Measurements aren't exact. Merely for style only. Refer to the recipe for exactness. Also refer to the recipe for all ingredients. Not everything needed is included in the picture above.
I did some raking this morning, and boy, does yard work build character. I'm not a particularly good raker so it's a bit splotchy, and I'm sure Brandon will come home and point that out to me. However, in my book, it was a great success. It was an impromptu date with myself after my battle with Mason for his morning nap. We went back and forth, until finally I stuck him in his pack and play, and walked away. Cruel and unusual? I think not. But the stories of his naps are for another day.
Because this time, it's about pad thai. One of my friends and I are doing this thing where each week she and I take turns making a dish, and then we split it. I've been having a hankering for some pad thai. It's probably my favorite dish, but I never order it. I usually order panang curry. Why? Because it's safe.
Pad thai has been one of those dishes that wherever I go, it's different. Every time. And that is very annoying. I like consistency, and if I'm going to spend my hard-earned (or should I say Brandon's?) money, I want to walk away satisfied. And I've never been. So thus the search for the recipe begins, and ended right here.
The google search was the least fascinating, but I went with my gut and took the recipe that spoke truest to me. A few tips and tricks when making this dish:
1. Go to your Asian store. They should have everything you need. Ask an employee for help with the recipe. And if he decides to tell you to use a packet instead, nod, smile and keep on getting your fresh ingredients.
2. When soaking the noodles, let it get pliable. The recipe allows you to add water later on when cooking the noodles, but I don't recommend it. The noodles starts to get a tad mushy rather than being fried.
3. You don't need banana flower. Or preserved turnip. I didn't use either and it turned out good.
4. You can substitute chicken or whatever meat you want for the shrimp in the recipe. Make sure you let the meat cook through, or rather, cook it separately since the meat won't get cooked consistently when mixed in with the noodles.
5. Get the tofu that is dried and refrigerated, not the ones in water. The store employee told me which tofu to get, and for that I am grateful. Otherwise, the tofu I was going to get would have made my pad thai a mush.
6. I have cooked this dish now twice with a child on my hips, but because of everything that goes on with this dish, child on hip is not recommended.
Recipe HERE
Good luck, and if you rather I make it for you, send me some flowers and I'll make it for you the next time I see you.
Happy Friday!
