Denise Smith

International Flavours at Home

March 25, 2011
Denise Smith

Like most moms, I’m always looking for a new noodle dish to wow my family at dinner time. So, when Robyn, our Assistant Editor, brought in a delicious bowl of ‘homemade’ Pad Thai last week, I jumped on the opportunity to ask her for the recipe. It looked and smelled incredible.

As often as possible, I introduce new food experiences and international flavours to my kids’ diets and Thai food is no exception. As a family, we recently ate out at a local Thai restaurant and my husband and I were relieved to see the kids trying (and enjoying) some of everything we ordered. Pad Thai was one of their favourite dishes.

This recipe for Pad Thai included many of my children’s favourite ingredients—rice noodles, chicken, shrimp, peanuts and carrots, so I figured the odds of them liking it were pretty good. My assumption was correct. They aren’t huge fans of snow peas, but they finished up everything else on their plates. The recipe took a little bit longer than I had expected, but if you can prepare the veggies and sauce the night before, it will save you some time. Plus, making restaurant-style meals at home saves us a lot of money!

Pad Thai
Recipe adapted from the All Around the World Cookbook by Sheila Lukins

You’ll Need

Pad Thai

• 8 ounces rice noodles
• ¼ cup peanut oil (we used peanut butter and a touch of olive oil to equal ¼ cup)
• 1 Tbsp of vegetable oil
• 1 Tbsp garlic, chopped
• 6 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 2 Tbsp fish sauce
• 1 cup Thai Sweet and Sour Sauce (see below)
• 1 Tbsp of vegetable oil
• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, chopped
• 1 red pepper, slivered
• 2 carrots, slivered
• 1 medium onion, slivered
• 12 snow peas, slivered
• 10 large shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 8 ounces bean sprouts
• ½ cup fresh coriander, chopped
• ½ cup peanuts, chopped
• Lime wedges

Thai Sweet and Sour Sauce

• 1 cup rice wine vinegar
• ½ cup water
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• ¼ cup light brown sugar
• 1–2 fresh red chillies, chopped (optional)
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp minced garlic

Prep and Cook

Thai Sweet and Sour Sauce

1. Add all ingredients to a small saucepan and cook on low until the sugar is dissolved.

Pad Thai

1. Boil water, remove from heat, and let the rice noodles soak uncovered for 4-5 minutes. Rice noodles should be soft enough to be eaten, but still a little firm in the middle.
2. Drain and place in large dry bowl.
3. Combine the peanut oil, garlic, fish sauce and lemon juice and mix well.
4. Using a couple of Tbsp of the above mixture, marinate the chicken pieces in a shallow dish or re-sealable plastic bag for 30 minutes.
5. Preheat a wok or large frying pan over medium-high heat and add. vegetable oil.
6. Cook the chicken until browned, remove and set aside.
7. Repeat previous steps for shrimp.
8. Add peppers, carrots, onion and snow peas to the skillet and stir fry until cooked but still crisp.
9. Add noodles, remainder of the peanut butter/juice mixture, bean sprouts, chicken and shrimp and toss everything together.
10. Add desired amount of the Thai sweet and sour sauce (start with half a cup and keep adding until you reach the desired flavour).
11. Garnish Pad Thai with coriander, peanuts and lime wedges and serve immediately.

What are you making your family for dinner tonight?