Cuisine Diva

How-to Make Traditional Pad Thai

Above: family style serving of pad thai

My previous Cuisine Diva post provides details on how to prepare all the ingredients for pad thai ahead of time: How-to Prepare Recipe Ingredients for Pad Thai. This article describes how to cook pad thai. My recipe for pad thai serves 4-6 people, depending on how hungry you are.

Above: prepared ingredients, ready to be made into pad thai

Pad Thai Recipe Ingredients

Refer to the How-to Prepare Recipe Ingredients for Pad Thai post for complete details on how to prepare each of these ingredients. Pad thai is a stir-fried noodle dish and only takes a few minutes to cook. The ingredients need to be processed and ready to go into the wok before starting to cook the pad thai.

Above: stir fry shallots and garlic

 

Above: stir fry shrimp until they turn pink

• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 4 shallots
• 4 cloves garlic
• 10 ounce raw shrimp
• 2 eggs
• 8 ounces thin to medium wide, dry rice noodles
• 1 bunch chives
• 3 tablespoons tamarind concentrate
• 2 1/2 tablespoons fish sauce
• 2 tablespoons palm sugar
• 2 teaspoons chili paste
• 1/2 teaspoon chilli powder
• 2 tablespoons dried shrimp
• 1/3 cup roasted peanuts
• 2 cups mung bean sprouts
• 4 green onions
• 1 carrot
• 1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves
• 1 lime

Above: scramble egg in the wok

Pad Thai Recipe Directions

1. Heat half of the vegetable oil in a wok, over medium high heat.
2. Add the shallots and garlic and cook until the garlic begins to turn golden.
3. Add the shrimp and cook for a few minutes, or just until they turn pink.
4. Remove the cooked shrimp from the wok, place in a small bowl, and set aside.
5. Add the remaining vegetable oil to the wok.
6. Add the eggs and stir until scrambled.
7. Add the rice noodles and chives to the wok and cook for 1 or 2 minutes.
8. Stir in the processed tamarind, fish sauce, palm sugar and chili paste.
9. Stir in half of the peanuts, bean sprouts and green onions.
10. Stir in the cooked shrimp.
11. Add the pad thai to a large serving platter.
12. Sprinkle the remaining peanuts, bean sprouts and green onions over the top.
13. Garnish with the carrot, cilantro leaves and lime wedges.
14. Serve immediately.
15. Pad thai is best served fresh, as the noodles tend to get a bit mushy after a short time.

Above: add rice noodles and chives

 

Above: stir in pad thai sauce

Take care,
Lynn Smythe AKA the Cuisine Diva

How-to Prepare Recipe Ingredients for Pad Thai

Above: ingredients to make authentic Pad Thai

Thai Style Cuisine

I've been on a Thai cooking adventure for the past few weeks. I am the Herbs and Spices Feature Writer for Suite101.com and have posted up a few Thai recipes and cuisine articles to that site. I had Pad Thai on my list of Thai recipes to test and finally got around to making Pad Thai today.

Above: tamarind paste concentrate, AKA sour soup base mix

Above: tamarind concentrate soaked in hot water, then stained

Pad Thai Recipe

Pad Thai is a classic stir-fried noodle dish. The recipe for Pad Thai is quite involved, and has a lot of different ingredients. I took a lot of photos as I was making the recipe, as Suite101 limits the number of photos that can be attached to each article, I thought I would post the recipe to Cuisine Diva, where there is no limit to the number of photos I can add.

Also, since the recipe is a bit involved, I've broken it down into two articles. This is the first article on how to prepare all the ingredients for making Pad Thai. The second article will detail how to make Pad Thai, once all your ingredients are ready to go.

