Recipe: Green Papaya Pad Thai Recipes From the Kitchn

I recently had the best Pad Thai of my life. It was one of those restaurant meals where the person cooking takes us under her wing and simply says, "How about I just cook for you?" Chef Ngamprom "Hong" Thaimee of Ngam in NYC's East Village then brought out plate after plate of regional Thai cuisine from her native Chiang Mai, Thailand, and I was floored.

Normally when I have this kind of meal out, I try to savor it as just that: a meal out that I will probably not make at home. But this was different. In particular, Hong's Green Papaya Pad Thai was a game-changer. Replacing the traditional rice noodles with shredded green papaya isn't a new trick and one that's gaining a wider audience thanks to its lower carb count but I'd never thought to make it that way at home. So I called her the next day and asked her to please teach me. This week, I visited her kitchen.

I first wanted to understand what made Chef Hong's Thai cooking different from other "authentic" Thai food I'd had. She is a very talented but modest artist in the kitchen, and mostly credits her grandmother and her culture in general for the way food is honored. "Everyone prepares the meal together, and everyone then sits down to eat it together," she told me. I asked about ingredients, methods, etc., and she shared things like how this northern region of Thailand takes some of its traditions from its Burmese and Chinese neighbors, but mostly, she kept returning to this simple notion of sharing good food together. "We cook it together, and it's just better."

When I asked about her education, Hong said, "I learned to make curry paste in the third grade." Her resume, however, is not a typical chef's. She has worked as a model, a television host, and most recently, in corporate responsibility for Merck. In the end, she was drawn to treating life as "a never ending classroom" and felt that her ultimate calling was to share the best of Thai cooking with the world. And so her journey to the US and to open Ngam began. She opened in 2011 and already has a list of accolades, many pointing directly to her Pad Thai, in the window of her modest Third Avenue storefront.

Hong's three tips for great pad thai are to use pickled turnips and tofu croutons (essentially deep fried tofu), to prepare all the ingredients before turning on the fire, and then firing up a hot pan (preferably a wok) and cooking the dish in small batches. Other than that, she says, the key to Thai cooking is love. "And don't worry about spicy or chopsticks," she says, "these are two myths about Thai food. We don't necessarily need it spicy, and we don't use chopsticks! Knife and spoon."

The recipe as written below is for two servings and is adapted from Hong's restaurant-ready method. If making more than two servings, you can prep the ingredients for as many servings as you'd like (1 whole green papaya for four servings, etc) as well as cooking the sauce, the meat, and the tofu croutons ahead in larger batches, but fire the dish itself (from the garlic/shallots step forward) in no more than two servings at a time. This is where the cooking-together comes into play; I had my six-year-old chopping peanuts and cracking eggs.

A note on some of the ingredients: a green papaya is simply an unripe papaya. Most Asian markets carry it. The other ingredients that may seem hard to come by, like palm sugar, tamarind paste, and pickled turnips, can also be found online. There's no reason why this beautiful dish can't happen in your kitchen.

Green Papaya Pad Thai

Serves 2

1/2 whole green papaya
1/3 cup fish sauce
2 tablespoons palm sugar (or granulated sugar)
1 tablespoon tamarind paste
1/3 cup vegetable oil, divided
1 1/2 cups thinly sliced chicken, beef, pork or tofu (optional)
4 ounces firm tofu, cubed
3 small garlic cloves, minced
1 small shallot, minced
1 egg
1/4 cup chopped pickled turnip
1 cup bean sprouts, washed and dried
1/2 cup chopped flat Chinese chives
1/2 cup chopped roasted peanuts
Freshly ground black pepper
Thai-style dried chile powder
Lime wedges

Wash the papaya. Remove the skin and wash the papaya again. Slice it in half lengthwise and scoop out the white seeds. For two servings, cut one half of the papaya into strips, or use a box grated to make long shreds, like noodles. Each half will yield about 1 1/2 cups papaya "noodles."

In a small pan combine the fish sauce, palm sugar and tamarind paste. Cook the sauce over medium heat until the mixture bubbles and thickens slightly. Remove from the heat and set aside.

