A good Pad Thai sauce is described as being sweet first, the spicy, salty and finally sour. The development of this flavor on your tongue is probably what has helped to make it one of Thailand most popular dishes. Don’t worry if the sauce tastes too strong after it comes out of the blender, it will be diluted while cooking.
As I’ve said before, sauces are easy to buy pre-made but I prefer to make my own to avoid icky fillers and preservatives. All you need is the right ingredients and a good blender! I really cannot stress the importance of a good blender.
Makes:1 1/4 cups
Preparation time: Total Time:
Ingredients:
1/2
cup
vegetable stock
7
dates
(pitted)
2
dried apricots
(often dried in halves so use 4 halves)
2
dried prunes
2
tablespoons
peanuts
2
tablespoons
fresh lime juice
2
tablespoons
rice vinegar
2
tablespoons
umeboshi paste
1
tablespoon
organic tamari
(you can use soy sauce if not making this gluten free)
1
teaspoon
double concentrated tomato paste
1/2
teaspoon
crushed red pepper flakes
1/2
teaspoon
onion powder
1/8
teaspoon
ground white pepper
Equipment:
blender
Instructions:
Place all of the ingredients into a blender and blend on high until smooth. If you don't have a high powered blender you may end up with a chunkier sauce. Try letting the ingredients rest a bit so the solid parts can soak up some more liquid then blend again. You can also try adding a little water to help the blender along, the water will cook off when you use this to make Pad Thai. Start by adding 1 teaspoon of water at a time.