Pad siew

By admin on April 16th, 2008

Here’s another dish I discovered while in Thailand. I saw it on the menu many times back in the states but never tried it. I’m glad I finally did because now its my favorite dish! The name pad siew literally means “fried with soy sauce”. This is not your typical soy sauce found in sushi restaurants, but a more sweeter, thicker soy sauce. I made the recipe a few times and discovered the 1 egg that is typically added to the dish did not make that much of a difference flavor wise so I decided to not put it in the recipe. Feel free to make the dish 100% authentic by adding a scrambled egg to it.

INGREDIENTS:

11oz wide rice noodles
6-8 stalks of Chinese broccoli (substitute with regular broccoli or spinach)
2-3 tbsp of cooking oil (vegetable or canola)
1 tbsp of dark thick soy sauce
1 tsp of rice vinegar
Thai ground chili flakes
1/4 cup chopped nuts or cashews

PORK MARINADE:
1 lb. pork loin, sliced into thin bite-size pieces
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp oyster sauce
a splash of dark sesame oil

DIRECTIONS:

In a bowl, mix the pork, sauces and garlic together until well mixed. Marinate for 15-30 minutes.

Tear the leafs off the broccoli to separate the stems from the leafy part. Chop the leafs into big pieces because they will wilt once cooked. Cut the stems into 2″ pieces. For the larger parts of the stem, slice them down the middle horizontally.

Soak the dry rice noodles in warm water for a few minutes. Drain noodles well before cooking.

In a well oiled wok over medium heat, begin by cooking the stems for about 3-4 minutes, then add the leafs and continue to cook for about 3-5 minutes or until the leafs have wilted. Transfer the leafs and stems into a bowl or on a large plate.

In the same wok on medium heat, add a tablespoon of oil and then add the noodles. Quickly toss the noodles around to evenly coat them with the oil then add the dark soy sauce and continue to toss the noodles around for about 3-4 minutes. Transfer the noodles to the bowl or plate.

Now add the another splash of oil to the wok and add the pork. Cook for about 5-6 minutes or until pork is cooked completely.

At this point, leave the pork in the wok and add the stems, leafs and noodles back to the wok add the rice vinegar and toss to mix for about another minute and then transfer back to a serving bowl or portion the food onto plates.

I garnish the plate with chopped nuts or cashews and sprinkle with Thai ground chili pepper flakes and a few splashes of the dark soy sauce.