Above: dried shrimp added to mortar

Above: dried shrimp pounded with pestle in stone mortar, until light and fluffy

Overview of Pad Thai Ingredients

• 8 ounces thin to medium wide, dry rice noodles
• 10 ounce raw shrimp
• 3 tablespoons tamarind paste
• 3/4 cup boiling water
• 2 1/2 tablespoons fish sauce
• 2 tablespoons palm sugar
• 2 teaspoons chili paste
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 4 cloves garlic
• 4 shallots
• 2 eggs
• 1 bunch chives
• 1/2 teaspoon chilli powder
• 2 tablespoons dried shrimp
• 1/3 cup roasted peanuts
• 2 cups mung bean sprouts
• 4 green onions
• 1 carrot
• 1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves
• 1 lime

Above: palm sugar disks waiting to be processed in mortar in pestle

Preparing Pad Thai Ingredients

1. Soak the rice noodles in a large bowl of cold water, for 20-30 minutes, or until soft. Don't soak the noodles too long, or they will get mushy once they are stir-fried. Some people use hot water to soak their rice noodles. While this method only takes about 5 minutes, instead of 20-30, it usually makes the noodles too soft, once they are added to the wok and stir-fried.
2. Any size shrimp can be used in this recipe. I used large, 12 count shrimp, i.e. 12 shrimp per pound. All shrimp needs to be peeled and deveined. Large shrimp will require a slightly longer cooking time than medium to small shrimp. Shrimp have their own built in alarm clock, when they turn pink, they are done.
3. Add 3 tablespoons tamarind paste to a small bowl. Pour in the 3/4 cup boiling water, and let soak for 10 to 15 minutes. Use a fine mesh strainer to strain out the stringy tamarind pulp and seeds. The resulting liquid is one of the ingredients used to make the pad thai sauce.
4. Use a mortar and pestle to pound out the disk of palm sugar. My palm sugar disks equally exactly two tablespoons once they are pounded in the mortar. Your palm sugar disks may be larger or smaller than the ones I used.
5. Peel and finely mince the garlic cloves.
6. Peel the shallots, cut them in half, then thinly slice.
7. Add the eggs to a small bowl and whisk together.
8. Wash the chives well, to remove any sand, dry off, then cut into one to two inch long lengths. I like to use a pair of kitchen scissors, to snip my chives, rather than chopping with a knife.
9. Use a mortar and pestle to pound out the dried shrimp, until they are light and fluffy.
10. Roughly chop the roasted peanuts. I used salted, roasted peanuts, with no skin. 
11. Slice the green onions into diagonal pieces.
12. Peel and grate the carrot.
13. Wash the cilantro leaves well, to remove and sand, dry off, then roughly chop.
14. Cut the lime into wedges, to be used as a garnish.

 

Above: rice noodles soaking in cold water

Pad Thai Ingredient Substitutions

I'm using ingredients to make an authentic Pad Thai. Specialty items, such as dried shrimp, palm sugar, fish sauce and tamarind paste, can be found at online gourmet stores such as Importfood.com and Temple of Thai. If you are having trouble locating certain items, here are a few suggestions for possible substitutions.

Above: individual ingredients prepared, and ready to be used to make Pad Thai

1. Use light brown sugar in place of the palm sugar.
2. Use the juice from two limes in place of the tamarind paste and boiling water.
3. Use soy sauce in place of the fish sauce.
4. Fresh parsley can be used in place of the cilantro.
5. Any protein can be used to make pad thai. Instead of shrimp, try using tofu, scallops, chicken or pork.
6. Use a large, thick bean sprout in this recipe, such as mung bean sprouts. Alfalfa and/or broccoli sprouts are much too thin for this recipe.
7. The chili paste can be omitted to make a non-spicy version of pad thai. But the chili paste really isn't hot, it just adds another layer of flavor to the dish. If you are really concerned with using chili paste, try using only 1 teaspoon, instead of 2, the first time you make pad thai.
8. Finely sliced red, yellow or orange bell pepper can be used in place of the grated carrot. They use carrot at my local Thai restaurant, so that's what I prefer.

Thai Recipes on Suite101.com

Here are the links to the Thai-themed articles I have written for Suite101.

