Every once in a great while, I get a food wish from someone
I admire and respect so much that I just can’t say no. This “Pad Thai” popcorn
recipe was their latest request, and as always, I was more than thrilled to
make this very influential person’s snack dream come true. Who is this mystery
foodie? Me!
I was channel surfing late one night, and caught the very tail
end of a show featuring a hot spot in Charleston, SC, called The Gin Joint. The
theme was unique bar eats, and the host was talking about something called,
“Pad Thai” popcorn. What was that?
I heard those words, and saw maybe five seconds of footage
of what looked like caramel corn in a basket, and that was it. Frustrated, but
quite excited, I jumped online to find the bar’s website, and hopefully the
recipe. Nothing.
There were a few links with people talking about it, and a
couple cell pictures, but no actual official recipe to be found. So, I decided
to give myself a food wish – figure out how to recreate this
extraordinary-sounding snack. I decided to simply fortify a standard caramel
corn recipe with peanuts, lime, hot chilies, fish sauce, and cilantro.
Maybe it was beginner’s luck, or the collective
consciousness of all the poor souls who’ve tasted that popcorn and desperately
wished they could make it at home, but it came out incredibly well. Crispy,
crunchy, sweet, spicy, aromatic, and awesome! You know I’m a fan of the
hyperbole, but it’s with all sincerity that I say, this may be the greatest
caramel popcorn-related snack breakthrough since balls.