We love making homemade Pad Thai, which uses any assortment of veggies and meat you have on hand. It's a great meal to make when you have a surge of veggies coming out of the garden too. Other than having the right kind of Thai noodles, the most important thing is figuring out the sauce recipe that you like. It takes just a few unusual ingredients, which are well worth hunting down, and they last for a long time as well. We've experimented a lot and have come up with this recipe for sauce:1/4 C fish sauce
1/4 C soy sauce or tamari
1/4 C tamarind sauce
1/2 C white vinegar
1/4 C sugar
2 tsp. chili paste
2 tsp. paprika
Stir together all of these ingredients and set aside. This is enough sauce to coat a 16 ounce box of Thai noodles.
Soak the Thai noodles in very warm water while the meat and vegetables are cooking. Stir them around now and then to keep them from sticking together.
Meat possibilities: chicken, shrimp, beef, or pork - about 2 lbs. will make 4 big servings
Vegetable possibilities: sliced red or white onion, thinly sliced carrots, bell pepper strips, shredded cabbage, snow peas, bok choy, spinach leaves
The basic method is to stir-fry your veggies and meat in vegetable oil, then add the sauce and bring to a boil, then add your softened noodles, and cook until the noodles are done, stirring until the sauce is thickened up and absorbed by the noodles to your liking.
The toppings we like are:
fresh bean sprouts, cucumber matchsticks, or shredded carrot
scrambled egg, cut into strips
unsalted peanuts
lime juice
fresh cilantro
Check out what's up in your garden, or waiting in your refrigerator and get creative!
