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Pad Thai


DonRocks

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Chef is playing up her victory over Flay to the max, with a banner outside the restaurant, pictures inside, and signs everywhere.

Tough? Last night she came out and said that during the competition, she knew she won as soon as Flay began adding soy sauce to his version: "Uh, Bobby, this is Pad Thai, not Pad Chinese," she chortled.

Nongkran's Pad Thai ($12.95, with shrimp), is a perfect example of a dish being sweet (she uses palm sugar) without being condescending. But if I were to repeat just one dish from last night, I'd order the Gang Matsaman Nua ($12.95). I believe Matsaman is the same basic dish as Muselman on other menus, and Nongkran's non-traditional version of this southern, Muslim-influenced recipe uses 17 herbs, peanuts, and spices in the sauce along with cubes of beef. It's not the sauce, but the 'cubes of beef' that prompts the menu to tout this as "the most popular curry among Westerners" - Nongkran told me that when she makes it for herself, she prefers to use lamb or duck - maybe if you call ahead?

The menu proudly claims that no MSG is used in the cuisine, which is just one reason why the flavors here are so pure. I like Thai Basil!

Cheers,

Rocks.

Nongkran Daks' comment to Bobby Flay stuck with me for some reason, and as I was having Pad See-Ew this evening (Pad = Fried, See-Ew = Soy Sauce), I was wondering if it's all that great a sin to make Pad Thai (which translates to Fried, Thai-Style) with soy sauce, given that there *is* a soy sauce component to certain Thai cooking (that probably came from China). Is it inexcusable to make the dish with soy sauce?

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PS - A jostle about one of the greatest threads ever written here, or for that matter, anywhere else: Thai Noodles 101, started by Fishinnards.

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Nongkran Daks' comment to Bobby Flay stuck with me for some reason, and as I was having Pad See-Ew this evening (Pad = Fried, See-Ew = Soy Sauce), I was wondering if it's all that great a sin to make Pad Thai (which translates to Fried, Thai-Style) with soy sauce, given that there *is* a soy sauce component to certain Thai cooking (that probably came from China). Is it inexcusable to make the dish with soy sauce?

Pad=Stir Fried, in a wok, a specifically Chinese technique that was introduced by Chinese migrants. Pad Thai was specifically and deliberately invented (by a Thai Government sponsored contest if I'm not mistaken) to be more Thai than the regular noodle Pad dishes that Chinese street vendors were selling at the time (such as Pad See-ew, Rat Na and other dishes that have soy sauce). Pad Thai does contain many Chinese ingredients (Tofu, pickled radish, noodles etc.) but the flavor comes from a very (Central) Thai mix of fish sauce, palm sugar, and tamarind. It is this combination of seasonings that puts the Thai in Pad Thai.

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Pad=Stir Fried, in a wok, a specifically Chinese technique that was introduced by Chinese migrants. Pad Thai was specifically and deliberately invented (by a Thai Government sponsored contest if I'm not mistaken) to be more Thai than the regular noodle Pad dishes that Chinese street vendors were selling at the time (such as Pad See-ew, Rat Na and other dishes that have soy sauce). Pad Thai does contain many Chinese ingredients (Tofu, pickled radish, noodles etc.) but the flavor comes from a very (Central) Thai mix of fish sauce, palm sugar, and tamarind. It is this combination of seasonings that puts the Thai in Pad Thai.

And is soy sauce considered a historical no-no?

Gosh I wish I had your knowledge. Have you heard about the Thai Delicious Committee's "Robotic Food Taster" which, supposedly, determines if a dish is "Thai enough?"

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From a purely culinary standpoint, if you know how Pad Thai is supposed to taste, you would not use soy sauce. It brings nothing to the dish and just muddies the flavor. Tamarind, palm sugar, and fish sauce work extremely well together and adding soy sauce to that mix does not improve the taste.

I think that stupid machine is hilarious. I hope the Thai embassy gets one.

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Alton's recipe has no soy sauce. Obviously Mr Brown isn't Thai (as far as I know), but I have used this recipe and it's up there with the best I've had in restaurants:

Pad Thai

I could be a stickler and point out Thais don't use rice wine vinegar (use more tamarind), but it looks mostly good (also 5 spice on the tofu?, no pickled radish?). Sorry to be that guy :P, but at least there's no ginger or soy sauce.

Here's a good one I've used: Pad Thai recipe

Another good one from Andy Ricker

And the serious 5 part treatise from Leela Punyaratabandhu at shesimmers.com

And then there's Nongkran Daks recipe, since she started this by beating Flay in the "throwdown", and her audition video.

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Hijack for palm sugar question:  I have a plastic jar of palm sugar that I opened for the first time (wrapper and all) last week. It had a weird top layer that looked like some kind of mold, which I scraped off of the goo. Is that normal or should I toss the whole jar? I've only used those little palm sugar lozenges before, not the jarred kind.

Also, how long does tamarind (the gooey paste in a jar) keep? I have a really hard time finding unexpired tamarind paste/goo locally (and don't like working with the pods/bricks), it is usually a year (or two or three) past the date stamp when I find it in the store.

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Hijack for palm sugar question:  I have a plastic jar of palm sugar that I opened for the first time (wrapper and all) last week. It had a weird top layer that looked like some kind of mold, which I scraped off of the goo. Is that normal or should I toss the whole jar? I've only used those little palm sugar lozenges before, not the jarred kind.

Also, how long does tamarind (the gooey paste in a jar) keep? I have a really hard time finding unexpired tamarind paste/goo locally (and don't like working with the pods/bricks), it is usually a year (or two or three) past the date stamp when I find it in the store.

Palm sugar in jars are usually sealed with wax on the top. You're lucky if your palm sugar is soft. Jarred palm sugar often turns to stone, so you need to make palm sugar syrup with it to use it. Duangrat's Oriental Grocery has soft palm sugar in small plastic tubs. Worth the trip.

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I only use brick tamarind because tamarind paste doesn't always taste good to me (maybe because it expired). Brick tamarind lasts a long time unrefrigerated and forever in the fridge. It's easy to use, if a little messy.

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Yes, this palm sugar is soft (like the consistency of very packed brown sugar), it had separated into a a goo and solid, but the liquid goo is easily mixed into the sugar. I don't remember where I bought it, but I most frequently shop for such things at New Grand (formerly H&A) in Langley Park.

I have the opposite problem with the bricks - I've tried different kinds but the flavor is odd and unpleasant, some of the tamarind pastes are also off, but sometimes I find a kind that I like. Maybe I am using the bricks the wrong way. Have been trying to find Maggi Tamarind Sauce (seems to be like a ketchup made from tamarind) locally, no luck yet.

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Yes, this palm sugar is soft (like the consistency of very packed brown sugar), it had separated into a a goo and solid, but the liquid goo is easily mixed into the sugar. I don't remember where I bought it, but I most frequently shop for such things at New Grand (formerly H&A) in Langley Park.

Sounds like you got the good stuff. FYI mold will grow on the brown liquid if left alone for too long, especially in warm/humid weather.

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