Pad Thai Tamagoyaki - a Thai-Japanese Fusion Canapé - LinsFood

We are aiming to make 3 omelettes, with each omelette giving us 4 portions.
Grease a 22cm (9in) frying pan and fry 3 omelettes in batches. The frying pan measurements are approximate and it doesn’t have to be a square or rectangular one like in the picture.
vegetable oil as necessary
Make the omelettes in the usual way.
6 eggs, 1 pinch salt
Set them aside on a plate as we make the noodles.

Let’s make the sauce first.
Put the sauce ingredients and half the chilli flakes into a saucepan and bring to a gentle simmer. Taste it (yep, you’ll get used to it!) and adjust the seasoning accordingly. You are going for a hot, sour and slightly sweet flavour.
Don’t put too much chilli in at once. If you don’t have palm sugar, use white sugar.
That’s it, it’s done!
50 ml fish sauce, 50 ml tamarind juice, ¼-½ tsp chilli flakes, 1 pinch chilli powder, 2 tsp palm sugar
Now the actual noodles. If using dried noodles, follow the instructions on the packet on how to soften them. This usually involves soaking them in warm water for about 10 minutes or so. Undersoak rather than Oversoak (see Handy Hints above).
The hotter the water, the less time you need.
150 g fresh rice noodles or equivalent dried
Heat the oil in a large frying pan or medium wok over medium heat and fry the garlic for 30 seconds.
1 tsp vegetable or peanut oil, 1 small clove garlic
Add the beansprouts and half the pad thai sauce and cook for a minute. We need the beansprouts to be soft for easy rolling.
1 handful beansprouts
Add the noodles and the rest of the pad thai sauce and keep stirring to cook the noodles for one minute.
Turn the heat off and place on a cool hob to stop the noodles from overcooking.
Sprinkle the spring onions/scallions and dried shrimp floss all over and mix right through. Leave until cool enough to handle.
2 blades spring onions, 1 tsp dried shrimp

Heat the oil in a frying pan over a fairly high heat, until almost smoking but not quite.
1 tsp peanut or vegetable oil
Add the prawns (in 2 batches if your pan isn’t large enough). We are searing the prawns and want them to char; if the pan is overcrowded, you will be steaming/stewing your prawns instead.
12 large prawns/shrimps, ⅛ tsp salt, freshly ground black pepper, juice of ½ a lime
Cook the prawns for about a minute on each side. Keep aside.

We will be making 3 tamagoyaki rolls (omelette rolls) with the noodles as filling.
Place one omelette onto a clean work surface or large plate.
Take about one third of the noodles and place them on the omelette, about a third of the way up from you. Make sure the noodles are in a cylindrical shape, like a thin sausage.
Lift the end closest to you and roll it over the noodles, tucking the omelette under to make tight and neat bundles.
Keep rolling until the end and place the tamagoyaki with the folded edge down.
Take a clean sharp knife and cut off the two ends to get flat ends.
Tip:
Wipe the knife with a paper towel before each new cut, so you won’t be smearing the tamagoyaki.
Cut your roll up into 4 little bundles and set aside; they can be placed on their cut side and should be pretty sturdy.
Repeat with the other 2 omelettes and the rest of the noodles.

Choose your serving dish, 12 side plates will work perfectly. Place a roll on each plate.
Take a toothpick, you will probably have to cut it slightly to size. Spear each prawn almost all the way, with the sharp end of the toothpick. It doesn’t want to go right through.
12 toothpicks
Push the other end of the toothpick into the centre of the rolls. The prawns will be upright on the roll.
Repeat with the rest of the prawns and rolls.
Place the thinly cut limes alongside each roll, scatter the chopped peanuts and coriander all over and serve.
Each diner can squeeze the lime over their amuse-bouche if they wish.
1-2 Tbsp roasted peanuts, fresh coriander leaves, 1 lime

Pad Thai Tamagoyaki - a Thai-Japanese Fusion Canapé