Sunday, September 26, 2010

Project Food Blog: "The Classics"

Drop the beat!

The first round of the PFB Competition is now done
Thanks to everyone who helped me make it past round one
Now here we go again with another rhyme
I promise you I won't be wasting your time
Don't worry, I won't rhyme throughout the whole post
I just want to make a simple toast
Congrats to everyone else that made it this far
But, you all should know I'll be raising the bar 
For the second round we have to make a classic dish
Choose what you want, it can even be fish
Make a dish from a different cuisine outside your comfort zone
Something more challenging than a simple ice cream cone
For the first time I will be posting something savory on my blog
In this special event, you definitely know it won't be a hot dog
By now you should be asking, "What are you making dude?"
For this special event, let's make some Thai Food!
With that being said, this rhyme is complete
It's now time to get serious and compete! :D


Since I made it past the first round of the PFB competition, I think it's now time to bring a little asian persuasion to this competition. ha. Thai Food is a cuisine that I am obsessed with, particularly the noodle dishes. I've even been known to eat at least two Thai meals a week. (And I'm not even Thai! Talk about dedication!) The great balance of sweet, sour, salty and spicy, without either one overpowering one another, takes real skill. Let's get ready to tackle the, ever so famous, extremely iconic, most desired, Pad Thai!

The Mise En Place

Pad Thai, is defined as "Stir-fried rice noodles, egg, bean sprouts, shrimp, peanuts and seasonings". Define it how you will, to me it's good eating! lol. For a well made Pad Thai, it either requires you to be either A. Thai or B. Eat at a delicious Thai Restaurant. Now, I've had my share of bad Pad Thai, (Hint: The Pad Thais that use ketchup...) but it wasn't until I ate Pad Thai that was Tamarind Based, two years ago, that I fell in love with it. Having a Tamarind Base, it has a distinct flavor. You can taste every single layer of flavor in the dish. The tender rice noodles that have soaked up this sweet, sour, salty, spicy, garlic-y tamarind based sauce, mixed with eggs, chicken and tofu, or whatever protein you desire, to give body to the dish, bean sprouts for crunch, peanuts for more added crunch and nuttyness and green onions for that onion-y bite. Then to top it all off, when the steaming hot noodle dish is served to you, you take that wedge of lime, squeeze it right on top for the added tang. YUM! Am I making your mouth water yet? I am, huh? Talk about heaven in a bowl! Mmmmm, I can taste it now. Literally. ha.

Adding Eggs To The Cooked Noodles, Chicken And Tofu

Surprisingly, Pad Thai is not as hard to make as many would think. The sauce does take time but it only involves reducing the sauce. Labor intensive? I think not. Also, you do end up with quite a bit of sauce left at the end but that just means you can make Pad Thai any time you want! :D If the thought of having multiple Pad Thai nights doesn't persuade you, I don't know what will. ha. Just throw all your ingredients into the wok or pan, add some sauce and BAM! you have yourself some Pad Thai. (I just had to release my inner Emeril "BAM!"). I believe the key to Pad Thai is to NOT substitute ingredients!! It's the only way to have the right flavor. To stay true to the cuisine and dish, stay true to the recipe.

Pad Thai Anyone?

Now, what are you waiting for? Go out and make yourself some Pad Thai! You know you want to.  Your stomach is waiting! hehe.


Don't forget to vote again from September 27 to 30. 
Just go to my PFB Profile HERE during those dates. 
Thanks for the support! :)

-Aaron John
Facebook Fan Page

25 comments:

  1. I love seeing recipes like yours for Asian food! My husband is Thai and loves making all sorts of classic Thai dishes. While some recipes are a little more complicated and have some unfamiliar ingredients, pad thai is an classic favorite that I think many people (asian or not!) can make and enjoy! Great Post!

    -Caroline
    engineerandanoven.blogspot.com

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  2. I love pad thai more than anything and this looks amazing!! The egg photo is so pretty-looking, too :)

    Sues

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  3. Caroline: That's exactly why I made Pad Thai! :) Super accessible and you can find almost all ingredients in supermarkets. Just 2 or 3 ingredients are special ones that need to be hunted down but they're well worth it.

