Thai food - Pad Thai recipe
School of Wok teaches a wide variety of Asian cuisines - from Chinese to Japanese, Indian to Malaysian - but one that continues to attract an increasing amount of attention is the food of Thailand.
Thai cookery classes at the school are some of our most popular. It's a cuisine that is rooted in bold spices, combined to create dramatic and fragrant tastes and aromas, and growing trendiness in the UK is showing no sign of abating
"Thai food has a wonderful balance of salty, sweet, sour, bitter and heat…just thinking about some of the dishes makes my mouth water!" said Adrienne Katz Kennedy, head of bookings and marketing at School of Wok.
She says that Thai cooking classes never fail to bring in a crowd at School of Wok. In fact, it's one of her own favourite cuisines to both eat and cook, and one that she always chooses to have for her weekly takeaway on a Friday night.
Among Adrienne's favourite Thai dishes is Som Tam Salad - a fresh, healthy, colourful salad of unripe green papaya, combining sour and zingy citrus flavours with a hint of sweet, finished off with a bit of heat from fresh chillies.
However, her most beloved dish is Pad Thai, a meal of Vietnamese origin but one that is now widely seen as one of Thailand's national dishes. This is a meal all about contrasts: sour tamarind mixed with sweet palm sugar; crunchy bean sprouts intertwined with moist rice noodles; chillies and lime paired with meaty prawns...
"I can't help but predictably order these dishes whenever I have the chance. It's never a wasted opportunity," Adrienne said.
Check out Thai cooking lessons at School of Wok to learn how to recreate these dishes and a host of others. To give you a little taster, here's a quick recipe for everybody's favourite, Pad Thai.
Ingredients 150g rice noodles
1 small red chilli, chopped
1 spring onion, shredded
1 clove of garlic, chopped
½tbsp tamarind paste, mixed with a splash of water
1tbsp sugar (palm sugar if you have it, dissolved in a little water)
2tbsp fish sauce
2tbsp lime juice
50g firm tofu, thinly sliced
1 egg
8 large prawns
45g bean sprouts
Small handful of Chinese chives, cut into finger length pieces
Small handful of chopped roasted peanuts
Lime wedges and chopped coriander for garnish
Soak the noodles in a bowl of warm water for around 10 minutes until soft, drain and set aside.
Meanwhile in a pestle and mortar, pound together the chilli, garlic and spring onion, then gradually mix in the tamarind, sugar, fish sauce and lime juice.
Heat a wok until smoking with a little oil, add the tofu and stir-fry until brown then set aside.
Crack the egg into the wok and leave until the egg starts to set, then break the yolk, stir and set aside.
Add a little more oil and bring to a high heat, then fry the spicy paste for 30 seconds. Add the prawns and stir-fry for another minute.
Throw in the noodles, egg, tofu, half the bean sprouts and chives, then toss to heat through.
Serve immediately and top with peanuts, coriander, lime and the rest of the bean sprouts, uncooked for an extra crunch and enjoy another recipe by Thai Cooking Lessons.
Thai cookery classes at the school are some of our most popular. It's a cuisine that is rooted in bold spices, combined to create dramatic and fragrant tastes and aromas, and growing trendiness in the UK is showing no sign of abating
"Thai food has a wonderful balance of salty, sweet, sour, bitter and heat…just thinking about some of the dishes makes my mouth water!" said Adrienne Katz Kennedy, head of bookings and marketing at School of Wok.
She says that Thai cooking classes never fail to bring in a crowd at School of Wok. In fact, it's one of her own favourite cuisines to both eat and cook, and one that she always chooses to have for her weekly takeaway on a Friday night.
Among Adrienne's favourite Thai dishes is Som Tam Salad - a fresh, healthy, colourful salad of unripe green papaya, combining sour and zingy citrus flavours with a hint of sweet, finished off with a bit of heat from fresh chillies.
However, her most beloved dish is Pad Thai, a meal of Vietnamese origin but one that is now widely seen as one of Thailand's national dishes. This is a meal all about contrasts: sour tamarind mixed with sweet palm sugar; crunchy bean sprouts intertwined with moist rice noodles; chillies and lime paired with meaty prawns...
"I can't help but predictably order these dishes whenever I have the chance. It's never a wasted opportunity," Adrienne said.
Check out Thai cooking lessons at School of Wok to learn how to recreate these dishes and a host of others. To give you a little taster, here's a quick recipe for everybody's favourite, Pad Thai.
Ingredients 150g rice noodles
1 small red chilli, chopped
1 spring onion, shredded
1 clove of garlic, chopped
½tbsp tamarind paste, mixed with a splash of water
1tbsp sugar (palm sugar if you have it, dissolved in a little water)
2tbsp fish sauce
2tbsp lime juice
50g firm tofu, thinly sliced
1 egg
8 large prawns
45g bean sprouts
Small handful of Chinese chives, cut into finger length pieces
Small handful of chopped roasted peanuts
Lime wedges and chopped coriander for garnish
Soak the noodles in a bowl of warm water for around 10 minutes until soft, drain and set aside.
Meanwhile in a pestle and mortar, pound together the chilli, garlic and spring onion, then gradually mix in the tamarind, sugar, fish sauce and lime juice.
Heat a wok until smoking with a little oil, add the tofu and stir-fry until brown then set aside.
Crack the egg into the wok and leave until the egg starts to set, then break the yolk, stir and set aside.
Add a little more oil and bring to a high heat, then fry the spicy paste for 30 seconds. Add the prawns and stir-fry for another minute.
Throw in the noodles, egg, tofu, half the bean sprouts and chives, then toss to heat through.
Serve immediately and top with peanuts, coriander, lime and the rest of the bean sprouts, uncooked for an extra crunch and enjoy another recipe by Thai Cooking Lessons.
Source...