I had the best Pad Thai I ever ate while sitting in a small rickety chair on a Bangkok pavement. The aroma of all the wonderful ingredients was sensational, and the flavour just blew me away. Pad Thai was also one of my mother’s favourite meals. She came to Thailand with us on a few holidays and loved the food. Like many Irish people who love food, her horizons expanded with travel.
For this Pad Thai recipe, you will probably need to visit an Asian supermarket – a lot closer than Bangkok – but they are getting easier to find. You could also make this recipe with chicken or turkey instead of the pork. Or indeed leave the meat out, and you have a delicious vegetarian dish.
The big part of the work in these pulled chicken tacos is preparing the chicken. Once you have that base right, you can go a lot of different directions. You could have it on its own or with a salad. Rice is another great option or you can also assemble it in wraps, or tacos as I have here which makes for a very tasty dinner or lunch.
You can also save yourself effort with the guacamole, as nice guacamole is easy to buy. Chipotle paste is a Mexican chilli paste that is now becoming more widely available. Harissa paste would make a good alternative if you have any difficulty finding it. For the chipotle paste and the barbecue sauce, Simply Better has two very good Irish-made options. Both are made by Folláin in west Cork. Folláin is the Irish word for ‘wholesome’ and they really live up to their name.
Ingredients: Serves 4
175g Thai flat rice noodles
100g roasted peanuts
Juice of 2 limes
1 red bird’s eye chilli, finely sliced
3 tbsp Thai fish sauce (nam pla)
2 tsp rice vinegar
2 tsp dark soy sauce
1 tsp shrimp paste (from a jar)
1 tsp palm sugar (optional)
2 tbsp rapeseed oil
350g piece of pork fillet, well trimmed, halved and thinly sliced
2 eggs, beaten
2 shallots, finely sliced
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
200g beansprouts
4 spring onions, trimmed and thinly sliced
2 tbsp roughly chopped fresh coriander, plus extra sprigs to garnish
Lime wedges, to serve
Method
1 Soak the noodles in a large bowl with enough boiling water to cover them for 15 minutes, until softened and pliable. Drain the noodles in a colander, then place in a pan of boiling water and simmer for 45 seconds, until tender, or according to the packet instructions. Drain well.
2 Meanwhile, blend the roasted peanuts in a mini blender or roughly grind using a pestle and mortar. Set aside. Mix together the lime juice, chilli, fish sauce, rice vinegar, soy sauce, shrimp paste and the palm sugar, if using, in a small bowl and set aside.
3 Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a wok until very hot. Then stir-fry the pork for about 5 minutes, until cooked through and just turning golden. Remove with a slotted spoon and cover loosely with foil to keep warm.
4 Pour in the eggs and quickly swirl the wok so that the egg sticks to the sides in a thin, even layer. Leave for about 30 seconds, until the eggs are just set. Then break into small pieces with a wooden spoon. Remove and set aside with the pork.
5 Wipe the wok with kitchen paper and return it to a medium heat, adding the remaining oil. Stirfry the shallots and garlic for 2-3 minutes, until softened and just beginning to brown. Pour the lime juice mixture into the wok and simmer for 1-2 minutes, until it has thickened slightly. Add in the onions and beanspouts.
Garnish with coriander and lime wedges.
Ingredients: Serves 4-6
8 chicken thighs, skinned and trimmed of any big bits of fat
2 tbsp chipotle paste
1 small red onion, grated
250ml passata (Italian sieved tomatoes)
5 tbsp barbecue sauce
1 small, ripe avocado, peeled, stoned and diced
12 crisp taco shells
1 Little Gem lettuce, shredded
100g cherry tomatoes, quartered
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 lime, cut into wedges, to serve
Fresh coriander leaves, to garnish
Method
1 Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F/gas mark 4). Rub the chicken thighs with 1 tablespoon of the chipotle paste and season with salt and pepper. Mix the remaining tablespoon of chipotle paste with the onion, passata and barbecue sauce. Place in a small baking tin and add the chicken thighs in a single layer. Cover tightly with foil and bake for 1 hour.
2 Increase the oven temperature to 200°C (400°F/gas mark 6). Remove the foil from the chicken and roast for another 20 minutes, until the chicken is meltingly tender and almost falling off the bone. When the chicken is really tender, use two forks to shred the meat into the sauce, discarding the bones.
3 Arrange the taco shells on a baking sheet and place in the oven for 2-3 minutes to crisp up.
4 To serve, put some shredded lettuce into each taco and top with the pulled chicken. Scatter over the avocado and cherry tomatoes and season with a little salt and pepper. Arrange on plates with the lime wedges and garnish with the coriander to serve.
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