It’s about time for another savory recipe. On the heels of Christmas gifts and a little extra spending money from painting classes, I decided to splurge this week. I was thinking about one of my favorite meals, pad Thai, and my time in Bangkok back in 2014. What a mystical, magical, formative trip and time for me. I ate so much pad Thai, and I care a lot about it being authentic when I order it out at home. So, I decided to make my own version. But this time, I caught the fine dining bug. I created a high-end pork pad Thai with authentic flavors, ingredients, and techniques.

Pad Thai in Bangkok

I have a little paper recipe book from my cooking class in Bangkok. It was over 10 years ago now. It sits hidden in my book case for special occasions, and has sticky notes on the pages. The owner of the cooking school, Yui, taught us how to make pad Thai, red curry, and tom yum soup. I sported a striped apron and a hot wok, attempting to crack my eggs with one hand. We started with a plate of ingredients laid out for us, artfully arranged in platters of colorful green vegetables and unfamiliar gems like galangal and dried shrimp. The weather was sweltering, sticky, and sunny. I still think of the colorful market we toured before cooking. Like a greenhouse, or jungle, filled with treasures from a different planet.

I fell in love with the taste of pad Thai in Bangkok. The slight chew of the glass noodles. The crunch and nuttiness of the peanuts, folded throughout a rich, dark sauce of tamarind, soy sauce, fish sauce, and palm sugar. The whole recipe took minutes to make, with diced chicken, dried shrimp, sauce, and noodles prepared for us. The woks were arranged in a squadron of black metal blasting with heat, oil droplets dancing on their nonstick patina. I ate so many plates of pad Thai throughout Thailand. On little plastic chairs in back alleys with pink awnings and sandwich boards in people’s backyards. Street markets with scorpions on sticks and stuffed buns in steamer boxes.

Thai Food in a Dorm Room

When I came home, I clutched onto my little recipe book for dear life and trekked to an Asian speciality food store in Portland to pick up the right ingredients. I bought yellow palm sugar discs and a large plastic tub of tamarind paste. Kikkoman soy sauce and a fish sauce bottle that called to me. They also had handmade wide rice noodles for pad see ew and Gai Lan, one of my favorite vegetables. I perused the isles for nearly an hour, delighting in the variety of fresh fish and vegetables and frozen dumplings, Chinese snack bags and Korean soybean pastes. I made pork pad Thai in my college dorm one year after longing for Thai food with my fresh ingredients and ate the leftovers every night for a week.

A couple years ago the summer weather was especially intense in Maine and I started thinking of those beloved Thai recipes once again. So, motivated by a burst of creative inspiration from fine dining documentaries, I decided to create a fancy version of pork pad Thai. I had a delightful drive and trip to the grocery store, blasting music with my windows breezing warm air over my face.

When I got home I made homemade rice noodles, realizing I could keep them square and not cut them. I decided to make a filling and wrap them like cheung fun, and I spent too much money on fresh short ribs from the farmers market to use instead of chicken or shrimp. I spent the afternoon braising them in a dutch oven in a rich pad Thai sauce. Finally I arranged my rolls artfully on a plate and filmed them for my short-lived experimental fine dining at home TikTok page.

Marinated Pork Pad Thai

So, this week I thought back to that dish. How great it was. And I had a bunch of errands to do out of town. I decided to look for short ribs again, and I ordered rice flour and tapioca starch to make my favorite noodles. I also picked up tamarind paste and used my homemade maple sugar in place of palm sugar, which has a very similar taste. After a meat manager explained that short ribs are not plentiful this time of year, I decided to go with a pork butt. I made it home with a 4 lb piece of pork in tow. Ready to delve into my creative world of pork pad Thai yet again. 10 years and some months after going to Thailand.

I started by taking my pork out of the package and placing it in the biggest bowl I could find. I covered it in tamarind paste, soy sauce, fish sauce, and maple sugar. A little salt, too, and white pepper. I had a busy day, so I decided to let it sit and soak up all that flavor for a day in the fridge. It came out the next day glistening in a dark amber coating, smelling sweet, sour, and salty. I let it come to room temperature and started my day by baking homemade sesame bagels, which came out so chewy and crisp and delicious. Ready to battle in the kitchen for the next 6 hours.

Dutch Oven Demi-Glace

I seared my pork butt in my new dutch oven. It was dark on all sides but not burnt. Then, I placed in mason jar lids to prop my pork up and added water to prevent burning. I roasted it on a high heat for about 20 minutes so it could crisp up and start to caramelize. Then, I cooked it for a couple more hours on a low heat. Inspired by those slow-cooked meat hunks in smokers in Texas that fall apart when you breathe on them. In the meantime, I started my rice noodle batter and prepped some green onions. I did some cleaning, too.

