Happy Pear: Pad Thai & Pickled Ginger

Mon, 28 November 2016

Happy Pear: Pad Thai & Pickled Ginger

 

Ingredients

1 red onion

3 cloves of garlic

1 medium red chilli

A thumb-size piece of fresh ginger

1 red pepper

1 yellow pepper

200g oyster mushrooms

1 head of pak choi

4 nests of dried noodles (wholewheat, rice or buckwheat)

2 tablespoons oil

150g sugarsnap peas

 

For the sauce: 

1 x 200ml tin of coconut milk

4 tablespoons tamari

2 tablespoons honey / agave syrup

Juice of one lime

 

For the garnish:

1 pack of beansprouts (approx. 200g)

A small bunch of fresh coriander

3 tablespoons sesame seeds

3 tablespoons roasted, crushed cashew nuts

Pickled ginger (optional)

 

Method

Finely slice the onion and garlic together with the deseeded chilli (keep the seeds in if you like it extra hot) and put them into a bowl. Peel and finely grate the ginger and add to the bowl.

Deseed the peppers and slice them into long thin strips. Rip the oyster mushrooms into bite-size pieces. Put the peppers into a separate bowl from the mushrooms and pak choi (they are added at different times). Set aside.

Put the noodles into a big pot and cover with boiling water, adding a pinch of salt. Cook according to the instructions on the packet. Once cooked, drain, rinse with cold water and put aside.

Put the ingredients for the sauce into a cup or a small bowl. Stir with a fork to combine them well together, making sure the coconut milk is properly mixed in.

Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a large frying pan or wok. Add the onions, garlic, ginger and chilli, together with the peppers, and saute for up to 5 minutes, or until the onions start to become translucent and the garlic starts to go golden. Stir regularly, adding a little more water if the onions are starting to stick to the pan.

Now add half the sauce mixture to the pan, along with the oyster mushrooms, and cook for 3 minutes, stirring regularly. Add the pak choi, sugarsnaps, noodles and the remaining sauce, give everything a good stir so that the sauce is well mixed in, and cook for another couple of minutes, until everything is heated through.

Top each serving with rinsed beansprouts, chopped coriander, sesame seeds and cashew nuts, and pickled ginger if using.

 

Pickled Ginger

Makes a 200ml jar

 

Ingredients

150g fresh ginger (the bigger the piece, the better, as it will be easier to slice)

100ml rice vinegar / any other clear vinegar

½ teaspoon salt

30ml agave syrup

10ml beetroot juice (from cooked beetroot)

 

Method

Sterilize the glass jar by pouring boiling water into it, then discarding the water.

Peel the ginger and slice everything very thinly using a mandolin. If you don’t have a mandolin, use a potato peeler or a knife. Put the ginger slices into the jar.

Mix the vinegar, salt and agave syrup in a small pan and bring to the boil. Pour the vinegar mix into the jar of ginger and add the beetroot juice (this is only for colour, it won’t give any flavour). Top up the jar with hot water. Make sure all the ginger is covered. 

As soon as the mix cools down, put on the lid and refrigerate. It will be ready to eat in 3 days, but you can eat it before then if you don’t mind a bit of a bite. Wait longer if you prefer a soft texture. The flavours improve with time. It will keep for about a month in the fridge.