Pad Thai Noodles with Prawn/Shrimp and Paneer

 

March 12

Visiting Thailand was like a dream come true for me. Before you conclude that I loved it because of the night life and party opportunities, let me tell you that's not what fascinated me. I am a far cry from any party animal you might ever know. What fascinated me was their simple yet delicious cuisine steeped in organic flavors, the deep rooted culture which they were absolutely proud of and the beautiful pristine beaches - it was so calm and deep I felt like zen. Krabi stole my heart. I was totally convinced that if someone gave me an opportunity to relocate to Krabi, I would say yes right away!

I cant stop gushing about the Thai cuisine. While it is true that I was introduced to Thai cuisine formally only after I came to Pune around a decade ago. But when I went to Thailand there were so many new preparations I got introduced to. We didn't fine dine there, because the street food looked so appetizing and offered such a vast range of possibilities that it felt justified to blow half of our trip budget on the food alone! And I am not kidding there. We probably were one of those rare tourists who spent less on merchandise from Thailand than on food. Whatever we saw we wanted to try out, that's the benefit of being a non-vegetarian and seafood lover I guess ( of course barring the few weird street foods that we came across. I wont mention them here as I might risk loosing your interest on todays blog!) . I remember the best food we had in Bangkok was under some random flyover. There was a night pop up restaurant area and everything was made fresh before us. We had enjoyed a warm bowl of tom yum and Thai fried rice. The taste and memory of that evening still lingers on. By the end of our trip I felt as if I needed to extend my stay just to be able to taste all the other delicacies that I missed out.

During my trip to Thailand, we had been on a guided city tour where our guide took us to this lovely Thai joint and over our food told us about the wonderful history of Pad Thai. Pad thai, or Phad Thai is a stir-fried rice noodle dish commonly served as a street food and at most restaurants in Thailand. 

Pad Thai is a dish synonymous with Thailand but still it seems like a dish which has heavy Chinese influence. Pad Thai is locally known as "Gway Teow Pad Thai". Gway Teow is a Chinese word for ‘rice noodles’, which hints at a Chinese lineage. Noodles, stir-fry, and, especially, noodle stir-fries are quintessentially Chinese. In fact, just about every ingredient found in pad Thai isn’t native to the people after whom the dish is named.

If we look at the history of this dish we come to know that during World War II (1930s), due to less production in the rice fields, Thailand suffered a shortage of rice which was compounded by the floods. Thus for preserving the stocks of this precious grain, the Thai government started to promote noodles instead. A campaign was launched to  unite the nation through their culture. The campaign included changing the country’s name, commissioning a new national anthem, and creating a national dish – Pad Thai. They created the dish ‘Pad Thai’ as the national dish, in a bid to protect the rice resources of the country and promote a sense of national unity. Pad Thai was promoted heavily across the country with a campaign slogan "noodle is your lunch". The Public Welfare Department even gave out recipes of the dish to restaurants and even gave free carts to people willing to sell Pad Thai in the streets. Now how fascinating is that! If ever India decided to have such a campaign to have a national dish, I would be a forerunner in the tasting line. No matter which food wins, the food connoisseurs are the real winners.

But pad Thai wasn’t just about unity; it was also about nutrition. The late 1930s were a particularly difficult time economically for the country, and rice noodles, which were both cheap and filling, provided a much-needed antidote. Coupled with regional vegetables, bean sprouts, and inexpensive protein, it was the perfect, nutritious meal.

Traditionally Pad Thai is made from rice noodles, stir-fried with eggs, tofu, tamarind paste, fish sauce, dried shrimps, garlic, palm sugar and red chilli pepper and frequently served with lime wedges, bamboo shoots, spring onions, raw banana flowers, and topped with a sprinkling of peanuts. But then you can always tweak it as per the available ingredients in your area.

