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Twisted Pad Thai

Pad Thai is basically a noodle dish and typically made with either chicken or shrimp. I have found, however, that it is fantastic with grass-fed beef and having more of that in my freezer than ethical chicken makes this a household fav!! Being mostly grain free, I opt to skip noodles in favour of a little rice or use spaghetti squash instead. So what you end up with is a "twisted" stir-fry with luscious pad thai flavours...salty, sweet, sour, spicy...yum!!!
Prep Time20 minutes
Cook Time30 minutes
Total Time50 minutes
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Thai
Servings: 4
Author: Kathy Parsons

Ingredients

For Stir Fry

  • 8 oz. tender cut of grass-fed steak
  • 6-8 cups assorted stir-fry vegetables of choice onion, cabbage, bok choy, broccoli, carrots, mushrooms, celery etc.
  • 2-3 whole fresh garlic cloves

    minced or crushed

  • Cooking oil of choice (beef tallow and avocado oil are good choices for this dish)

For Sauce

  • 2 tbsp. tamarind
  • 1 cup warm water
  • ½ cup fish sauce (see below for ethical alternative)
  • 1 cup palm sugar
  • 2 tsp. good quality sea salt
  • Fresh Thai chillies (Bird's Eye Chilies) or Sriracha Sauce to taste
  • Rice, noodles or spaghetti squash for 4 to serve
  • **If you are not familiar with tamarind, you can usually find it at Asian markets or in the Asian section of larger grocery stores. You can buy ready-made paste or the whole tamarinds. The whole ones look very similar to dates in the package. It's quite easy to work with and I prefer making my own paste to keep the ingredients simple and recognizable! :)

Garnishes

  • Bean sprouts
  • Chopped green onion or Chopped fresh cilantro
  • Crushed peanuts
  • Lime slices

Fish Sauce Alternative

  • ½ cup filtered water, warm
  • 2 tbsp.

    cane sugar or honey

  • 2 tbsp. tamari
  • 2 tbsp. dried mushrooms, chopped
  • ¼ sheet of nori crushed (optional)

  • sea salt to taste

  • Rehydrate mushrooms and nori in warm water in a tallish container good for using an emersion blender then combine all ingredients and blend until smooth. It's chunkier than real fish sauce but not noticeable in a recipe like this. This is the best version I have come up with to date from numerous recipes found about the interwebs.

Instructions

  • Start with the sauce: Rough chop tamarind and remove pits as you find them. Combine the tamarind and warm water in a small bowl. Set aside for 5-10 minutes to soften as you wash and trim the stir-fry vegetables.
  • Once the tamarind has softened, mash and stir with a fork to create tamarind juice. Once all the tamarind is incorporated in the water, strain and discard the skins, pits etc. left in the strainer.
  • If using fresh chillies, take a peek at this video if you are not familiar with preparing hot chillies. Thai chillies are HOT!! http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/technique/how-prepare-chillies
  • Combine all sauce ingredients in a small saucepan. Heat on medium heat stirring often until sugar is dissolved and sauce is simmering. Simmer until it reduces by 1/3 (15 minutes or so). Remove from heat, put a lid on the pot and set aside. If you are using noodles, prepare them now according to the package directions.
  • Once the sauce is heating on the stove, chop all the vegetables stir-fry style and set aside. Mince garlic and set aside. Slice the steak thinly into stir-fry sized pieces and begin heating your pan or wok until almost smoke point. Stir-fry the meat in small, quick batches, keeping the wok hot, so the meat stays tender. Cook it just enough to sear the outside and keep the inside medium-rare. Remove each batch from the wok and set aside. Add more oil/fat as needed.
  • Once the meat is all cooked and set aside, add a bit more oil to the wok, add garlic and fry until just browning, then add the vegetables. When the vegetables are nearly done, add the meat back in and stir it all together. If you like some crunch to your noodles, remove the stir-fry from the wok at this point, fry the noodles and then combine everything back in the wok with the sauce. Otherwise, add noodles or spaghetti squash and sauce and let it cook briefly, stirring constantly to help noodles absorb the sauce but not scorch the sauce. If using rice, place a small portion of rice in the bottom of each bowl and top with stir-fry making sure to add a scoop of the delicious sauce to each bowl!! Add garnishes to taste. Enjoy!!

Notes

Tips

Sauce can be made ahead and refrigerated for several weeks.
The steak will be easier to slice if it is still partially frozen but allow it to completely thaw and drain before cooking.