Taking pancakes out of the equation, I can do a decent job when rustling up some grub for dinner. Not being able to go out for dinner for months, and not being the biggest fan of take-out, we’ve been doing a lot more cooking than usual. I’ve also been working from home, which makes marinating and prepping things in the morning much easier than texting Andy and asking him to defrost the chicken because I forgot about it. That said, approaching the three-month mark of being home means that some of the luster of cooking dinner every night has dulled, but when I had a hankering for Pad Thai, and no idea of where to look for take-out, I decided to try my hand at making it.
A few years ago when JoAnn was visiting I made us up a batch of vegetable Pad Thai, and I remember it being a rather arduous process – lots of cutting, lots of tofu, and lots of delicate maneuverings that seemed counter-productive to reproducing a simple street dish. This time I sought out a simpler recipe – and you can find any number of variations on the web so seek out one that works for you. The main choices are chicken, shrimp or tofu – or any combination of them. Rice noodles are the base, and I used a chopped shallot and two scrambled eggs sliced into little ribbons. The secret is in the sauce, which in this case was equal parts fish sauce, brown sugar, and tamarind sauce (some say you can use rice vinegar in place of tamarind, but just go find some at an Asian market because the taste is important).
The garnishes are vital to this dish: crushed peanuts (which you must roast first for a lovelier flavor), cilantro, fresh bean sprouts, chopped scallions and lime wedges. I incorporated these into the whole dish at the end of the cooking – healthy portions of each, stirring them throughout the dish while the noodles and protein was still steaming hot. I love cilantro so I topped it with a bit more of that, along with extra roasted peanut pieces. Make your own choices throughout the cooking process – this is a forgiving dish to which you can bring your own variations.
It was a comfort dinner when such food was needed to lift the spirits.
