On the road to Pad Thai happiness

Pad Thai (yes, we pulled out the chopsticks, inspired by your Thai-style beef photo!)

Thai food has to be some of the best food in the world. I love it! We first tasted it on one of my birthdays in Halifax, at a wonderful little restaurant called Baan Thai. My sweet hubby had consulted with my Asian-traveling friend, Sarah, about what to order. We had Pad Thai and Sweet and Sour Chicken or Pork, along with some Thai Spring Rolls. It was all fantastic! I've been in search of more good Thai food ever since! We did once (foolishly) try to make Pad Thai from a box we found in the grocery store. It was awful and made us both sick. So, it was good to try redeeming ourselves with an actual from-scratch recipe!

Modifications: I left out the bean sprouts, used soy sauce instead of fish sauce and a fresh chile pepper instead of crushed red pepper flakes.

Preparation: easy! I liked the instruction to prepare the ingredients before beginning to stir fry!

Verdict: This was good, but it didn't taste like Pad Thai to me. The texture was a little too pasty. The lime juice was strong, the chile pepper added some heat, and the peanuts were nice, but I just didn't find the ingredients were building up properly. Can it be that fish sauce would make the difference for me? I shudder. It just felt like something was missing. Nonetheless, it was a good dish and a nice change from our usual fare. Plus, it has given me the inspiration to pursue the taste I'm looking for by trying another recipe.

The hubby thought it was delicious and a nice change from pasta and rice. He really liked the texture of the rice noodles and the way the egg balanced out the lime juice and chile pepper.