Today is the first day of fall. In Vancouver, fall came knocking on our doors about 3 weeks ago. Coolers temperatures, rain (oh, and more rain) and shorter days. Fall is here.
It is that time of year when soups, stews and comfort foods are craved. I have set one goal: to make Bouef Bourguignon. I need a free weekend and some crockery to make that goal a reality. I'm thinking Thanksgiving weekend. I'll let you know how it goes.
I don't often think about comfort food. For dinner I make what I'm feeling (or whatever is in the fridge). There isn't something I crave - or at least I didn't think there was until last weekend. My Aunt called and said she was coming to town. I had just visited her in Kelowna, BC a few weeks before and we had a conversation about Pad Thai. I realised since then I had been craving it. I knew she would appreciate it and decided to put it on the menu for Sunday dinner. It was a big hit. While finishing her last bite she said, "this IS comfort food".
The recipe is from a photo copy from a book from a friend. I don't know which book - but I do know my friend got it in Thailand. Fairly, authentic but also really accessible for westerners.
Pad Thai, gluten free
Sauce:
6-7 tbsp sweet thai chilli sauce
1 tsp paprika
1/4 cup fish sauce, gluten free
1/4 granulated sugar
8oz rice noodles (it is about half a pack of rice noodles)
1 package of tofu (medium firm)
Prawns or chicken (amount up to you)
2 garlic gloves
4 tbsps vegetable oil
4 green onions, chopped
1 cup of bean sprouts
1/4 roasted peanuts, chopped (I just put them in my magic bullet and gave them a bit of a chop)
1 large egg
Lime
Cilantro
Combine the ingredients for the sauce. Let sit while you prepare the remainder of the ingredients. Boil a large pot of water. Once it comes to a full boil remove from heat and add the rice noodles. Let sit for 7 or so minutes. Test a noodle after 5 minutes. When just about cooked, drain the noodles. Wok fry the prawns with garlic and 1 to 2 tbsp of the sauce. Remove prawns and set asid. Do the same with the tofu and egg. (You can also cook everything together, however, I like to deconstruct the ingredients and then put it all together at the last minute so it doesn't become one big clumpy eggy mess.Take remainder of the sauce and add to wok. Heat until it starts to bubble, add the rice noodles and toss until full coated, add the prawns, tofu and scrambled egg.
Add green onions and bean spouts.
Serve with the roasted peanuts, cilantro and lime.