• Sticky Rice Recipe 
• Thai Tom Khaa Soup
• Stir-Fried Caramelized Pork with Crispy Shallots
• Fresh Thai Culinary Ingredients
• Dry Thai Culinary Ingredients
• Specialty Food Items Used in Thai Cuisine Recipes
• Specialty Cooking Utensils Used in Thai Style Cuisine
• Thai Style Stir Fried Noodles with Red Curry Sauce
• Stir Fried Green Curry Pork with Eggplant

Take care,
Lynn Smythe AKA the Cuisine Diva

Chaiyo Thai Bistro - Delray Beach

My husband and I do a lot of bike riding, so as part of our Valentine's Day celebration we did a 25 mile road bike ride, along with a friend of ours that had just purchased her very first road bike. We were kind of tired after the ride, and I had gone for a 8 mile run the day before, so I was also pretty sore.

Thai Food To Go

The Olympics had started just a few days before, so we decided between being tired from the bike ride, and wanting to watch the Olympics, that we would get take out from a local restaurant for our Valentine's Day dinner. The Chaiyo Thai Bistro is located just down the street from our house, in western Delray Beach. I didn't think my husband would be interested in trying Thai food, but he said he heard a lot of positive comments about the restaurant. I love Thai food, so we decided to get Thai take out for our Valentine's Day dinner.

Chaiyo Thai Bistro used to be a Miami Subs-Arthur Treacher Fish fast food restaurant, so I didn't think the atmosphere was going to be too appealing for dining in. But my husband was pleasantly surprised when he went to pick up our order. He said it was very elegant, filled with people enjoying their meals, and the staff was very friendly. We will definitely try eating there in person next time.

Delicious Thai Food

Since my husband and I had never eaten at Chaiyo Thai Bistro, and my husband didn't know too much about Thai food, we decided to order a bunch of food to sample off their menu. When ordering any of their soups, curry or noodle dishes, you get to choose your protein from tofu, chicken breast, beef, prawns, squid or scallops. I like that they have a tofu option for many of their menu items, our daughter became a vegetarian about a year ago, and I'm always looking for food options for her picky palate.

My husband and I ordered the following items from the menu:

Appetizer platter - 2 each of spring rolls, prawn rolls, chicken satay, beef satay, golden flowers and crispy tofu. Golden flowers are little wonton-like pockets filled with a mixture of ground chicken, potatoes, onion and yellow curry. The platter came with three dipping sauces; plum sauce, spicy peanut sauce and a sweet vinegar sauce which had finely diced cucumber in it. Besides the the rubbery tofu chunks, we really enjoyed the appetizer platter.

I got the Tom Ka soup with scallops. Tom Ka is a coconut milk based soup with fresh mushrooms, galangal, kaffir lime leaves, cilantro, tomatoes and your choice of protein (tofu, chicken breast, prawns, squid or scallops).

For his main dish, my husband ordered the Pad Thai with prawns. Pad Thai is stir-fried rice noodles, egg, bean sprouts, green onion and special Pad Thai sauce. It is served with fresh bean sprouts, limes, ground peanuts, carrots and cabbage. I tried a bit - it was a nice mixture of hot noodles/shrimp with crunchy cold vegetables. Pad Thai is a classic Thai food dish.

For my main dish, I ordered the Green Curry with chicken. That was a mixture of a slightly hot/spicy green curry paste with coconut milk, eggplant, bell peppers, peas and Thai basil. Served with your choice of Jasmine or brown rice. You definitely need to serve this dish with a generous portion of rice, to help cut down on the heat. Not too hot, but it definitely built up in the back of your throat and mouth as you continued eating the dish.

Additional Information

Their menu is listed on their website, so you can get an idea of the type of food they serve: www.chaiyothaibistro.com. Chaiyo Thai Bistro is located on the southeast corner of Military Trail and Atlantic Ave. There is a BP gas station, Bed/Bath/Beyond and CVS in the plaza where the restaurant is located.

Chaiyo Thai Bistro is my new favorite restaurant, I look forward to dinning in the next time we get the craving for Thai food. And I really like the fact that it less than a mile from my house.

Take care,
Lynn Smythe AKA the Cuisine Diva

How-to Make Steamed Chinese Dumplings

 

Platter of steamed Chinese dumplings

I love Chinese food, and I especially LOVE Chinese dumplings. It doesn't matter what else we are ordering, we always have to add an order or two of dumplings to the order if we're getting Chinese takeout. We usually get pan-fried dumplings, which are simply dumplings that have been briefly pan-fried after they are steamed.

