FCG: Pad Thai 01/22/07

Happy New Year Gang!Now that January is almost halfway over, I thought I'd get that out there. :) Hope you all are safe, happy, and healthy. Congrats to Erin of the gang on the birth of her daughter, Noelle. Congrats to me for getting an A on my thesis (one of the reasons I've been so remiss about sending out recipes--it took over my life). Congrats to anyone else for their accomplishments. Today's recipe is for Pad Thai, so we can start the new year with something new. This is a particularly mild recipe, though if you wanted to spice it up, you could easily throw in some chilis to your liking. I used to make this quite often (not so much lately because, well, I've spent all my life writing and researching so meals were mostly ramen and popcorn--yeah, I'm a healthy gal) and really enjoyed it. I hope you have the same experience. Happy eating! - Devon

Pad Thai Sauce
1 / 4 cup fish sauce
1 / 4 cup light brown sugar (packed)
1 / 3 cup rice vinegar (or distilled white vinegar)
1 tsp paprika

Noodles
7 ounces (1 / 2 inch wide) dried rice noodles
3 TBSP vegetable oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1 pound shrimp, shelled and deveined (or 1 lb chicken, cut up)
4 ounces baked or fried tofu, cut into little squares (~ 1 cup) (I’ve never used anything but regular old tofu, but I try to stir fry it by itself for a minute or two in the cooking process and thus pretend I’ve used “fried” tofu)
2 large eggs, lightly beaten (recipe says “optional,” I say use them)
1 / 2 cup chopped scallions (green parts only)
1 / 2 cup chopped roasted peanuts
3 cups bean sprouts

Garnish
1 / 2 cup sliced red pepper
Lime wedges
More bean sprouts
More peanuts

Make the sauce by stirring together all the ingredients for the sauce until the sugar is dissolved. That’s it. Soak your noodles in warm water (cover the noodles) for about 30 minutes or until soft. Drain. (Mighty darn easy so far, isn't it?) Heat your oil in your wok (or for those of us who don’t have one, big old fry pan) and when that is hot but not smoking, add your garlic and sauté that for about 20 seconds (just til fragrant). Add your meat and cook (shrimp until pink, chicken until not pink). Stir in your noodles to coat with oil. Add the sauce to the noodles and cook, stirring occasionally 5 to 7 minutes until sauce is absorbed. (If your noodles aren’t quite soft enough, throw in a little more water.) Stir in your tofu. If you’re doing the eggs, make a well in the center of your stuff in the pan and cook them in that, stirring constantly, until they’re firm. Stir in the scallions, peanuts, and bean sprouts and heat the whole thing through. Serve it up with garnishes on top to your liking.