Simple Pad Thai Noodles

Simple Pad Thai Noodles

During my last trip to Thailand, I ate Pad Thai in at least 20 different places, which includes local road side carts to ones served in decorated platter in a 5 star hotel. The best one I ate is what I am putting on my blog today. A very simple version of the authentic Pad Thai, cooked in less than 30 minutes and the taste is good enough to make you ask for more. The only changes I made in today's dish is I omitted the dainty little shrimps the stall owner decorated my plate with. You can always go ahead and add those to your plate too.

Preparation time : 10 minutes
Cooking time      :  15 minutes
Difficulty              : Very Easy
Serves                  :  4

Ingredients :

250 grams of dried, wide and flat Rice noodles
2 tablespoons Brown sugar
2 tablespoons fresh Lime juice
3 tablespoons  Light Soy sauce
1 about 1/8 teaspoon of Shrimp paste(optional)
2 teaspoons Vegetable oil (I prefer Peanut Oil, use can use any one)
3 Green Onions, white and green parts, separated and thinly sliced
1 Garlic clove, minced
1/2 cup fresh Coriander leaves, finely chopped
1/4 cup chopped roasted, salted peanuts, partially broken
2 - 3 whole dried Red Chilies, seeded and cut into small pieces.
Salt to taste.

Method :

1) Soak noodles according to package instructions. Drain and set aside.

2) In a small bowl, whisk together brown sugar, lime juice, light soy sauce, and Shrimp paste (if you are using it) and set aside.

3) In a large nonstick skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat.

4) Once the oil is hot enough add scallion whites, cut chilies and garlic and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant (about 30 seconds).

 5) Add noodles, scallion greens, and sauce to skillet. Cook, tossing constantly, until noodles are soft (about 1 minute). Taste and then add salt. It also might not be necessary as the sauces contain a good amount of salt.

6) Put in the roasted peanuts and stir once. Top with coriander leaves and sprinkle Lime Juice from the top.

7) Serve Hot.

Note : This dish can be spiced up with fried eggs or sauteed fresh shrimps. You can also add fried tofu to give a new twist to your Pad Thai,  but it also taste wonderful without condiments.

When I soaked the Pad Thai for the first time I was not very certain if really the noodles will ever become soft enough to eat ? But then I learnt that the noodles soaked in cold water might not look fully done or soft enough, but they taste wonderful once they are tossed in a wok with the veggies and spices.