Fake Pad Thai

So pad thai is one thing i really love that i just haven't eaten since the wls because of all the noodles and carbs.

but i found a way to make them with those weird shiritaki noodles.

get a package of those noodles and rinse them thoroughly. put them in a skillet with a few stir fried veggies of choice like celery, carrots, mushrooms , snow peas or whatever. let the noodles get dried out by the skillet heat. then add a spoon or two of tamarind paste. you can get the prepared in a jar or make it from the packaged tamarind.   add whatever chicken or shrimp you want and a bit of hot pepper sauce.   this makes a tart tasting dish rather than the sweet tart pad tai. you can add chopped peanuts and shredded carrots and bean sprouts.

diane

I tried those noodles and just couldn't get past the texture. They fight back! LOL. The taste left something to be desired for me, too. Good for you for making them work. I just decided for me it was better to skip "noodles" altogether rather than try to compensate with a substitute.

Yeah, they do, at least when I make them. I have a friend in Manteca who's a whiz with them but my dishes never come out.

I'm with you on that.  I prefer using using zucchini "noodles" for my noodle-replacements.  Much more benign taste, in my opinion. And less work - those shirataki noodles need about 20 minutes of rinsing before I can get near them. God bless anybody who can eat those things :)

ya know, the first time I tried these noodles I thought they were awful and swore i would never get them again. but then my husband wanted to try them so i got two kinds; one with a little tofu and one without. the secret was to rinse really well and then dry them out a little in a hot pan and then flavor them with something pretty strong. I also made them with basic spagetti sauce and they were fine.

the worst part was the temptation to eat too much volume. think my husband had a foamy episode over them.

the tamarind also makes great hot and sour soup.

diane

Hey Diane,

I love Shirataki but the trick is only in Asian dishes.  i don't know why they work well in Asian cuisine but i do 3 or 4 dishes that i love and look forward to.  when i tried them in place of pasta i hated the.  Go figure.  I think they have to be a component of the dish instead of starring, in it.  For me they get lost in the dish but pick up the flavor and give me an extra texture if that makes any sense.  I also have the urge to eat more than normal with them, don't get it either. 

yeah  i think intense asian flavors work best, but the tomato sauce did too. and yeah, it makes you want to gobble down like we all used to eat pasta. gotta watch that. diane