Gastronomer

Pad Thai

 

I am not a fan of Peanut butter sandwhiches. In fact I very much dislike PB & J but I use peanut butter when cooking and enjoy the flavor very much.  In my homemade very of Pad Thai the sauce is everything.  This recipe for the sauce is more than needed for the noodles but it freezes very well and can be adpated as a base for other Asian recipes!

 

Ingredients

• 500 g Glass noodles

• 1 Carrot shredded

• 1 Scallion finely chopped 

• 1/4 C Unsalted peanuts chopped

• 1 Lime cut into quarters 

• One 13.5-ounce can of full-fat, unsweetened coconut milk

• 2 ounces (approximately ¼ cup) of Thai red (mom’s preference and mine too) or Massaman curry paste (milder but flavorful)

• ¾ cup unsweetened (natural) creamy peanut butter (Do not use regular peanut butter or anything with added emulsifiers. It must be the type of natural peanut butter that comes with natural peanut oil on top and no sugar added. I often use Smucker's.)

• ½ tablespoon salt

• ¾ cup sugar

• 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar or white vinegar (Do not use white wine, red wine, balsamic, or anything else including rice vinegar)

• ½ cup water

• Optional (Shrimp, Beef, Chicken or Pork)

 

Instructions (Peanut Sauce)

• Put everything into a medium heavy-bottomed pot and bring to a very gentle boil over medium heat, whisking constantly.

• Let the mixture simmer for 3-5 minutes over low heat; be careful not to let the mixture scorch at the bottom of the pot.

• Take the pot off the heat, let the sauce cool down to room temperature (or slightly warmer).

 

 

Instructions 

• Boil noodles in stock or plain water till al dente

• If adding shrimp or beef etc cook seperately

• Once noodles are cook drain (reserve 2 cups of liquid set aside)

• Add once cup of the peanut sauce to the noodles and 1/4 C of liquid from the noodles

• Mix until all the noodles are coated. You may want to add need to add more liquid.

• Top each serving with shredded carrots, scallions, and roughly chopped peanuts.

• Add a wedge of lime.

• Serve immdiately.

 

Notes

This peanut sauce keeps in a glass container in the refrigerator for weeks. Refrigerated sauce will thicken up considerably. All you have to do is thin it out with a little bit of water to desired consistency, reheat, and serve. The sauce also freezes beautifully.