Perfect Pad Thai 5 Buying And Cooking Tips
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Anyone who fancies eating oriental food should be familiar with Thailand’s ever famous pad thai. This is what most tourists and foreigners tend to order whenever they pay a visit to the Land of Smiles. It’s the country’s national dish, and it’s understandable why. With its bold flavors and various textures, one can’t help but salivate while imagining having this comfort meal that can be enjoyed at any time of the year.
Pad thai is versatile in that it can be served in various ways: it can be packed in a takeout box, prepared at a tiny street stall, or plated in an elegant manner in a five-star hotel or restaurant. If you’re thinking of preparing this dish for your next get-together with loved ones, there are some pointers below that you should keep in mind.
Read on to learn how to create delectable pad thai by knowing which ingredients, tools, and methods to go for.
When looking to make delicious pad thai, the very first thing you need to own is a large, flat pan. This should have an even surface that’d make the evaporation process faster, resulting in the noodles being entirely and proportionally cooked. However, if you don’t see any flat surface pan in your kitchen cupboards, a wok would be your next best bet. While you’re cooking eggs and prawns on the base, the steep sides can protect the rice noodles from getting overcooked.
A carbon steel wok with a flat bottom would be the most desirable kind of wok for pad thai. It’s lightweight and a good heat conductor, which is crucial for the stir-fry cooking method. However, its downside is its price as such woks are usually priced higher than ordinary woks or pans.
Everybody who loves eating pad thai knows that the primary components one can instantly taste in the dish are the noodles. Hence, it’s a critical part of cooking the whole thing.
You need to buy rice noodles of the highest quality and prepare them well. They shouldn’t be soggy, too soft or too hard, or mushy. When noodles are poorly prepared, they inevitably cause everything else to taste worse. Take note of the following tips:
Rice noodles have a crucial role to play in pad thai. You want something long, wide, and comes with a fair texture, which means it shouldn’t be too hard, too gummy, or too chewy. You can get the right rice noodles at your favorite local supermarket or online gourmet store. Oriental groceries also carry them.
Be wary of some noodles that claim they’re suitable for making the dish but actually aren’t. To be safe, you can go for a delicious pad thai kit at home, which is easier to prepare and cook all at once.
The first thing you need to do is soak them before using them. Try to use lukewarm or cold water as using hot water will only result in cooking them at the wrong time or causing clumps. It’s natural for rice noodles to clump together quickly, so what you can do is to ensure that they don’t get drained or dried up in the pan or wok.
During the stir-fry process, the noodles will continue absorbing liquid from the sauce, so undercook them a bit to avoid mushy noodles. It’s also worth mentioning that you should cook the scrambled eggs on a separate pan so the noodles won’t be overcooked while the eggs are cooking. You can put the eggs on top of the noodles later on.
Now, you’re off to another crucial component: the sauce. The four main ingredients of pad thai sauce are tamarind, sugar, rice vinegar, and fish sauce. Fish sauce adds a depth of umami taste and earthiness to the other sweet and tangy flavors. You’ll know if you’ve made the sauce to perfection when you can’t spot a single strong taste; all of the flavors should be balanced and in harmony with one another.
One of the pad thai sauce ingredients is tamarind, a famous fruit commonly found in Thailand. It’s prepared by soaking a block of the tamarind’s pulp in warm water for at least an hour or overnight. Once the pulp is broken up, you gently push it through a fine-mesh sieve. This is the best tool you can use to extract its dark reddish, sweet, and tangy puree. It should come out velvety in texture.
However, as this process takes more time and is more traditionally popular, you can forego this ingredient and opt for tamarind concentrate instead. There are commercial options for it that have been manufactured and are convenient to use. You can find them in grocery stores, too. There are many Thai kitchen sauces that’d work best with certain Thai dishes, but it’s best to follow the instructions above for your pad thai sauce.
The most popular pad thai protein ingredients are prawns and firm tofu, but you can customize your dish however you like. Chicken and pork taste just as amazing and are served in many restaurants as well.
What makes pad thai so interesting is that you can change the protein, and you’ll still enjoy a hearty meal oozing with rich flavors. Once you select your protein, don’t forget to scramble some eggs and add them to the dish. This would also elevate its overall savory taste.
Some people overlook this last step and often try to figure out what’s missing in their pad thai. Don’t forget to prepare garnishing ingredients like garlic, shallots, and chives. Without these, your perfect pad thai won’t be so perfect.
There’s a secret to taking the stress out of cooking. Planning ahead and organizing all of the ingredients will make your cooking session easier, whether you’re preparing pad thai or a completely different dish.
Pad thai is becoming more common and popular all over the world. You can probably try tasting the different local versions of this dish in various countries.
With the tips and tricks mentioned in this article, you’ll be able to make and have pad thai any day of the week. By using the right stir-fry pan, achieving the ideal texture of noodles, mixing a balanced pad thai sauce, and choosing a good protein, you can satisfy even the pickiest eaters among your friends and family.
This post was last modified on October 21, 2021 9:19 am