Thai cusine is here to stay in Canada.  Incoporating a few Thai inspired dishes into your establishment is a good look, especially if your establishment has a varied/international type menu.  Pad Thai is probably one of the most widely adoped dishes from Thailand.   Very affordable and relatively simple to prepare. There is a wide variety of great tasting, affordable prepared Pad Thai sauces available through your foodservice provider.  However if you would like to create your own Pad Thai sauce here is a recipe:

For Pad Thai Sauce – 4 servings

• ½ cup tamarind pulp (no seeds)
• 2 cup water
• 1 cup palm sugar
• ½ cup fish sauce (prepared anchovy stock)
• 2tbs ketchup

In a highspeed blender combine 1 cup of water and tamarind pulp.  Press firmly through a fine strainer and discard tamarind fibers.  Add this tamarind water to a sauce pot with remaining ingredients and bring to a boil.  Reduce until liquid is thick.  Sauce should taste sweet first, followed by sourness. 

For Pad Thai – 1 serving

• 1 thawed High Liner shrimp skewer (7565)
• 2oz rice noodles soaked in water for at least 45min
• 1 clove garlic minced
• ¼  small shallot minced
• ¼ cup green onions sliced
• ¼  cup firm tofu cut into ½ inch cubes
• ½ cup bean sprouts
• ½  cups bok choy sliced
• Vegetable oil
• Crushed peanuts
• Prepared sweet chili sauce

In a wok/sauté pan heat a bit of vegetable oil, add tofu and stir fry until golden brown (1 -2min).  Add garlic and shallots followed by drained rice noodles.  Stir fry until noodles are soft (1-2min).  If noodles are too dry add a bit of water to help them soften.  Add 1oz of Pad Thai sauce and stir to coat the noodles.  You can add more sauce if you wish.  Finish with the bean sprouts, bok choy and scallions.  Top with crushed peanuts and grilled shrimp skewer.

For the shrimp skewer

Brush shrimp skewer with a bit of vegetable oil and cook over a hot grill for 2-3 minutes or until ready.   Finish by brushing with some sweet chili sauce on both sides. Serve with Pad Thai. 

Tips:

• Good Pad Thai is never too saucy so avoid having the noodles swimming in a pool of sauce. 
• Common mistakes are the over cooking of the noodles. They should be soft but not mushy. 
• Add a bit of red chili’s to the Pad Thai sauce for some added heat. 
• Most vegetables that work for stir fry’s can also work for Pad Thai. 
•  Thinly sliced scrambled egg is also a common ingredient/garnish for Pad Thai dishes. 
• Made from scratch Pad Thai sauce can hold in the fridge for about 2 weeks
• Keep presoaked noodles submersed in water and in the fridge for service.  Pull what you need out of the water when you need it.  After service, unused rice noodles should be utilized for a staff meal or discarded to prevent over soaking.