Pad Thai Question

[Saphellae]

I have been following this recipe with my own very slight modifications - doubling the sauce, and adding a spoonful of peanut butter to the sauce.

My question is.. it still doesn't turn out as the dark, thick, rich brown coloured sauce I am aiming for. Does anyone have any suggestions? I am somewhat adverse to using tomato in pad thai, I just think it doesn't belong.

Thanks!
Saph

Recipe:
Rate Review Cooking Light Magazine Pad Thai Recipe - Food.com - 273612

[Steve Kroll]

I've used this recipe:

Pad Thai Sauce - Pad Thai Sauce Recipe

It's a fantastic sauce that tastes very authentic. Where it calls for "chili sauce" I use sriracha.

[GLC]

My feeling is that if you want dark sauce, you're light on both the fish sauce and the tamarind paste or concentrate and could bump both up to 1/3 cup. Most pad thai isn't dark, but I do like it that way.

[Saphellae]

GLC, I was wondering if perhaps I was using the wrong tamarind concentrate. Some brands tend to be watery. I am going to check an Asian grocery store and try to find the actual pulp today. Great idea on the fish sauce - that won't make it too fishy? I have thought about adding half oyster sauce due to it being so dark - I wonder if there are darker versions of fish sauce.

[Kitchen Barbarian]

If you want to make a great, easy, authentic Pad Thai, you need to try the She Simmers Pad Thai tutorial

Pad Thai Part One
Pad Thai Part Deux
Pad Thai Part Tres
Pad Thai Part Four
Pad Thai Part Five

How to handle Palm Sugar
How to make Tamarind paste - also how to identify the WRONG sorts of tamarind for Pad Thai

There is no peanut butter in Pad Thai. If you don't want to use tomatoes because they're not true to the original recipe, you won't want to use peanut butter, either. Try the above.

Some modifications I made include leaving out the little dried shrimp - sorry but I just don't want to eat shells and all of any sort of shell fish, and it worries me to think what's probably in the dye they use to turn the little buggers bright red. Besides, they're a bugger to find.

I tried it with the shrimp paste and didn't like it - too fishy. I just leave it out, whether or not that makes it less "authentic". YMMV.

I used about half the oil She Simmers swears is so necessary, actually less than that I think. That much oil was just way to much for my taste.

Follow her recipe and procedures very closely the first time. After that feel free to improvise. People in Thailand do.

BTW - do NOT get any sort of Korean fish sauce for these Thai dishes. Get Tiparos, Golden Boy (there's a picture of a baby in a diaper holding a bottle of fish sauce on it), 3 Crabs brand, which has a label trimmed in pink and a picture of 3 crabs and is actually Vietnamese but is frequently used for Thai food, or Squid brand - it says "Squid Brand" and has a picture of a squid on it. You could get Thai Kitchen brand but it's sort of expensive compared to the other brands when you find them in an ethnic grocery.

Make sure you have some lime wedges for squeezing over your completed dish, and Enjoy!

[Andy M.]

Don't worry about the color. Does it taste good?

Here's the recipe use.

Pad Thai

3 Tb Tamarind Paste
¾ C Boiling Water or
2 Tb Tamarind Concentrate
¼ C Fish Sauce
1½ Tb Rice Vinegar
¼ C Sugar
½ tsp Cayenne Pepper
2 Tb Oil
8 Oz Dried Rice Stick Noodles
2 Eggs
⅛ tsp Salt
1 Tb Oil
12 Oz Shrimp, (31/35 count)
⅛ tsp Salt
2 Tb Oil
1 tsp Garlic, minced
3 Tb Shallot, minced
2 Tb Dried Shrimp, chopped
2 Tb Thai Salted Preserved Radish, chopped
6 Tb Roasted Unsalted Peanuts
6 Oz Bean Sprouts
5 Scallions, green only, sliced

If using, rehydrate the tamarind paste for 10 minutes then push it through a fine sieve.

Add the fish sauce, vinegar, sugar, cayenne, and 2 Tb of oil to the tamarind & set aside.

Before starting to cook, cover the noodles with hot tap water in a large bowl; soak until softened, and limp but not fully tender, about 20 minutes. Drain the noodles and set aside.

Beat the eggs and ⅛ teaspoon of the salt in a small bowl; set aside.

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a wok or 12-inch skillet over high heat until just beginning to smoke. Add the shrimp and sprinkle with the remaining 1/8 teaspoon salt; cook, tossing occasionally, until the shrimp are opaque and browned around the edges, about 3 minutes. Transfer the shrimp to a plate and set aside.

Add the remaining oil to the wok; add the garlic and shallot, set the wok over medium heat, and cook, stirring constantly, until light golden brown, about 1½ minutes;

Add the eggs and stir vigorously until scrambled and barely moist, about 20 seconds.

Add the noodles, dried shrimp and salted radish; toss with 2 wooden spoons to combine.

Pour the sauce over the noodles, increase the heat to high, and cook, tossing constantly, until the noodles are evenly coated.

Add ¼ cup peanuts, bean sprouts, all but ¼ cup scallions, and cooked shrimp; continue to cook, tossing constantly, until the noodles are tender, about 2½ minutes.

Transfer the noodles to a serving platter, sprinkle with the remaining scallions, 2 tablespoons peanuts; serve immediately, passing lime wedges separately.