Put remaining 3 tablespoons oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat when oil shimmers, add scallions and garlic and cook for about a minute.

Stir in red pepper flakes and set aside.Ģ. Meanwhile, put tamarind paste, fish sauce, honey and vinegar in a small saucepan over medium-low heat and bring just to a simmer. Drain, drizzle with one tablespoon peanut oil to keep from sticking and set aside. Let sit until noodles are just tender check every 5 minutes or so to make sure they do not get too soft. Put noodles in a large bowl and add boiling water to cover.

It’s that taste you get when you eat Thai or Vietnamese food that makes you go, “yum.”Ĥ ounces fettuccine-width rice stick noodlesġ/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes, or to tasteġ small head Napa cabbage, shredded (about 4 cups)ġ/2 pound peeled shrimp, pressed tofu or a combinationġ. Where do I get tamarind paste and why would I even buy fish sauce? You get the tamarind paste at an Asian market. Now I know there are going to be two questions you will have when you read the recipe. So here it is and I can report to you that it was pretty darn delicious. And not to be indelicate, but Mark and I had packed away the Metts and Beans and cheeseburgers for a bit too long and we needed something just a tad lighter. So, driving home from Knoxville after dropping Noah off to college, I got caught up on my food podcasts and there was Mark Bittman from the New York Times whipping up a batch of Pad Thai, which is basically the national dish of Thailand. Now we have Vietnamese and Cuban and Ethiopian and, thank the Lord, Thai. I can tell you when we moved here in 1993, it was a dry and dusty food landscape. And for some reason that I’m not entirely sure of, immigrants from other countries have found their way to Nashville and they have brought their food with them, thank goodness. But we do go out to eat once in a blue moon, you know.

Some people think all we eat down here are collard greens, fried fish and macaroni and cheese. This is a blog about Southern food and I am going to talk to you about Pad Thai.

Mark bittman pad thai