Chinese dumplings are traditionally filled with pork, but one of our local restaurants also offers a vegetarian dumpling. I decided to fill my dumplings with a mixture of ground, dark meat turkey, shrimp and vegetables.

Wonton Wrappers = Dumpling Wrappers
I used wonton wrappers to save time, instead of having to make dumpling dough from scratch. Although making homemade Chinese dumplings is not difficult, it is time consuming, so they certainly don't qualify for the quick and easy recipe category. You can even make the filling the day before, and store it in the refrigerator until you are ready to make the dumplings.

 

Blanching and draining cabbage in preparation for Chinese dumplings

Ingredients for Chinese Dumplings

• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 inch piece ginger root - peeled and grated
• 4 green onion bottoms - cut in half and sliced thin
• 4 ounces mushroom tops - diced
• 1 1/4 pounds ground dark meat turkey
• 3 cups shredded cabbage
• 12 ounces shrimp - peeled, de-veined and chopped
• 1 tablespoon corn starch
• 2 tablespoons soy or Ponzu sauce
• 1/4 cup cilantro - chopped
• Wonton wrappers
• Small bowl of water

Green onions sliced, mushroom diced

Directions for Chinese Dumplings

You only use a level tablespoon of filling for each dumpling. You need to make sure all the dumpling ingredients are chopped fine, so the sides of the wonton wrappers don't blow out as you are filling the dumplings.

 

Cooking Chinese dumpling filling in the wok

1. Prepare the cabbage by blanching it in boiling water for 1-2 minutes. Remove from the heat and immediately plunge into a bowl filled with ice water. Drain the blanched cabbage in a colander, and squeeze out all the excess moisture.
2. Heat the oil over medium high heat in a wok or large frying pan.
3. Add the ginger and cook for 1 minute.
4. Add the green onions and mushroom and cook for 2-3 minutes.
5. Add the ground turkey and cook until no longer pink.
6. Stir in the blanched cabbage and cook for 1 more minute.
7. At this point, check the mixture for excess moisture. The mushrooms and cabbage contain a lot of water, which they release during the cooking process. You might have to drain off the liquid if it is more than just a spoonful or two. You don't want a soggy filling, or the wonton wrappers will disintegrate before you finish filling them.
8. Add the shrimp, and cook until they just begin to turn pink.
9. In a small bowl, whisk together the corn starch with the soy sauce. Ponzu is a thin, citrus flavored soy sauce. We also use ponzu as a dipping sauce for the completed Chinese dumplings. Stir the sauce into the wok and cook for another minute or two.
10. Remove the wok from the heat and stir in the cilantro.
11. At this point you may refrigerate the filling and make the dumplings the next day, or continue with the recipe.

Wonton wrapper filled with Chinese dumpling mixture

Directions for Filling the Chinese Dumplings

1. Let the filling cool slightly so that you don't burn your fingers while filling the dumplings.
2. Open up the package of wonton wrappers.
3. Fill a small bowl with water and place it near the wonton wrappers.
4. Peel off 1 wonton wrapper from the package and place it on your work surface.
5. Use your fingers to wet the edges of the wonton wrapper with a bit of water.
6. Use 1 level tablespoon of the filling and place it in the center of the wonton.
7. Fold the wonton in half.
8. Crimp the edges of the wonton wrapper, making sure to completely seal the dumpling.

 

