Grandpa Gotta Cook—Pad Thai

You Finally Did It

Yes, folks, I did. I'd been threatening for a few weeks now to do this, and I finally managed to do it. Pad Thai. However, I did back off from doing it on the grill after I saw the task before me. It was compounded by the fact that I couldn't find any peanut sauce in the store I went to, which meant I would making it from scratch.

So, gear up people, it's Food Fight Friday, and we're going full on Thai for this installment of Grandpa Gotta Cook.

Cue Theme Music.

What Theme Music?

We live in a small rural area, a few miles away from a larger town. Thai food is hard to come by, surprisingly enough. There is one place that I know who serves it there, and I like it a lot. It's pretty much the place that has given me an appreciation for Pad Thai.

Unfortunately, it takes a boatload of ingredients. I've got most of them pictured here, though I seem to be lacking a few. And, I actually ended up not using the green onion, but it was a part of the recipe. So, as you can see, starting from the left: crushed red pepper, ground ginger, peanut butter, soy sauce, fish sauce, coconut milk, lemon juice, minced garlic, rice vinegar, the actual rice noodles, and in front, bean sprouts and peanuts to crush. Not pictured is the salad shrimp I mistakenly thawed, eggs, and some brown sugar.

I actually followed a recipe from a website this time (I know!), which instructed me to start with the sauce. Most everything came out in tablespoon or teaspoon measurements, other than the coconut milk, which required a cup measure. After dumping in the dry, wet and gooey ingredients, I ended up stirring the resulting sauce to try to get it as smooth as possible. You can see here that there was still a few things that didn't quite break down.

I then took some roasted peanuts, put them in a plastic bag and pounded them into submission for a minute or so. This is an image of their pre-crushed state.

Once that was done, I was instructed to set all of it aside and start boiling noodles. I didn't think that an 8 ounce package was going to be enough, so I had a couple other packages of already cooked rice noodles (just microwave and serve!) at the ready. I ended up tossing it all in.

After the noodles were sufficiently softened, I poured them out into a strainer and then rinsed the noodles off with tap water.

While the noodles sat, it was time to warm up the pre-cooked shrimp. About a couple minutes into that, I started cooking three eggs which would then be scrambled. As you can see, the larger pan I was using was already filling up with just these two ingredients, and I still needed to add the noodles and bean sprouts.

After the egg had cooked sufficiently, I rescued the noodles and plopped them into the pan. Literally. They'd been cooling off and ended up sticking together, so I had to separate them. Don't worry. I washed my hands. Probably four times throughout this process.

With all of that mixed together and continuing to warm, it was time to add the peanut sauce. I probably should have made more, but it seemed to cover all of the ingredients already in the pan. The bean sprouts were added last, and the entire thing was left to cook for another four to five minutes.

Once that was all done, I filled my plate, added some crushed nuts, and after a quick blessing, proceeded to scarf mine down.

The Verdict

Well, I would say it's mixed, even from me. There were parts of the Pad Thai where it was really good. The peanut sauce was happening and there was a little kick from the pepper flakes, but then there were other parts where that just kind of faded a bit. Not bland, just not reaching the point of excellence of some of the other bites. Over all, the heat wasn't quite what I wanted, either. I doubled the crushed red pepper just like I did for the rest of the recipe, but apparently it didn't come through enough.

The rest of the polling went thusly:

• Youngest Son: Really good, Dad. It's a keeper.

• Daughter-in-law: Doesn't like Pad Thai. Tried it. Didn't finish it.

• Wife: Said it was good, but that Pad Thai is not her favorite, and she missed the heat, too.

Conclusion

I think if I make this again, I'm going to make sure to add in the onions, as well as up the crushed pepper quotient, and maybe have the Rooster sauce (that's what we call it) sitting on the table so my wife will use it. Then I'll get a burger for the daughter-in-law.

Anyone interested in using the recipe I followed (and deviated from only slightly), you can find it by clicking here.

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About This Post

This installment of Grandpa Gotta Cook is published in conjunction with the good folks behind Food Fight Friday. All participants are welcome. The only prerequisite is that you love food and that you post on Friday.