I took it out of the oven and let it sit for a bit before shredding it. But, it wasn’t ready, or tender enough. I had trouble shredding it with two forks. So, I decided to make a braising liquid using more of my pork pad Thai ingredients and some meat stock. Deglazing the amazingly flavorful drippings at the bottom of the dutch oven. I cut my pork up into smaller pieces and let it braise in my bubbling pan on the stove. For a few more hours, while I worked out and did laundry.

Finally the house filled with an intoxicating caramelized meat smell. With notes of sweet maple, sour tamarind, and that deep, slow-cooked barbecue flavor. I switched off the heat and let it cool in the braising liquid. Then it pulled apart like a dream. I strained out the braising liquid and saved it for my sauce. Basting my pulled pork with a little bit of it to keep it tender overnight in the fridge.

Handmade Rice Noodles

Next, after building up a sweat, I worked on my rice noodles while listening to a podcast. I got into a zone and successfully made between 6-8 square rice noodle wrappers. Now this was a big deal and really boosted my confidence. Because years ago my attempts at making homemade rice noodles were difficult, even agonizing, with many failures and frustrations. Once I took photos in a restaurant and the head chef was super frustrated with her recipe. So they’ve always been very difficult in my head. This time I used a recipe from The Woks of Life and a handy square baking pan. A new large sauté pan with a lid. I used my mason jar lids once again to prop my pan out of the steaming water bath.

To make the rice noodle wrappers, you whisk a batter of rice flour, tapioca starch, salt, and water, with a touch of oil, and let it rest. Then, you pour about 1/3 cup into the oiled square pan and steam them for 5 minutes. They peel beautifully out of the pan with the help of a rubber spatula and sit patiently on a cutting board, stacked on top of each other. Typically for pad see ew or pad Thai you would cut the noodles in thinner strands. But for this fine-dining style recipe, I keep the square noodles whole to encase my pork pad Thai filling. Which, by the way, is seared in cast iron after it rests to crisp up a little. With green onion and ginger. Then, I add my pad Thai sauce, using the magic ratios from Yui’s cookbook, and eggs, peanuts, and bean sprouts.

Plating my Pork Pad Thai Rolls

By this time it was late afternoon and I hadn’t eaten lunch yet. So, my stomach grumbled, and I snacked on my pulled pork in between searing, sautéing, and steaming. I cleaned the kitchen and set up my rice noodles, pork filling, and my braising sauce, along with crushed peanuts, cilantro (non-traditional but delicious) and hot peppers for garnish. I placed a couple big dollops of pork filling in each rice noodle square. Then, I added a generous sprinkle of crushed peanuts, which makes the pork pad Thai incredible texturally and flavor-wise. I wrapped them into white logs and seared the bottom of them in my hot, oiled cast-iron, to honor my favorite part of pad Thai and pad see ew. The crispy edges of rice noodles that get caught in the bottom of the hot wok.

I started by plating pad Thai braising sauce, which I had reduced for an hour or two in a pan and added a little butter. I sprinkled more crushed peanuts on top. Then I placed a roll on top after it cooled and garnished it with cilantro and a bright pop of red pepper. I stopped for a moment and marveled at it. The white on the dark sauce and black plate. Flecks of crushed peanuts on glistening sauce like stars in the night. A pop of green and red on top of the white cylinder, with tender, slow-cooked pork poking out of the sides.

Tasting Thailand

I finished my photo shoot and sat in the living room, plate on my lap, eating while catching up on Australian Open tennis. I cut off a corner with my steak knife and hoisted it up with a fork, dragging my noodle and pork through the pad Thai sauce. Which is potent, rich with caramelized, time-achieved flavor, and sourness.

The rice roll is tender and slightly chewy, but reminds me of a beautiful cannelloni or manicotti. The pork is falling apart. Butter-tender. Deep with flavor, roasted umami depth, crisp caramelized pieces of fat from the cast iron pan, and pops of fresh green onion. Reinforced with pad Thai sauce and egg. The texture is slightly thickened and enriched by crushed peanuts and a pop of salt. The spicy pepper on top adds acid and heat, and the cilantro pushes it over the edge of a dish teetering on Italian / Asian fusion into full on escapism. Like living in a memory of tasting food in Thailand and Vietnam for the first time. God I love cilantro.

I am so proud of this recipe. And I think I might do something like this again. A journey into elevating my cooking into something a little more artistic. Fueled by my deep love and respect for Thai food, and my familiarity with the beloved pad Thai recipe. I think my sweet spot might be balancing simple flavors and cooking techniques with complex or unique, artistic plating. Not structuring a dish around vapid gels and foams, but creating a faithful, honest recipe and then taking the components and building something brand new. That tastes almost the same.

Memories of Thailand

I had so much fun making this. And I miss Thailand more each year that passes. I can’t even begin to describe the magic I felt as a 19 year old. Entranced by new smells and tastes and sounds, walking through the streets of Bangkok with sweat on my back, wide-eyed and fascinated by a fantastical dream of never ending sweet, sour, crispy, hot, and chewy foods. It’s a bit like discovering new colors after a whole life of loving the ones you already have.

