Epic Pad Thai & How to Save $50

I've had some sort of Pad Thai obsession ever since I realized that carbs are not the devil and you can eat them without getting fat (balance).  I happen to live within walking distance of Siam Cuisine, a 2 minute drive from Golden Thai, and about 10 minutes from the best Thai in Nashville, Thai Phooket.  This is very convenient, but it's been depleting my bank account a good fit as of recent.

After work about two weeks ago, I decided to order Siam's Pad Thai and pick it up on my way home.  I realized that by making the call just as I was walking out to my car, it was piping hot and ready to go as soon as I pulled into Siam.  One week and $50 later, I realized it might be a good idea to at least attempt to make Pad Thai.  Plus, I thought it'd be fun to dabble in Asian cuisine - something I had not done a lot of.

Initially, I think complex Asian dishes just seemed a bit intimidating to me.  Now that I got my feet wet, I will say that it just takes "going for it".  There are some weird ingredients, and some of the prep can be somewhat time consuming, but it's also therapeutic.  The cooking process, itself, is simple, fast, and the end result, if executed properly, is well worth your time.

So, how do I go about finding a recipe when I'm making a new dish?  I feel like the search is crucial.  I scour my favorite recipe sites: bon appetit, food network.com, and epicurious.  January's bon appetit issue actually had a very legit article and menu on Thai by a guy named Andy Ricker.  He included his Pad Thai recipe, which may have sub consciously started the gears turning in my mind earlier this year.  This was his take:

"This Pad Thai is not the dish from the neighborhood take-out joint. "It ain't made with chicken," says Ricker, whose traditional take—pleasantly funky with fish sauce and preserved radish and a touch sour from tamarind—is meant to be eaten in the evening as a stand-alone dish."

Link http://www.bonappetit.com/recipes/2012/01/pad-thai

On epicurious, it had 3.5 forks out of 4... or something.  I kept noodling around, and moved over to the food network site.  I knew Alton Brown had done a Pad Thai dish at some point, and his recipes are usually fantastic.  He had 4 out of 5 stars.  Some folks said it wasn't authentic, and he added a few odd ingredients, not typical to Pad Thai.  

Then I found the recipe that looked promising.  5 stars and 48 user reviews:  The Kuay Tiaw Pad Thai recipe from an episode of Throwdown with Bobby Flay.  Bobby did not win ;).  I have to say, don't screw with a dish like this, trying to add all kinds of unique extras - bells and whistles.  Traditional is best.  

Recipe Link:  http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/kuay-tiaw-pad-thai-recipe/index.html

Because Whole Foods, let alone any ther standard grocery store in town, doesn't carry some of the true Asian ingredients for this recipe, I headed over to K&S World Market... two blocks away!  I gathered palm sugar, fish sauce, tamarind water, preserved radish, dried shrimp, bean sprouts, garlic chives, and hot dried chilies ~ "These are not like crush red chili at pizza place.  Those not very hot.  These hot!" ~clerk at Asian market.

I made the Pad Thai sauce to the t.It stank up the house.  But, the end result was fantastic.  Sweet, salty; it had depth.  I guess this is the coveted "umami" flavor.  Then I prepped the veggies, and ground some peanuts with my mortar & pestle

I gathered all of my ingredients next to my electric wok and fired it up.  This is when things went quick.  I made a flow chart for my modified version of this recipe, so I could glance up and see which step was next, without rereading the entire paragraph again.

GARLIC -> SHRIMP, set aside -> NOODLES, water -> SAUCE -> return shrimp

move aside, EGGS, noodles on top -> stir -> add CHILES, PEANUTS, CHIVES, SPROUTS

I thew it on a plate, garnished it, and enjoyed some of the best Thai food I've ever had.  This Pad Thai dish was EPIC.  I think I'll be making it at home a lot more instead of ordering out.  I remade it again tonight, and it was even better, as I kicked the heat factor up a notch this time.  

Here's mine: