cnstarz

ch ch ch chia

I saw below that your pad thai turned out really bad... I've made this pad thai before, and it was really good!  (I skipped the banana flower, preserved turnips, and tofu)

http://www.thaitable.com/Thai/recipes/Pad_Thai.htm

also a useful link:  http://chezpim.typepad.com/blogs/2007/01/pad_thai_for_be.html

PAD THAI:

2-3 Servings 

---

 

1/2		lime
1		egg
4	teaspoons	fish sauce
3	cloves	garlic, minced
1/2	teaspoon	ground dried chili pepper
		ground pepper
1		shallot, minced
2	tablespoon	sugar
2	tablespoon	tamarind
1/2	package	Thai rice noodles
2	tablespoon	vegetable oil
1/2-1/4	lb	shrimp	Optional
1/2		banana flower	Optional
1/3	cup	tofu - extra firm	Optional
1-1/2	cup	Chinese chives - green	Optional
2	tablespoons	peanuts	Optional
1-1/3	cup	bean sprouts	Optional
1	tablespoon	preserved turnip	Optional

cnstarz

Thanks so much!

Yeah, the pad thai was pretty much a cluster-f from the beginning:

-  I bought ingredients at a local asian market and didn't realize that there were different types of tamarind.  (Of course, I bought the wrong kind.) 

-  I drove to three different grocery stores looking for bean sprouts before someone told me that all fresh bean sprouts had been recalled.

-  And then what really destroyed the whole dish was that the fish sauce I bought must have been much too authentic for our tastes.  It took about a minute after opening the lid for my husband to start yelling "What the hell is that disgusting smell?!" from the other side of the house.  (I've bought fish sauce before and it wasn't nearly that pungent.)

Anyway, thanks for the tip- I'll try this recipe next time.   For the tamarind, did you buy the pods or use a concentrate?

ch ch ch chia

I used a seedless paste...  It was like this stuff.  It was a little hard to work with (really sticky...) but, once it was incorporated into the dish, it was fine.