If you're adding chicken, beef, pork, or tofu, heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a wok or large frying pan on high heat and cook the meat or tofu for 3-4 minutes. Remove the meat or tofu to a small bowl and set aside.

Heat another 2 tablespoons oil in the same pan. When just barely smoking, toss in the tofu cubes and fry, agitating the pan in order to cook all sides, until they form a crisp brown skin, about 2 minutes. Lift the tofu croutons from the pan with a slotted spoon and drain them on a paper bag or stack of several paper towels.

Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons oil (or half the remaining 4 tablespoons oil if omitting the optional meat or tofu) on high heat and add the garlic and shallots to the hot pan and cook for 1 minute stirring constantly with a wok spatula or large wooden spoon. Add the cooked meat or tofu, if using.

Crack the egg into the pan and stir-fry for a few seconds until it begins to set. Add the papaya noodles and stir for 1 minute until well coated with cooked egg. Add about a 1/4 cup of the Pad Thai sauce, stirring constantly until the mixture is well coated. Add the turnip, tofu croutons, all but a pinch of the bean sprouts and the chives. Stir well then immediately remove from heat and divide between two plates or present in one large serving bowl. Top with remaining spouts, toasted peanuts, a pinch or two of chile powder (depending on taste for heat), a few cracks of ground black pepper, and a wedge of lime.

Related: Recipe: Yachae Kalguksu (Korean Knife Noodles with Vegetables)

(Images: Sara Kate Gillingham-Ryan)

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Ludo Lefebvre's Squid Pad Thai Cookbook Recipe & Review of LudoBites by Ludo Lefebvre

Leaf through Ludo Lefebvre's new cookbook, LudoBites: Recipes And Stories From The Pop-Up Restaurants of Ludo Lefebvre, and you'll understand why the reservations for the entire run of the last incarnation of LudoBites, his pop-up restaurant in Los Angeles, sold out in under a minute: his delight in the sensual pleasure of food is evident in the description of every dish. (Remember his charming kitchen tour, too?) Ludo's palate is rooted in a love and respect for the cooking, food, flavors and food traditions of his native France. But what launches his food into the stratosphere is his deep-seated curiosity about the world, with each dish a question answered by a taste experience, one that also involves your eyes and your nose.

The best examples of Ludo's cooking riff on familiar dishes or classic combinations. What if it looked like pasta...but wasn't? What if your eyes registered a dish as cold but when you popped it in your mouth it was hot? What if you inserted one culture's flavor palette in another culture's signature dish or took the idea of a dish and made substitutions?

Breaking a dish down to its essence, he then reconstructs it: the noodles in pad Thai are made of squid, the feta cheese in a Greek salad becomes a mousse. There are echoes of the old dish behind the surprise of something modern, surprising and globally-influenced.

But this isn't only a book of intriguing recipes that make you rethink the food you eat every day, it's also the story of how a new concept in restaurants got started. Chronicling Ludo's journey from France to Los Angeles, from chef at Bastide, the uber-French and uber-expensive Los Angeles restaurant owned by the exacting and capricious Joe Pytka, to running LudoBites, the ephemeral restaurant that appears for a brief few weeks and then vanishes, this book is as much a primer for chefs considering going out on their own as it is a history of a very unique place. I, for one, hope it will stick around long enough so that I'll actually get to eat there. Certainly if what I made turned out as good as it did, I can only imagine what it tastes like in the hands of its creator. In the meantime, this is a very good substitute.

Quick Facts

Who wrote it: Ludo LeFebvre, with Krissy LeFebvre and J.J. Goode

Who published it: Ecco

Number of recipes: 90 recipes

Recipes for right now: Brocamole, Squid Pad Thai; Salmon, Somen Noodles, Raw Rainbow Carrots; Wild Striped Bass, Fennel Marmalade, Piment d'Espelette; Spicy Chocolate Mousse, Orange Oil; Greek Salad, Feta Mousse; Sallops, Baby Spinach, Curried Yogurt Sauce,

Other highlights: If you've always dreamed of owning a restaurant, take notes! This book will give you a glimpse at the behind the scenes from negotiating the lease to deciding to what to cook to dealing with patrons.

