Since I work at home and don’t have much of a commute, I am “home from work” a lot earlier than Jason. Lately I’ve been doing all my prep work (building my mise en place if you will) as soon as work ends and then when Jason calls me and lets me know he’s on his way home, I can start the actual cooking. And still have dinner on the table when Jason walks in the door!
The use of a mise en place is particularly critical when making things like Pad Thai. Tonight was my first attempt at the dish and I would say it was mostly successful. But the cooking process is really all of three minutes so you have to have everything chopped and ready to go ahead of time. I decided to dip my toes into these untested Pad Thai waters with a scaled-down version that comes from this month’s issue of Everyday Food (where else!). Jason liked the dish but as someone who has eaten Pad Thai a hundred times at various restaurants, I found the flavor to be somewhat lacking. However it was easy and good for a weeknight. And it’s inspired me to looking into more authentic Pad Thai recipes—so stay tuned!
My mise en place--peanuts, soy sauce mixture, scallion whites and garlic, cilantro and scallion greens
Adapted from Everyday Food
Ingredients:
6 ounces dried, wide and flat rice noodles
1 TBL brown sugar
2 TBL fresh lime juice
3 TBL soy sauce
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
3 scallions, white and green parts separated and thinly sliced
1 garlic clove, minced
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
½ cup fresh cilantro, chopped
¼ cup chopped peanuts
1.Bring 3 cups of water to a boil. Turn off heat and add rice noodles and soak for 4 minutes. Drain. Rinse with cold water and set aside.
2.Once you have your mise en place ready to go, heat oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium high heat. Add scallion whites and garlic and cook, stirring constantly, for about 30 seconds. Add eggs and cook, scraping with a rubber spatula until eggs are cooked, about 30 seconds. Remove egg mixture and set aside.
3.Add noodles and soy sauce mixture to skillet. Toss constantly until noodles are soft and coated with sauce—about 1 minute. Add egg mixture and toss, gently breaking up eggs and letting it all mix together.
4.Top noodles with cilantro, scallion greens, and peanuts and serve.