Bottom of steamer basket covered with perforated waxed paper

Directions for Steaming the Chinese Dumplings

1. The traditional method of steaming the Chinese dumplings is to use a bamboo steamer placed over boiling water in a wok. While I do own a wok, I don't have a bamboo steamer, so I used my metal vegetable steamer instead.
2. I cut out a circle of waxed paper to fit the bottom of the steamer. I poked holes through the waxed paper so the steam will reach the dumplings as they are cooking. I filled the steamer basket with dumplings, approximately 1 dozen at a time. Then I placed a couple of inches of water in the bottom of the steamer, added the dumpling filled steamer basket to the pan, placed the lid on and turned the heat onto high.
3. As soon as the water comes to a boil, reduce the heat to medium low, and let the dumplings steam for 8-10 minutes. Remove the basket from the steamer and carefully remove the dumplings to a platter. Be careful, the dumplings will be hot. If you let the dumplings cool too long, they will begin to stick to the waxed paper, so remove them ASAP. I used a set of bamboo tongs to remove the cooked dumplings from the steamer.
4. Serve the dumplings right away with your favorite dipping sauce. The cooked dumplings will also keep a few days in the refrigerator. I made 2 dozen dumplings, and still have enough filling leftover to make another 2-3 dozen dumplings. I like to make small batches of dumplings, as they are going to be eaten. Nothing like freshly steamed, homemade dumplings!

Steamer basket filled with Chinese dumplings, ready to be steamed

Take care,
Lynn Smythe AKA the Cuisine Diva

Asian Style Vegetable Wraps

 

Veggie wrap in flour tortilla with ponzu dipping sauce.

On Friday I blogged about rice and bean thread noodles. I used rice noodles as part of the filling for Asian style vegetable wraps I made for my daughter, who has recently become a vegetarian. She was looking through one of my vegetarian cookbooks, The Best Ever Vegetarian Cookbook by Nicola Graimes (Barnes & Noble Books, 1999), where she saw a recipe for a vegetable wrap.

 

Ingredients for Asian style vegetable wraps. The alfalfa sprouts never made it into the wraps, thought we had enough veggies without them. I kept the veggies a bit on the crisp side, but you could cook your veggies a bit more then add sliced water chestnuts for a bit of crispness.

No Chickens Allowed
The recipe was for cilantro omelet packages with oriental vegetables. She liked the idea of mixed vegetables being stir-fried and wrapped up somehow, but she isn't a big fan of eggs. We decided to use flour tortilla's as our wrap, and we even used whole wheat pita pockets for some of the leftovers the next day.

 

Broccoli, carrots and snow peas prepared for veggie wraps.

New and Improved Recipe
I drastically changed the original recipe, and came up with an all new recipe for Asian style vegetable wraps. My daughter and I both thought this recipe was super delicious. She took a bit of the leftovers with her for her school lunch the next day. She placed the vegetable wrap filling, in a small plastic container, and wrapped up a couple of tortilla's in foil. I think she added a small container of mandarin oranges, and a carton of chocolate soy milk for a complete and delicious vegetarian meal.

 

Shredded cabbage.

Easy on the Seasonings
Ponzu sauce is a thin, soy sauce which is flavored with citrus. My daughter doesn't like overly flavored or spicy foods, so I kept the seasonings a bit on the light side. If I were making this just for myself, I would probably increase the amount of hoisin sauce and chili oil a bit, or even add a fresh Thai chili or two. My husband and son would even like this dish, if I added a bit of shrimp or chicken to it.

Ingredients for Asian Style Vegetable Wraps

• *1 bunch softened rice thread noodles
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1/8 teaspoon chili oil
• 1 inch piece fresh ginger root - peeled and grated
• 2 cloves garlic - minced
• 4 green onions - sliced thin
• 2 cups broccoli florets
• 1 cup grated carrot
• 1 cup pea pods - cut into thirds
• 3 cups Napa cabbage or Chinese cabbage - shredded
• 1 cup fresh cilantro leaves - chopped
• 2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1 tablespoon Ponzu sauce

Ginger and garlic in the sizzling wok.

*To Soften Rice Thread Noodles

1. Remove one bundle of rice noodles from the package.
2. Place the bundle in a large bowl.
3. Cover the noodles with hot water.
4. Let the rice noodles soak for 10 minutes.
5. Drain off the water.
6. Cut the softened noodles into 2-3 inch long lengths.
7. Continue following the Asian style vegetable wrap recipe.

Variety of vegetables stir frying in the wok.

Directions for Asian Style Vegetable Wraps

The vegetables should still be a bit crispy, and not mushy, after cooking. The cooking times given in this recipe are just guidelines. I have one of those induction top stoves, but a gas stove would be much hotter, thus a shorter cooking time will be necessary.

