Instructions: The route to this recipe started with a couple of requests for a "hot" version of pad Thai.

Unfortunately for those that asked, whilst you can add anything you like to pad Thai - including chilies - the result is not authentic. It simply isnt done (which is not to say that Thais dont load their plates of pad Thai with prik phom and chilies in fish sauce or vinegar according to taste)

Pad Thai is quite an elaborate dish. The style usually found in Thai restaurants outside Thailand is particularly elaborate, being referred to somewhat insultingly my Thai housewives as "pad Thai Krungthep" -the implication being that rich people in the capital do it that way to show off.

Ignoring the countryside versus capital debate, there is a local, very simple variant of the dish, known as pad mi Korat. Made with the round egg noodles known as sen mi, rather than the narrow rice ribbon noodles, and with a recipe that consists of partly cooking a cup of noodles, then stir frying them with a cup of sliced and shredded pak bung (swamp cabbage), adding a little tamarind juice for flavor, and drizzling a beaten egg over it to complete it.

However my wife prepares a more elaborate version of pad mi Korat, which is also fairly hot. This version I will call pad mi Korat phet (hot stir fried noodles in the Korat style).

Before I get into the details, I would like to make two comments. The original of this dish is made with sen mi (Thai egg noodles), but if you cant find them I find it works very well with a spaghetti or similar (the little shell shapes are good).

The original uses swamp cabbage, but any greens will do. If I fancy splashing out we make this with a mixture of broccoli and asparagus.

To simplify the dish I should point out that it is actually made using table condiments, thus the ingredients are not as complicated as they look. I will first include recipes for the table condiments you need. In Thailand these would probably be on every housewifes table, but if you dont have them you should make them about a week before you intend to cook the dish.

We make them in vast quantities for the restaurant (in 5 gallon containers), but for home use we use 1 pint spring top preserving jars. These have the advantage of fitting in the door shelves of our fridge.

Nam pla prik

Put two thirds of a cup of prik ki nu (finely sliced green birdseye or dynamite chilies) in a 1 pint jar, and fill with fish sauce. Seal and keep for a week before using.

Prik dong

Put two thirds of a cup of prik ki nu daeng (finely sliced red birds eye or dynamite chilies) in a 1 pint jar, and fill with rice vinegar (any white vinegar will do, as will cider vinegar, if rice vinegar is unavailable).

Prik siyu wan

Put two thirds of a cup of prik chi fa (sliced red or green Thai jalapenos) in a 1 pint jar, and fill with sweet dark soy sauce.

Kratiem dong

Peel and slice two thirds of a cup of garlic, place it in the 1 pint jar, add 1 teaspoon of palm sugar, and one teaspoon of salt and half a teaspoon of MSG

(optional but recommended) and topped up with rice vinegar.

Khing ki mao

Julienne two thirds of a cup of fresh ginger (into match stick sized pieces).

Place in the 1 pint jar. Add half a cup of Mekong whiskey (Mekong is a whiskey made from Rice. If you cant find it or prefer something else, any spirits, even sherry, will do). Add half a cup of rice vinegar, and fill up the jar with fish sauce.

Now well progress to the pad mi itself.

For this you will need a cup of noodles, half a cup of green veggies, half a cup of mild peppers such as prik chi fa (Thai jalapenos). If you want to try this but at a lower heat level, use the Thai chili called prik yiek, or a bell pepper. You also need one large egg (preferably a duck egg), some tamarind juice and sugar, and chilies, bai chi

(coriander leaves) and a sliced cucumber for garnish.

Method.

Place the noodles in water to soak for about 15 minutes.

Place two tablespoons of the liquor from each of the five condiments listed above, together with two tablespoons of tamarind juice, in a small saucepan and simmer to reduce it to half its volume. When this is done heat a wok, and stir a teaspoon of the fish sauce from the nam pla prik into the egg, and beat

continued in part 2

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