thai -

by Emily

The Best Pad Thai Recipe. Ever.

After years of testing and trying, I’ve finally found it! The perfect, best, most fail-proof pad thai recipe. This is a major feat, as it’s easy to mess up authentic Thai cooking at home, especially for someone like me who did not grow up in a Thai home. I’m learning this stuff as I go along. My brother Eric and I had the Summer of Pad Thai back in 2011, when we attempted SO many versions and nothing seemed to turn out just right. It was the noodles that caused the most trouble. And Eric is a chef who went to years of culinary school! You’d think he would be the ideal accomplice. But pad thai stumped us both.

NOT ANYMORE, thanks to this recipe! We’re talking something that anyone can make, right in their own kitchen. You might have to run around the Asian markets to pick up all the ingredients, but it’s well worth it. Then, as long as you have a hot stovetop and a big skillet, you’re in business.

Of course, credit where credit is due. I did not come up with this awesome tutorial and recipe. Leela from one of my favorite food blogs, She Simmers, did. Everything she writes is great, but this recipe in particular is SO thorough and SO well executed. The result? No gloppy noodles, nothing overcooked, nothing undercooked. A perfect sauce that isn’t too spicy, too sweet, too salty – just the best mix of all the Thai flavor profiles.

And in case you were wondering, no, She Simmers did not solicit this shout-out whatsoever! (Trust me, she wouldn’t need to be begging us for publicity, psshhh. Her site is super popular and she published a wonderful cookbook.) I just wanted to give the world a piece of my mind… and some pics of my beautiful pad thai.

So, are you ready for a project with a VERY delicious and pride-inducing result? Check out her tutorial here! This is part five (I told you it was thorough) but it links to the first four parts throughout the intro. So be sure to go through and read them all and watch her video before attempting!

If you try this (or any!) pad thai recipe and have great success (or great failure, for that matter) I’d love to hear about it! Or do you have any other go-to pad thai recipes ES should try? Let us know!

by Emily

Spring Salad Season: Crunchy Thai Tofu Salad

Spring is here, the nights are warmer and longer, and I’m in full-on SALAD MODE. Watch out, world.

This Crunchy Thai Tofu Salad is somewhat similar to some of my other recipes for sure. I throw together slaws and salads like this a lot, but the one I made tonight turned out especially well if I do say so myself. (I’m not alone, Rob also thought it was a step above my usual big salads.) What’s different? There’s no quinoa or grains here, just ALL CRUNCH, utilizing as many fresh vegetables as possible. I’ve added tofu for some more protein and texture, and incorporated yet more delicious, fiber-filled vegetables. Plus the addition of curry paste to my dressing really amped things up.

Crunchy Thai Peanut Tofu Salad

by Emily

Thai Butternut Squash & Coconut Soup

We”re nearing the end of soup season (which, to me, runs roughly mid-October through late-February) so I need to cram in some new recipes while I still have the chance! My two favorite types of soups are Asian-inspired, particularly Thai, and squash-based. So when my friend sent me a recipe on Pinterest incorporating both, I was IN. (And yeah I pinned it to my Soup-specific board, duh)

This fabulous recipe originally comes from the lovely blog Carlsbad Cravings. While I”ve made Thai-spiced butternut and/or sweet potato soups before, the addition of sriracha-roasted pumpkin seeds on top really brings this one to a whole other level. Actually, she used butternut squash seeds, but I had a bunch of naked pumpkin Superseedz in the pantry so I decided to use those and it came out great. Perfect if you are using pre-chunked or frozen butternut squash versus the whole gourd. (Which I actually was, too… pre-cut packaged organic squash because I was running late after work! No shame in my game on a busy weeknight.) I amped up the spice in this a bit and cut down the fat by using light coconut milk, and the result was absolute heaven.

Thai Butternut Squash Coconut Soup with Honey Sriracha Pumpkin Seeds

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by Emily

Thai Peanut Chicken Salad

So as I recently mentioned, like every other overly indulgent American, I’m ramping up my resolutions and getting back on the healthy track after a gluttonous holiday season. This means lots of salads, but as we know, I LOVE salads so this isn’t really a punishment for me.

This salad features all the aspects of Thai food that we know and love – it incorporates sour, sweet, tangy, spicy. You have tons of vegetables, protein from the chicken and nuts, but also a nice addition of… papaya! Try to get green papaya if you can, I thought I bought a green one but when I peeled it, it was definitely ripe and orange inside. How can you tell when a papaya is green versus ripe? This is something I should look into.

Thai Peanut Chicken Salad

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by Emily

Green Coconut Curry Chicken, Crock Pot Style

As I recently mentioned, I got me a crock pot! I’ve been trying to embrace my new slow cooker lifestyle by ummm, Pinterest-ing a lot of recipes to get an idea of good technique (such as the meat-searing tip in my recipe below!). I’ve also been trying not to be such a hot mess in the kitchen – usually I’m holding my phone to look at recipes, photos, etc. while simultaneously chopping and sautéing and almost dropping it into the sink. Horrible. So I have to give a shout out to the silly-named Monkey Kit, which holds up the iPad so I can cook hands-free like a normal person. They sent me a sample model and it has truly been a game changer, two thumbs up. Between this and the crock pot I really am becoming a human adult, I guess.

SO! This is the next meal I’ve perfected with my new slow cooker. For this recipe you could totally use red or yellow curry paste if you prefer it over green. Red curry paste is actually my favorite, but green is what I had on hand and it worked well with the vegetables I used and my pumpkin seed garnish. As with most dishes, you can feel free to swap out the vegetables with whatever your favorites are… just keep in mind cooking time. Softer vegetables you can just add in at the end of the day, about a half hour before you plan on serving. Harder vegetables with a longer cook time can be added in the beginning at the same time as the chicken. Got it? Great.

Homemade Green Coconut Curry Chicken (in the crockpot!)

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by Emily

Spicy Thai Breakfast (Yes, Breakfast!) Noodles

It has been extremely stormy in Austin lately. It’s kind of romantic, and since we are an eternal drought it’s good for the land, but it also puts a huge damper on your social life. Nobody feels like driving downtown and looking for parking to meet friends at a patio bar in a thunderstorm. No thank you.

Last weekend, on one of these thunder-and-lightning-no-way-in-hell-am-I-leaving-the-house mornings, Rob and I found ourselves in quite the conundrum. We had a good pot of coffee brewing and we were SO ready to eat something, yet we had zero breakfast food. We’d used up all the produce from our weekly CSA box and the only morning-ish stuff we had in the house was one last egg in our carton, a gross old yogurt I found in the back of the fridge, and some stale cereal. Bad situation. What can I say? Not leaving the house means getting really behind on your grocery shopping.

Sooo I had to improvise with the one egg, some leftover Thai takeout in the fridge, and (duh) Sriracha. The result was surprisingly delightful. If you’re a savory breakfast type person, I encourage you to try this at home!

Spicy Thai Breakfast Noodles

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by Emily

Artsy Photo of the Day

Rise and shine! Bet you wish you were having this for breakfast today:

Thai eggs benedict, made with pork wine sausage, mushroom, cilantro, crispy yam strips, and Thai chili hollandaise. Picture taken at Blackwood in San Francisco.

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