Who would enjoy this book? Chefs who are looking for inspiration on ways to put a new spin on their old favorites, anyone who's ever eaten at LudoBites (or wanted to eat at LudoBites), anyone who's ever dreamed of owning a restaurant, home cooks who are tired of the same old, same old, working parents who read Melissa Clark, Mark Bittman and Food52.

Find the book at your local library, independent bookstore, or Amazon: LudoBites: Recipes and Stories from the Pop-Up Restaurants of Ludo Lefebvre by Ludo Lefebvre

Squid Pad Thai

Ludo says: Back at LudoBites 4.0, I fell in love with the idea of gently-cooking squid and using it instead of the pasta in carbonara, in part to delight in people's initial confusion ("Wait, where's the squid?") and in part to witness their conversion to excitement ("Wait, this is squid!"). Yet this is LudoBites, so I didn't want to do carbonara again. Why not put to use my love of pad Thai? My version -- deconstructed, reimagined, and refined -- hits all the notes that make the original such a pleasure to eat.

Serves 4

Peanut Compound Butter
2 garlic cloves
3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1/3 cup toasted peanuts
1 stalk lemongrass, trimmed and tender inner part thinly sliced
1 fresh kaffir lime leaf, very finely chopped
3 tablespoons finely chopped peeled fresh galangal
3 tablespoons finely chopped peeled fresh ginger
2 teaspoons peanut oil
1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
a couple drops of pure coconut extract
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into pieces

Spicy Tofu Puree
4 ounces firm tofu, cubed
1/4 cup whole milk
2 dried Thai bird chiles, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
Kosher salt

Pad Thai Salad
12 seedless red grapes, thinly sliced
1 cup bean sprouts, washed
1/2 cup thinly julienned peeled black radish
2 green onions, thinly sliced on a sharp bias
4 large shrimp, peeled, deveined, and sliced into 1/4-inch-wide pieces
2 teaspoons peanut oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground white pepper to taste

Squid
2 tablespoons clarified butter or peanut oil
12 cleaned squid bodies, cut lengthwise into 1/4-inch-wide strips
Kosher salt and freshly ground white pepper, to taste
Ground dried Thai bird chiles for garnish (optional)

To make the peanut compound butter
Put the garlic in a small saucepan, add enough water to cover, and bring the water to a boil; drain. Repeat 2 more times.

Put the garlic in a small bowl and add the white wine vinegar and 3 tablespoons water. Cover and refrigerate for at least 3 hours, and up to 3 weeks.

Drain the garlic and add it to a food processor, along with the peanuts, lemongrass, kaffir lime leaf, galangal, ginger, peanut oil, coriander, cumin, and coconut extract.

Process to a paste, stopping the machine occasionally and scraping the bowl. Gradually blend in the butter.

To make the tofu puree
Blend the tofu, milk, and chiles in a blender until smooth. With the blender running on medium-high speed, slowly stream the xanthan gum into the vortex. Increase the
speed as needed to maintain the vortex and continue to blend until no vortex appears
on high speed. Season to taste with salt. transfer the tofu puree to a container,
cover, and refrigerate until cold, or for up to 1 week.

Just before serving, make the salad: combine all the ingredients in a medium bowl and toss well.

To prepare the squid
Melt the clarified butter in a heavy large saut pan over medium heat. Add the squid,
season with salt and pepper, and saut until the squid begins to turn opaque, about 45 seconds. Add 6 tablespoons of the peanut compound butter and toss until the butter melts and coats the squid, about 2 minutes.

To serve
Divide the squid and peanut sauce among four rimmed soup bowls. Top each with
a mound of the salad. Using a small metal spoon, scrape about 1 tablespoon of the
tofu puree onto the rim of each bowl. If desired, garnish the rims of the bowls with a
light sprinkling of ground thai chile.

Related: Chef Ludo's Magically Delicious Kitchen

(Images: Anne Fishbein; Wesley Wong of EatsMeetsWes, Squid Pad Thai by Kevin Eats)

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