Pad Thai

Whenever I go to an Asian noodle restaurant I always have Pad Thai. My six year old son Mack also enjoys it quite a bit. A couple of days ago it came up in a conversation and I said I would make some. He offered to help. He likes getting involved in the kitchen so I made this a little activity for him and I. He helped quite a bit and also took the picture of the plated dish.

So here we go.

Boil some water and immerse a package of flat rice noodles in it. Turn off the stove and let the noodles soak for about 6-7 min. Rinse with cold water, drain and set aside.

You will need some shrimp (chicken also works). Mack helped me peel about a pound.

Combine about 1/4 cup Asian fish sauce (most supermarkets have them in the Chinese food section) and the juice of two limes.

In your largest pan or a wok heat some canola or peanut oil. Add the shrimp and two cloves of chopped garlic and some red pepper flakes ( I kept these out because I was making this for the kids also). Cook for about a minute. Add three slightly beaten eggs and let it sit for a minute so the eggs can set. Then stir with the shrimp.

Here's Mack doing a great job stirring.

Add the sauce and lime juice, a cup of bean sprouts, 1/4 cup green onions and 1/4 cup chopped unsalted peanuts. Then add the noodles. Lift and stir until all ingredients are well blended.

Transfer to a large warm platter and garnish with some more bean sprouts, cilantro, green onions, basil and some more chopped peanuts.

Mack garnished the plates and took pictures also.

I added some red Thai pepper sauce to kick it up a notch. Yummy.

Everyone loved it.
Get your kids to help you in the kitchen. They will feel involved and will likely enjoy what they eat more. Here's a chance to get them to eat better also. It also exposes them to something new. Mack now wants to be a chef when he grows up!