📜 Ingredients for ➖ 2 ➕

🍲 Preparation

Rice noodles

1. Place the noodles in hot water (approx. 45-50 °C) until they are soft enough to wrap them around your finger slightly, then sieve it off. 3 mm wide rice noodles need about 30 minutes, wider noodles a little longer. It is often suggested to soak the noodles in cold water - in this case you have to calculate about 1.5 hours to be able to use them. I do not recommend a short al dente cooking (2-3 minutes), because the noodles stick together easily later and handling becomes very difficult, in that case rinse them with cold water as soon as they are cooked.

Pad Thai sauce

2. For making your own tamarind paste, tear 14 g of pressed tamarinds (in a block) into small pieces and place them in a bowl or deep plate. Keep the rest of the block well packed in the refrigerator (lasts long).
3. Soak the pieces in warm water (approx. 40 °C) for 10-15 minutes. Make sure that all tamarind pieces are covered with water.
4. Knead the tamarinds for a few minutes so that the flesh separates well from the skin and fibres. Occasionally you may still find seeds, even on blocks of "seedless tamarinds". The mass should become nice and thick.
5. Take a small portion of tamarind mass in your hand, form your hand into a fist and press the paste through your fingers. The fibres remain in the fist. Press firmly so that all the pulp is removed.
6. Repeat this procedure until the whole mass is processed.
7. If you want, you can now pass the tamarind paste through a sieve. However, almost nothing gets stuck in the sieve, as long as you've done your job thoroughly. It is therefore not absolutely necessary.
8. Mix all the ingredients for the Pad Thai sauce well, heat up briefly in a small pot over a low heat until the sugar has dissolved and set aside (also works in the microwave). Do not let the sauce boil, otherwise it will thicken and become too concentrated. It is always best to cook twice or three times the amount, because the sauce can be kept in the refrigerator for about 1 month when it is boiled up, or it is good for freezing.

Preparation

3. Dried shrimps: soak these in temperate water for about 15 minutes until they are soft.
4. Heat the oil in a wide frying pan or wok and sauté the finely diced shallots over a high heat for 30 seconds.
5. Add tofu (in cubes of 1 cm), finely chopped radish and dried shrimps and fry for another 30 seconds to 1 minute The shallots should not brown.
6. Add the whisked eggs, mix everything and fry over high heat, stirring constantly, until they are done. The result should be small pieces of egg and tofu (no omelette).
7. Push the egg and tofu mixture in the wok to one side or pour it from the wok onto a plate and set aside.
8. Put rice noodles together with 4 tablespoons of Pad Thai sauce in the wok and cook for 30 seconds to 1 minute at medium heat, stirring constantly. Try one noodle to see if it is firm to the bite - if it is too firm, cook a little longer. If the noodles become dry or stick together, stir in 1-3 tablespoons of water (never more).
9. Mix the egg mixture with the noodles. Fold in the chives and sprouts and fry for about 30 seconds at medium heat, stirring continuously.
10. Arrange on plates and serve with ground peanuts, a lime wedge, fresh sprouts, a few stalks of chives, sugar and chili flakes.

Tip

Never prepare Pad Thai for more than 2 people at the same time. In order to guarantee the best result, street cooks in Thailand usually prepare this dish in portions, but only for two people at most.

By Taste of Travel