Not as famous as Pad Thai noodles, but trust me on this one guys,
once you've tried them you'll be coming back again and again.
This is stir-fried Korat Noodles.
I like to think of these noodles as like the spicier cousin if you like, to Pad Thai noodles.
They're from a region called Korat in the northeast of Thailand
and it's the sauce that makes them really special.
So we'll get to the sauce, but first of all let's talk about the noodles.
I'm using these very thin rice stick noodles. You could use regular Pad Thai noodles for these as well.
I like these little thinner ones, they have a really great texture.
But I do want to make sure I don't overcook them. So I want some hot water.
It's not boiling, just steaming a little bit. I'm going to put those noodles in.
I want these guys to soak until they're just tender, a little al dente, but just tender.
It's really important not to overcook these ones because of their smaller size.
They'll get really gluggy in the pan when we stir fry them.
With your larger Pad Thai noodles, you don't have to be as careful.
These look good. I'm going pull them out and drain them.
Now for the sauce, this is a really interesting one. We're going to make like a sugar caramel as the
base of the sauce which become really dark and beautiful in colour.
That's punctuated with big flavours like tamarind and fish sauce. You'll see, it's all magical.
Let's start with the sugar. I'm going to use palm sugar here. That comes in this kind of like firm block.
You need to shave it so that it'll dissolve quicker.
To get that caramel started, I'm going to add a little bit of oil into a hot sauce pan.
In goes that palm sugar. I just want some regular white sugar as well.
We need to wait here until that sugar dissolves. When it starts to turn a nice deep mahogany colour.
You really need to watch it though because you don't want that sugar to burn.
This is looking a beautiful colour. I'm going to add in my shallots and some garlic.
This is an interesting one, this is yellow soybean paste. Or sometimes this is called 'soybean paste'.
In Thai, it's called 'Tao Jiao'
You can find it at an Asian grocer. If you can't get it, you can use miso.
Just sort of smash the soy beans a little bit. You can see the little beans in there.
And then that goes in as well.
I've got my sweet, my sour, and a little bit of salty from the soybean paste.
I want a little bit more salty with some fish sauce and some sour with some tamarind.
Didn't I tell you this sauce packs a punch. Look at that beautiful colour already.
You just want to let this simmer and let those flavours develop a little.
Let me try a little bit here. Just be careful because that sugar is really hot, so make sure it's nice and cool.
Mmm... I love that you get that beautiful little bit of fragrance from the shallot and the garlic.
You've got the tamarind, it tastes slightly bitter so I'm just going to cook that a little bit longer.
Add a little bit of water.
Now the chilli powder. This one should have a little bit of kick
so be generous with that chilli powder.
Ok let's try again.
Yes that's great. I've got the beautiful spiciness, I've got the sour tamarind. It's making my mouth get all juicy
which is exactly what you want. Just a little bit bitter from that burnt sugar. Perfect.
Pour that out for later.
I want to get everything else ready. Because once we get into the wok,
everything is going to happen really quickly. I want some spring onion.
You want some bean shoots as well. I'm using pork mince. You could keep this vegetarian,
you could use chicken, you could use tofu, anything goes here.
Some eggs as well.
Now we can bring everything together in the wok.
Just want to get that nice and hot. Add some oil. In goes my pork mince.
That pork is just cooked so I'm going to add in my noodles.
And then our beautiful sauce.
Look at that colour!
This is a dry noodle dish, so I want to let those noodles absorb that sauce.
I want that liquid to evaporate. This is looking good.
Look at those noodles they're so glossy and shiny. Move everything off to the side,
add in a little bit more oil, and then in go my eggs.
Just tilt your wok a little bit. Give those eggs some space in the hot pan to become a little omelette.
Just when that egg is almost looking set, I'm going to toss it through.
Now I want those bean shoots in, and my spring onion.
Very nice. Alright, just want to get these out onto a plate.
Just for a little bit of extra special at the end, we want some spring onion and a wedge of lime.
There you go guys, the noodles you quite possibly have never heard of.
But I promise you, you will love them when you try them.
Mmm...
The caramel base on that sauce just gives it so much complexity and flavour.
Mmm... Not to mention the colour. Yum.
Noodles... Can never get enough.