The recipe most typically uses prawns, although it can also be made with pork, chicken or beef. You can also try using fettuccine in place of rice noodles. The most difficult ingredient to find in the west is usually the garlic chives. These resemble spring onions, except that the stalks are flat rather than round and hollow. If you can’t find chives, you can use spring onions instead. Most recipes also call for a type of tofu that is semi-dried. In markets, they can appear to be discs of leather. As you’re unlikely to be able to find these, I’ve left them out.

(1 Serving)

Ingredients

Preparation Method

If using dried rice noodles, soak them in warm water for 2 to 3 minutes or until they’re soft and pliable. Drain the noodles and set aside.

Heat a wok over medium flame. Add 2 tablespoons of the vegetable oil and when hot stir-fry shallots and garlic until they are fragrant. Add the prawns and cook through. Add palm sugar, tamarind paste and fish sauce and stir-fry until softened slightly. Add the rice noodles and stir-fry until the noodles have absorbed the seasoning.

Push the mixture to one side. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil and when hot scramble the egg in the hot oil. When set, mix the egg in with the other cooked items. Add in the bean sprouts and green onions, and warm through.

Transfer the cooked noodles to a serving plate and sprinkle the ground peanuts and black pepper over the top. Serve with the garnish on the side or in separate bowls.

Tamarinds on sale in the market.

The ‘fruit’ of the tamarind tree is in the form of pods three to five inches long and slightly larger around than your finger. A single tree can produce 150 to 250 kilograms of pods each year. When fully ripe, the pods will be light green in color with a slightly velvety skin. They are then allowed to dry in the sun until the shell turns the color of milk chocolate. Like pea pods, the outer skin is easily split open to reveal several hard seeds surrounded by a sticky pulp. The pulp, and hopefully not too many seeds, is pressed together to form a paste that is purchased in markets for use in cooking many Thai dishes.

The tamarind tree originated in East Africa. It was spread east by traders to India and South-East Asia, where it has become an integral ingredient due to its sweet and sour taste. The trees can grow to be quite large, with feathery leaves similar to the decorative mimosa tree. Like the mimosa, the leaves will fold up at night.

The Ramayana, an epic fable on which much of Thai classical art is based, contains a passage explaining how the tamarind leaves got their serrated shape. The story surrounds an odyssey of Rama, the king of Ayodhya (a mythical kingdom that Thais incarnated in the old Siamese capital of Ayutthaya). At one point in the story, Rama is exiled in the forest. One of Rama’s generals, Laxmana, builds the king a hut using large, thick tamarind leaves. The leaves were so effective that not a drop of rain or ray of sunlight was able to enter the hut. Rama’s wife Sita was quite happy with the result, but the king was not. "Living in the forest means facing the elements and not sheltering from them. That is what vanavaas really means. We are too secure. Too comfortably protected." The king protested.

Laxmana laughed and said, "There is no need to remove the leaves." He then shot his arrows through the leaves until they were shredded and sunlight streamed in. Since then, tamarind leaves have been serrated, or so the legend goes.

Tamarind contains a fair amount of potassium and phosphorous. It is one of the main ingredients in Worcestershire sauce, which can be used as a substitute for tamarind juice in some recipes. Curiously, tamarind has also been recommended as a polish for brass and copper.

The word tamarind is derived from the Arab name for the tree, which translates to "Indian date." Oddly, although the tree originated in Africa, it was sent from India to Cairo, then on to Alexandria and into Europe.

Substitutes for Tamarind Paste

Tamarind paste can be hard to come by outside of Thailand. If you just can’t find it at all, you can try running some golden raisins through a food processor. The result is very close in texture and just a bit sweeter than the real thing.