20110107 Vegetable Pad Thai

(SOURCE: BBC EasyCook Magazine)

I forgot to buy a red chilli, so my dish is less colorful than the one shown in the magazine. I also skipped the roasted peanuts because I don't really like peanuts. But it seems that the roasted peanuts are quite crucial to a pad thai dish, because it tasted a bit different and that something was missing. And this dish taught me that my husband likes neither fish sauce nor oyster sauce - oh well, I was really pushing my luck anyways as he is still a rookie fish-eater!

INGREDIENTS
200g rice noodles, rehydrated according to pack instructions and drained well
handful of coriander
2 garlic cloves, peeled
3cm piece fresh root ginger, peeled
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 yellow pepper, thinly sliced
140g sugar snap peas
1 egg, beaten
1 tbsp caster sugar
3 tbsp fish sauce
2 tbsp oyster sauce
100g beansprouts
juice of 1 lime

METHOD
1. Cut the stalks off the coriander and finely chop them (set the leaves aside for later). Tip the chopped stalks into a mortar along with the garlic and ginger, then pound to form an aromatic paste.
2. Heat a wok and, when smoking, tip in the oil then the paste. Cook for a few seconds, then stir in the pepper and peas. Cook for a few minutes more until softened, then pour in the egg. Stir until cooked, then add the sugar, fish and oyster sauces.Add the noodles to the pan. Toss everything together, adding a little water if the noodles seem a bit dry.
3. Just before serving, stir in the beansprouts and lime juice, then place on a serving plate and scatter over coriander leaves.