I had a hankering for pad thai the other night and I decided that I would try to make it myself rather than ordering it from our neighborhood standby Klong or making the pilgrimage out to Queens. There are a few elements that I believe are mission critical in this dish – high tamarind to fish sauce ratio and lots of lime and peanuts are what I believe give pad thai a shot at being great. This recipe, with several tweaks, has potential.

The recipe called for fried tofu, which I opted to cut into small cubes before frying, rather than fry a large block and cut it up afterward (I did this because I did not want to waste all that oil). I also marinaded the tofu in a solution of tamarind and water for a few hours prior to frying.

Use a very firm tofu for best frying results. If you are vegetarian, double the tofu and leave off the meats.

The recipe instructs you to soak your noodles in advance, but depending on what type of rice noodles you buy, the instructions on the package might say something different (as mine did). I followed the instructions on the box that told me to boil the noodles first, and got great results.

As I mentioned before, I like a lot of peanuts in my pad thai. The fancy grocery near my work only had peanuts in the shell, but under most circumstances, you should be able to find roasted, unsalted peanuts out of shell. Chop them into fine pieces.

I forgot to buy the critical fresh bean sprouts for the recipe, so I attempted to compensate by using more slivers of fresh red pepper and fresh green onions.

I also opted not to use shrimp for this recipe, mostly because the ones at the store were not great and I didn’t want to sacrifice taste to poor quality. I did manage to score some great fresh, free-range chicken breasts.

As I mentioned before, an essential element of great pad thai is the correct ratio of tamarind to fish sauce. This recipe calls for you to make a solution of tamarind paste and water, which you must soak and strain (if you are in NYC, you can buy tamarind paste here or at any store that carries spices from Southeast Asia. You can also buy it online. The recipe also calls for 3 tablespoons of fish sauce (also available where tamarind paste is sold or in many grocery stores), which is a stinky thin liquid that packs a wallop of fish-taste and bouquet that I find can easily overpower a dish. I used only two tablespoons and still thought it was a bit too much, but you’ll need to experiment to learn where your threshold lies. I doubled the amount of lime juice, because I love lime in pad thai. Again, it’s up to you, and that is why cooking Thai food is so liberating!

Pad Thai
Adapted from Simply Thai Cooking by Wandee Young

Serves 4 as a noodle course or 2 as a main course

8 oz Thai rice noodles
1/4 cup tamarind paste
1/4 cup warm water

4 oz skinless, boneless chicken breast
4 oz fried tofu
6 tbsp roasted unsalted peanuts
3 tbsp fish sauce
2 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp lime juice
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp chopped garlic
8 large shrimps, shelled and deveined (50 oz)
2 eggs
1 cup bean sprouts
2 stems green onion, cut into 1-inch pieces
1/2 tsp roasted chilies

Strips of red pepper
Fresh coriander leaves
Wedges of lime

1. Soak noodles in plenty of cold water for at least 1 hour.

2. Combine tamarind paste with a 1/4 cup warm water in a small bowl and let soak for at least 15 minutes.

3. Slice the chicken into 1/4-inch strips. If you find it difficult to cut thinly through fresh meat, leave it in the freezer for 15-20 minutes to harden slightly and then slice. Reserve.

4. Slice the fried tofu into 3/4-inch cubes. Reserve.

5. Blend or process peanuts into coarse meal. Reserve.

6. Return to your reserved tamarind paste in its water. Mash it and transfer the mud-like mixture to a strainer set into a bowl. Mash and push with a spoon, forcing liquid to strain into the bowl. Scrape off the juice that clings to the underside of the strainer. You will have about 5 tbsp of tamarind juice. Add to it the fish sauce, sugar and lime juice. Beat to thoroughly mix and reserve. Discard the solids left in the strainer.

7. Heat oil in a wok (or large frying pan) until it is just about to smoke. Add garlic and stir, letting it cook for about 30 seconds. Add chicken and stir-fry for 1 minute. Add tofu and shrimps and stir-fry for 1 more minute. Break eggs into wok and let them fry without breaking them up for 1-2 minutes.

8. While eggs cook, quickly drain the noodles and then add to wok, giving them a quick fold, stir-frying for 1 minute from the bottom up. Add reserved tamarind juice, etc. (from step #6) and continue stir-frying, mixing everything together for 1-2 minutes. Your noodles will have subsided to half their original volume and softened up to al dente.

9. Add about 2/3 of the reserved ground peanuts and stir. Add about 2/3 of the bean sprouts and all the green onion pieces. Stir-fry for 30 seconds and take off heat.

l0. Transfer noodles to a serving dish and sprinkle with roasted chilies. Top with the rest of the ground peanuts, the rest of the sprouts, some strips of red pepper and fresh coriander leaves. Stick a couple of lime wedges on the side and serve immediately.