Eat The Real Bangkok. A Taste of Chef LeeZ With Thanaporn Gaetz
Meet Chef Thanaporn Gaetz, Owner of Chef Leez Cooking School in Bangkok. Learn how to make authentic Pad Thai.
"I was raised in a restaurant/cooking environment and started cooking at age 5. After 14 years of "diamond cutting", I was excited to embrace my English and cooking skills to teach foreigners about ingredient selection, preparation, and the cooking techniques related to creating gourmet Thai cuisines. When cooking Thai food, my best advice is to use the freshest of ingredients, out of the box ingredients will not provide the best possible flavors!"
Chef Thanaporn Gaetz is the head chef and owner of the number one rated cooking school in Bangkok on TripAdvisor 'Chef Leez'.
Recipe: FRIED NOODLES WITH PRAWNS PAD THAI
"I chose this recipe because it is my foreign students' favorite Thai dish to cook and eat. Pad Thai is misunderstood as a Thai dish, when, in fact, it is originally a Chinese dish. Thai cooks changed the recipe over time by reducing the amount of noodles and varying the spices to make it their own."
Prep Time: 15 Minutes, Cook Time: 5 Minutes, Serves: 1 Person
Ingredients:
1tbsp vegetable oil
1tbsp fish sauce
2tbsp crushed shallots
1/2tbsp chili powder
1/2tbsp crushed garlic
1 egg
3 medium to large prawns
1/8 cup of bean sprouts
40g (1/2 cup) rice noodles
1/8 cup of chives or baby leek
3 tbsp water
1/4 cup hard tofu
1 tsp palm sugar
1 tbsp dried shrimp
2 tsp tamarind paste
1/2 tbsp crushed roasted peanuts
1 tsp pickled radish diced
Instructions:
- Clean the shrimp by removing the shell and head, then slice down the middle of the back, then remove the center vein (black thread-like).
- If using pre-cooked noodles, rinse the rice noodles with water. If using dried noodles, soak in hot water for 5 minutes, then rinse with cold water, set aside.
- Combine fish sauce, sugar, tamarind, and water into a small bowl.
- Place a wok with oil over a medium heat, add shallot, garlic, tofu, pickled radish and dried shrimp, stir-fry until you can smell the aroma.
- Now add the prawns, the combined fish sauce, sugar, tamarind, and water (from step 3), and fry until the prawns are white and pink.
- Add the rice noodles (TIP: stir noodles with the corner of the spatula so you don't cut the noodles into small pieces).
- Move the noodles to one side of the pan, pour the beaten egg on the open side of the pan, move the egg around the pan by lifting the egg side of the pan and slowly rotate the pan, the egg will flow along the edge of the pan to the lower end of the pan. Keep the pan close to the heat so that the thin egg cooks quickly around the edge of the pan. As soon as the egg is cooked (changes color), add Chinese chives and bean sprouts.
- Fold cooked egg and noodles together.
- Remove the pan when chives have changed color (vibrant darker green) and serve.
- Enjoy!
Notes:
Crushed roasted peanuts, chili powder, raw bean sprouts and lime wedge can be served on the side.
If you are travelling to Bangkok and would like to learn how to cook this recipe (and others) from the Chef herself, please check out their website for booking details and more information. You can learn 12 dishes in a single hands-on cooking class. ChefLeez has held TripAdvisor's #1 cooking school rating for Bangkok every year since 2011.