Preparation Time : 10 minutes

Cooking Time: 45  minutes

Serves: 2 adults

Ingredients:

For Marination

• Prawns - 200 gm 
• Ground Black Pepper - 1/2 tsp
• Lime juice - 1/2 lime

For Sauce

• Tamarind - 1 tsp
• Thai sweet chilli sauce - 1 tbsp
• Soya Sauce- 2 tbsp
• Fish Sauce - 1 tsp
• Lime juice - 1/2 lime
• Sesame Oil - 1 tsp
• Salt- as per taste
• Sugar - 1 tsp

For Noodles

• Flat Noodles - 150 to 200 gm (dried)
• Egg - 2
• Paneer / Tofu - 100 gm, cut into cubes
• Broccoli Florets- 1 cup
• Tender whole peas - 10
• Mushroom - 10-12
• Baby Corn - 10-12
• Thai Red chilli - 4-5
• Spring Onion -  1/2 cup, chopped
• Onion - 1 big
• Ginger- 1/2 inch, minced
• Garlic- 2 tbsp, minced
• Sesame - 1 tbsp 
• Sesame Oil - as required
• Salt and sugar as per taste
• Lemon - 1/2 lemon

For Garnish

• Peanuts - 1/4 cup
• Roasted Sesame - 1/2 tsp
• Spring Onion - 1/4th cup, chopped
• Lemon Wedges  

Equipment:

• Deep bottomed Vessel
• Skillet

Procedure: 

Cooking the noodles : 

1.  Start by preparing the flat noodles as per the packet instructions.

Note: The best noodles for Pad Thai are flat rice noodles or 'rice sticks' that are around 3-5mm wide. However you can use whatever flat noodles you can get your hands on.

Marinate Prawns :

2. Wash and devein the prawns. In a bowl take the cleaned prawns, a pinch of chilli powder, lemon juice, toss them well and keep aside for 30 minutes

Tip: I kept the head and tail intact to add more flavors, you can remove it too.

Preparing the Pad Thai Sauce :

3.  Combine the tamarind, sweet chilli sauce, fish sauce, sugar, and lime juice with 1 tbsp water and set aside.

Note: Fish sauce is already salty so do not add extra salt.

Preparing the rest of the elements :

4.Scramble the eggs in 1 tablespoon of oil, add seasoning and set aside.

5. Cut the Paneer or tofu into cubes. Add 1 tablespoon of oil in the frying pan. Lightly fry the paneer cubes until sides are golden. Put them in a bowl filled with mild hot water and salt, this will keep them soft until you are ready to use them.

Note: I used fresh paneer block for this. You can use the frozen one too. Follow packet instructions to cook it.

6. Boil water and salt in a deep bottomed pan. When the water comes to a rolling boil drop in the tender whole peas (skin on). Blanch them for about 2 minutes and then drain the water and keep aside.

Tip: Traditionally snow peas are used for this recipe. Since I had tender peas with me I used them instead. The process remains same for snow peas. 

7. Blanch the Broccoli florets in same manner as the snow peas and keep aside.

8. Dry roast the whole peanuts and sesame seeds to make them fragrant. Keep aside.

9. Cut the onions into thin half moon rings. 

10. Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a pan. Now add 1 tsp of chopped garlic and a pinch of salt. Sauté till fragrant. Add the prawns to the pan and cook for about 2 minutes or until they just turn red while turning the sides. Take out the prawns with a slotted spoon so that some of the lovely garlic-prawn flavored oil is still in the pan. Keep aside.

Assembling the Pad Thai:

11. In the same pan add a little more sesame oil or any unflavored oil and heat it. When oil is hot, add chopped garlic , bird's eye chilli and chopped ginger. Sauté till fragrant.

12. Add the half-moon onions and chopped spring onions. 

13. When the onions become translucent, make some space in the pan and add 1 tsp of sesame seeds. Toss everything together. This step is optional.

14. Add all the vegetables - baby corn, broccoli florets, whole peas, mushrooms. Sauté them for about 2 to 3 minutes. 

15. When the vegetables are half cooked add the cooked flat noodles.

16. Add the Paneer cubes, fried prawns, scrambled eggs and Pad Thai sauce. Toss with the noodles until well-coated.

17. Give a drizzle of 1/2 a lime and give it all a final toss.

Garnish & Serve!

To serve, top the Pad Thai with some the roasted peanuts, chopped spring onions, coriander leaves, and lime wedges.