    We Are Not Martha: Thanks a bunch!! :D

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  4. Definitely going to give this recipe a try - I've never made pad Thai at home before!

    I am voting for you!

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  5. Looks great! I've wanted to make pad thai for so long, but haven't quite gotten around to it! Soon, I hope :)

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  6. Thanks AJ, love pad thai but can't have the peanuts.....sigh. Excellent post. just voted for you.

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  7. Love it, AJ! Pad thai was a delectable choice, and you had my vote from "drop the beat" - ha! :)

    My entry was the Indian dessert Gulab Jamun -- click on over and see!

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  8. Victoria K: Def. give this recipe a try. The sauce isn't too overpowering so it's really good!

    Cyndy: No need to worry! Just omit the peanuts! Still tastes fantastic! :D Thanks for the vote!!

    Julie: Haha! Thanks for the vote!! I'll check out your post right now! :)

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  9. Nice looking pad thai -- and I love your rhyming poems! I voted.

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  10. hurray for another Filipino contestant! this is a lovely Asian dish and yup, it looks so easy to make so will defnitely give this a try too :) +1 vote from me :)

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  11. this looks delicious :) Good luck with project food and you got my vote for this one! Feel free to drop by :) Good luck and best wishes for making to the top !! WOOHOO

    jen @ www.passion4food.ca

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  12. AJ I just made pad thai yesterday!! hahaha. i LOVE LOVE LOVE pad thai and will eat a thousand more if i can! yours look really good! :D

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  13. That looks so delicious! And simple to make, will definitely have to give it a go one of these days.

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  14. PAD THAI! I love your poems!

    Voted for you and good luck with PFB :)

    Here is my entry for PFB http://www.foodbuzz.com/project_food_blog/challenges/2/view/1039

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  15. FOODalogue: Thank you for your vote!!

    Jan/Thella: Filipino power! ha. Thanks for the vote!

    Jen Cheung: Yay!! Thanks! I'll head on over to your blog!

    Janelle: Thank you for the vote!! :DD

    Hannah: Haha. How funny! Great minds think alike!! Thanks!

    Hello: It definitely is simple to make!! :)

    Jane Ko: Thanks for the vote! I'll give your post a look see! :D

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  16. I love pad thai and your post makes me want some right now!! Count my vote!

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  17. I can't express in words how much of a huge fan of pad thai am I. Whenever I go to Thai restaurant, I end up ordering just pad thai. Love the myriad of flavors I get to taste while gobbling it up. I don't know why I haven't tried this in my kitchen yet. You've inspired me and I'll be making this over the weekend fro sure. Good luck and you have my vote!

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  18. I love thai food! Tofu is honestly not my favorite, but I'm pleased that there's still chicken in this recipe :)

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  19. Great post! Pad Thai is one of my favorites, and yours looks especially good. I voted for you!

    Good luck! =)

    You can check out my PFB post at : http://www.foodbuzz.com/project_food_blog/challenges/2/view/864

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  20. O hai! That looks DELICIOUS! Pad thai is my favorite food and it looks like you totally rocked it. Just voted for you!

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  21. Great post! Can't say that I've ever experienced a ketchup-based Pad Thai, and I don't think I want to! Glad you stuck to the tamarind! Good luck!

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  22. Deborah Dowd: Thank you so much!

    Thas: I'm right there with you! I always get pad thai! Yum! Thanks for the vote!

    baking.serendipity: Gotta have chicken!! :D

    Jacobskitchen: Thank you!! I'm voting for you as well!!

    Rick: Thanks!! :DD

    Lingbo: Thanks a bunch!!

    Peggy: This is way better than the ketchup based ones! haha. Thanks!

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  23. I try to put the eggs in the middle when I cook pad Thai. Thanks.

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Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment! :)

-Aaron John

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