thai noodles soaked in normal tap water till soft

Seasoning- mix together in a jar
1/4 cup of fish sauce
1/2 lemon juice
1 tsp of sugar

1 tablespoon of garlic
1./2 red onion
few bunches of spring onion sliced.
2 cups of bean sprouts
roasted peanuts

Cook sauce first. Simmer ingredients till it becomes thicker. Do a taste test. Adjust accordingly.

Fry garlic, onion and prawns. Remove prawns from pan. Fry noodles and veges. Add simmer sauce ladle by ladle till absorb. Continue to do so for around 10 mins or so. Add the fish sauce/lemon juice/sugar mixture. Do a taste test and adjust. Add the prawns back. Toss and serve quickly.

Omelette (For one-repeat if needed)
2 eggs 
1/2 tsp of corn flour mix with a little water

beat eggs with corn flour mixture. Cook omelette on a oiled pan. Flip after around 3-4 mins.



Presenting this to the great people at Presto Pasta organized by Ruth from Once Upon A Feast. This week, it is hosted by Helen from Fuss Free Flavours. It's the 200 presto pasta bash this week!

Photobucket

10 comments:

  1. it can be quite versatile ya...

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  2. Great tip on adding cornflour/water in the beaten eggs.

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  3. Strange that though I am quite a noodle lover, I never tried cooking Pad Thai at home. :O

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  4. Pad thai is one of those meals that i always have such high expectations for, but that never quite pans out the way I want it to. Your version looks delicious even though it wasn't exactly what you wanted!

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  5. Hi there Daphne!

    My name is Steve Walters and I recently started blogging at http://www.eatingbangkok.com, which is currently being updated with recipes, but in the next few months will be my vehicle for covering the food and restaurant scene in Bangkok Thailand.

    I am now in the process of meeting as many food bloggers as I can and I found your site http://www.theduckquacking.blogspot.com/ recently and was pretty impressed. I've added your site to my Foodie Blogs list here: http://www.eatingbangkok.com/foodie-blogs/ and would also like to add you to my blogroll.

    If you could add my site to your blogroll and write back to let me know it has been added (foodie [at] eatingbangkok.com) I will add you to mine as well and the exchange would be greatly appreciated!

    As you might imagine I am very excited to get moved to Bangkok and get started on covering the food scene there as I feel it is an area that isn't well covered by English speaking bloggers. I plan on adding loads of great reviews, pictures and even video and will be holding contests as well. It should be fun, entertaining and informative for everyone that visits.

    Thank you so much in advance for adding me to your blogroll and I look forward to reading your posts (I've subscribed!) and maybe even featuring some of your own posts as I do plan on a weekly roundup of Thai themed recipes and posts from other food bloggers.

    Warm regards,
    Steve

    P.S. If you are on Twitter I would love to have you as a follower and I follow back:
    http://www.twitter.com/eatingbangkok

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  6. little inbox- indeed!

    little corner- yeah! thanks

    joanne- i agree! well, gives us a time to try again!

    tigerfish- hehe, your turn.

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  7. Just when I thought Pad Thai couldn't get any better... along you come with this tasty version. Thanks for sharing with Presto Pasta Night's big 200th roundup. You've made it the success it is with all your delicious entries over the years.

    Don't forget that PPN is turning 4 on March 4th... hope to see you there.

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  8. I'm always up for some Pad Thai, and yours sounds yummy. Good tip on the omelet too.

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  9. ruth-sounds like a big bash is on the way for 4th of march =) my pleasure to participate.

    Claudia- Thanks!

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  10. hi daphne, another lovely pad thai from you! Thanks for the info on the eggs. Also, i just passed you an award, pick it up from my blog when you have the time. Well deserved!

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