Thank you for reading! If you don’t want to make this exact recipe, I would highly recommend stir-frying this braised pork pad Thai with sauce, egg, and green onion, dried shrimp if you have it, with store-bought rice noodles. Homemade if you want to go hard. Just throw it all together and get a big bowl for dinner. A nice show to watch. And you’ll be golden.

If you enjoy my recipes and paintings, be sure to check out my Etsy for 100’s of my art prints and recipe cards. Use code THEFORKEDRING for 25% off. Until next time!

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Pork Pad Thai Rolls

Rice rolls stuffed with pad Thai braised pork. crushed peanuts, and topped with pad Thai sauce

Course Main Course

Cuisine Thai

Keyword Pad Thai, Thai food

Prep Time 1 day day 6 hours hours

Cook Time 45 minutes minutes

Servings 8

Author theforkedring

Ingredients

• 3-4 lb pork shoulder or butt
• 7 tbsp tamarind paste
• 5 tbsp dark soy sauce
• 3 tbsp fish sauce
• 4 1/2 tbsp palm sugar or brown sugar
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 cups beef / vegetable stock
• 3 tbsp butter
• 1¼ cups rice flour
• 2 tbsp tapioca starch or cornstarch
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1¼ cups water
• 4 tsp vegetable oil
• 1 cup chopped green onions
• 1 tbsp dried shrimp
• 4 tsp chopped garlic
• 4 tsp fresh grated ginger
• 2 cups crushed peanuts + 1 cup
• 6 large eggs
• 1 cup bean sprouts
• Hot peppers and cilantro for garnish

Instructions

• Cover pork in 3 tbsp tamarind paste, 3 tbsp black soy sauce, 1 tbsp fish sauce, and 2 tbsp palm sugar. Marinate overnight or up to 24 hours.
• Preheat oven to 450°F. Heat a large dutch oven over medium-high heat and drizzle in 2 tbsp olive oil. Sear pork on all sides, about 5 minutes, and rest pork on a baking sheet.
• Place two metal mason jar lids in your Dutch oven and prop up pork. Add a couple cups of water to your Dutch oven after placing the pork on top.
• Cook for 30 minutes until caramelized. Then, turn the temperature down to 250°F and cook for another 2-3 hours, uncovered.
• Remove pork from oven and let rest. Deglaze your dutch oven with 2 cups of stock and add 1 tbsp palm sugar, 1 tbsp soy sauce, 1 tbsp fish sauce, and 2 tbsp tamarind paste.
• Place your Dutch oven on the stove over medium heat. Cut pork into large chunks and add to braising liquid.
• Cook pork, covered, for 2-3 more hours until it breaks apart easily with a fork. Strain braising liquid and reserve for sauce.
• Pull pork and store in a bowl, coating with a few tablespoons of braising liquid. Once cool, cover with plastic wrap and store in the fridge until ready to use.
• In your Dutch oven, cook braising liquid over medium heat until bubbling, and reduce until you achieve a syrup-like texture. Turn off heat and add butter, whisking to combine. Store sauce in an air-tight container in the fridge until ready to use.
• When ready to make your rolls, start by mixing rice flour, tapioca starch, salt, and water in a pyrex or large bowl. Add oil and whisk to combine. (Recipe courtesy of The Woks of Life)
• Strain into another bowl or large pouring cup and let rest for at least 30 minutes.
• Heat a large sauté pan with a lid over medium-high heat. Add 3-4 cups of water to your pan. Place two mason jar lids in the pan to prop up your baking pan.
• Grease a (preferably nonstick) 8 x 8” baking pan with 1 tsp vegetable oil. Pour in 1/3 cup of your rice noodle batter and swirl your pan to coat evenly.
• Steam each noodle square for 5 minutes, until fully set. Remove with a rubber spatula and stack with a light spray of cooking oil between each layer.
• In a large wok or sauté pan, heat 2 tsp vegetable oil over medium-high heat. Add your green onion, dried shrimp, garlic, and ginger, and cook for 1 minute until soft. Then, add your bean sprouts and 4 cups of your pulled pork and cook until lightly crisp and combined, about 5 minutes.
• In a small bowl, combine 2 tbsp tamarind paste, 1 tbsp dark soy sauce, 1 tbsp fish sauce, and 1 1/2 tbsp palm sugar. Add to your pork mixture and cook to reduce, 2-3 minutes.
• Add your eggs and 2 cups crushed peanuts, and mix to combine. Turn off heat and let rest while filling your rolls.
• One at a time, take an 8×8” rice noodle square and place two dollops of pork filling in the middle. Roll your noodle square into a log, enclosing the filling inside. I like to cook each rice roll on a cast-iron skillet with a little bit of oil on medium-high heat to get a crispy bottom, but this is optional.
• To plate, spread a thin layer of pork braising sauce on your plate. Then, place a filled rice roll on top and garnish with more crushed peanuts, sliced hot peppers, and cilantro (optional).