Pad Thai....sort of

I go through phases with food. My interest in a certain dish generally falls under the categories of devotion or indifference. When in undergrad, Pad Thai was one of those dependable dinners that gained my attention and reverence. It was perfect for a poor student; it required the least flashy of veggies (carrots and celery), a few condiments and some rice noodles. Somehow in the transition from BSc to PhD my interest in this dish waned. After a long break, the other day I had an urge to revisit the old classic, but with some minor alterations.

I hit the grocery store with a plan, but admittedly it was a little vague and fuzzy. Noodles were easy, but when it came to the vegetables I decided I wanted to experiment. The bok choi showed little promise. It was sad and wilty, wishing I'd had my craving at least three days earlier when it was at the prime of it's game. The fennel on the other hand winked at me. I didn't remember fennel being a common ingredient in asian meals, but I figured I could call the dish 'fusion' and everything would be okay. For some color, I picked up the reliable carrot, green snap peas and slightly daring radicchio. A veggie bag perhaps more suited for a pasta dish with butter, pepper and pamesean cheese (I made this dish too and it was very tasty), I had confidence it would work for pad thai.

This was not my most successful experiment in the kitchen, but neither was it a complete disaster. The veggies sauted nicely, making for a very colorful picture and a very full pan. Thinking I was surely on the road to success, my heart fell a little when I combined everything together and the veggies all but disappeared under the pile of noodles. My heart sank even a little lower when my bowl, made prettier by a pile of cashews, seemed bland. I blame this on the poor veggie to noodle ratio per bite. Not to fear, all was saved by my favorite condiment: the red rooster hot sauce. I read an article about this sauce the other day (see the Jan 2010 issue of Bon Appetit), apparently it's made by a small family-run business. Clearly that family is hugely successful as this sauce is seen on restaurant tables all through Chinatown. Score one more for Huy Fong Foods, because it certainly saved my pad thai.

Pad Thai
I hesitate slightly to post this recipe as I don't have the best feel for how all the flavors would come together with fewer noodles in my bowl. My version showed promise, so I suspect it will find it's way into my meal rotation again soon. I've increased all the vegetable amounts so that you won't have the same problem I did.

- 1 bulb fennel, white parts only
- 4 carrots
- a handful of snap peas
- 1 small radicchio
- 1 medium onion
- 6 cloves garlic
- 8 tsp ketchup
- 5 tsp brown sugar
- 6 tsp lemon juice
- 6 tsp white wine vinegar
- 2 eggs
- 1 package of flat rice noodles
- cashews (or peanuts)
- Rooster Hot Sauce

Mix together ketchup, sugar, lemon juice and white wine vinegar to make sauce. Saute the chopped onion and fennel until the onion is translucent and the fennel tender. Add the garlic and peas. Boil the water for the noodles, following the directions on the package for cooking. When the noodles are close to being done, add the grated carrot and chopped radicchio to the onion and fennel. Ideally, once the noodles are ready they would be mixed with the veggies in the pan with the eggs. My pan was not large enough, so I mixed all the ingredients in a bowl (I believe everything was hot enough to cook the egg), only mixing my portion in the hot pan and saving the rest for later. Top the dish with chopped cashews and add as much hot sauce as desired. Makes four large servings.