 

Completed veggie wrap filling, with rice noodles and sauce added.

1. Heat the vegetable oil and chili oil in a wok, or a large frying pan.
2. Stir the ginger into the wok, and cook for 1 minute.
3. Stir the garlic and green onions into the wok, and cook for an additional minute.
4. Add the broccoli and cook for 2-3 minutes.
5. Stir in the carrot and cook for 1-2 minutes.
6. Stir in the snow peas and cook for 1-2 minutes.
7. Stir in the Chinese cabbage and cook for another 1-2 minutes.
8. Stir in the cilantro leaves.
9. In a small bowl, whisk together the hoisin sauce, water and ponzu sauce.
10. Stir the sauce mixture into the pan full of stir fried vegetables.
11. Cook for another minute or two, until the cabbage has wilted, and all the vegetables are well coated with the sauce.
12. Remove the wok from the heat.
13. Serve immediately. Use rice paper wrappers (i.e. spring roll wrappers), flour tortillas or pita pockets to make vegetable wraps. Leftovers can be stored in the refrigerator for a few days.

Flour tortilla, on the left, and whole wheat pita, on the right, used for Asian style vegetable wraps.

Take care,
Lynn Smythe AKA the Cuisine Diva

Rice and Bean Thread Noodles

 

Rice noodles, on the left, and bean noodles, on the right.

Vegetarian Recipes
My 13 year old daughter decided to become a vegetarian a few months ago. I let her look through my two vegetarian cookbooks to see if there were any recipes she wanted me to make for her. She saw a recipe for sauteed vegetables wrapped in an omelet. She said she would like something similar, but without the omelet.

 

One bundle of rice thread noodles. They are very stiff and need to be soaked in water before adding to recipes.

Vegetable Wraps
I made a shopping list, and we went to the grocery store to purchase the ingredients. I originally thought I'd use rice paper wrappers for the wraps, but I couldn't find them at Albertson's. I'll probably make a trip to Wholefoods in the next day or two, but for now, I decided to use flour tortilla's instead.

Rice & Bean Thread Noodles
I thought the wraps would need something a bit more substantial than just vegetables, so I decided to see if I could find rice thread noodles. I found both rice sticks and bean threads on the ethnic food aisle. The rice sticks, AKA rice noodles, come three bundles to a package and are made from rice, cornstarch and water. The bean threads, AKA bean noodles, come three bundles to a package and are made from mung bean starch, potato starch and water.

 

Soaking rice thread noodles in hot water.

The rice noodles are very thin, like an angel hair pasta, while the bean noodles, are a bit thicker, almost like spaghetti. Both varieties are wheat-free, making them perfect for anyone following a gluten-free diet. The preparation method is the same for both types of noodles.

Soaking Rice and Bean Thread Noodles

1. Remove one bundle of rice or bean noodles from the package.
2. Place the bundle in a large bowl.
3. Cover the noodles with hot water.
4. Let the rice noodles soak for 10 minutes, and the bean noodles soak for 20 minutes.
5. Drain off the water, then use the noodles in your recipe.

Drain softened noodles in colander.

Frying Rice and Bean Thread Noodles

1. Fill a stock pot with vegetable oil, until it is at least 2 inches deep.
2. Heat the oil to 375 degrees.
3. Remove one bundle of rice or bean noodles from the package.
4. Carefully place the noodles into the hot oil.
5. The noodles will immediately expand in the oil.
6. Remove the noodles from the oil and drain on a paper towel lined plate before adding to your recipe.

We wanted a soft noodle, to add to the vegetable wraps, so I used the water soaking method. I soaked the noodles as I was chopping, preparing all the vegetables for the wraps. Rice and bean thread noodles don't really taste like anything. They absorb the flavors of whatever recipe they are being added to. I used a citrus flavored soy sauce, AKA ponzu, and hoisin sauce to flavor the veggie wraps.

 

Veggie wrap filling on flour tortilla.

On Monday I will post up the recipe and lots of photographs of the vegetable wraps being made.

Take care,
Lynn Smythe AKA the Cuisine Diva