Shrimp Pad Thai

Galley Wench's Note:

Pad Thai sauce is not always available, especially in Mexico, so I'm posting this recipe because it includes homemade sauce. Pad Thai sauce has a special quality, it's salty, sour, sweet and spicy. The recipe comes from The Gourmet Cookbook however I've made a few revisions.

• Total Time: 40 mins
• Prep Time: 20 mins
• Cook Time: 20 mins

Ingredients:

Yield: 4 Main Co ...

Sauce

• 1 cup boiling water
• 2 tablespoons tamarind paste (from a pliable block)
• 3 tablespoons fish sauce
• 3 tablespoons light brown sugar, packed (or palm sugar)
• 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Pad Thai

• 1 (7 ounce) package rice noodles, dried (fettuccine width)
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 6 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 3 small shallots, coarsely chopped
• 1/2 lb medium shrimp, peeled, deveined and cut into 1/2 inch pieces
• 1/2 lb tofu, patted dry and cut into 1/2 inch cubes (optional)
• 2 1/2 cups bean sprouts, rinsed and dried
• 8 scallions, quartered legthwise and cut crosswise into 1 inch pieces
• 4 tablespoons roasted peanuts, unsalted and crushed
• 1 1/2 teaspoons red pepper flakes (to taste)

Accompaniment

• lime wedge

Directions:

1. Rice Noodles:.
2. Place wide rice noodles in a bowl and pour in enough very warm (110°F) water to totally submerge the noodles; soak until they’re pliable but still rather firm, about 30 minutes.
3. Drain thoroughly and keep in bowl, tightly covred with plastic wrap.
4. Sauce (Can be made up to one day in advance; store in refrigerator):.
5. Pour boiling water into a bowl and add tamarind, stir and mash gently for 3 minutes to soften.
6. Pour mixture through a fine mesh sieve into a bowl, pressing hard on solids; discard solids.
7. Combine fish sauce, tamarind mixture, brown sugar, granulated sugar and salt in a small saucepan and heat over moderate heat, stirring until sugar is dissolved; 1 to 2 minutes.
8. Remove from heat and set aside.
9. Pad Thai:.
10. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in wok over moderate heat until hot but not smoking.
11. Add eggs and scramble until just cooked through, about 1 minute.
12. Transfer eggs to a bowl and tear into small pieces.
13. Heat remaining oil in wok over moderately high heat until just beginning to smoke.
14. Add garlic and shallots and stir-fry until just beginningto brown, about 1 minute.
15. Add shrimp and stir-fry for 1 minute, then add optional tofu and stir-fry until shrimp is just cooked through,about 2 minutes.
16. Transfer shrimp to bowl with eggs.
17. Heat wok over moderately high heat until hot.
18. Add tamarind sauce and bring to a boil.
19. Add drained rice noodles and stir-fry until tender and excess sauce is absorbed, 2 to 3 minutes.
20. Add egg and shrimp mixture, 1 1/2 cups bean sprouts, scallions, 2 tablespoon peanuts and red pepper flakes and toss well.
21. Place Pad Thai on a platter and top with remaining 1 cup bean sprouts and sprinkle with remaining 2 tablespoons peanuts.
22. Serve with lime wedges.

Reviews

[Debber]

Yowzah from the *Ya Ya Cookerhood* visiting *Countries of Asia*! Having never made this before, I perty much followed as written, but did skip the tamarind sauce (didn't have any)....we LOVED it anyway, and added more shrimpies and NO tofu! Made a believer out of me--move over Deborah (Kerr) and Yul (Brenner) of *The King and * I--will definitely be making again - KEEPER!

[The Wallaces]

We loved this! This was my first attempt at making Pad Thai and I was very pleased with the results. I was a little worried about the amount of fish sauce, but it did not overpower at all. I did not use tofu and next time would up the shrimp to 1 lb to make up for that. The only other thing I changed was to use 1/2 the amount of shallot and next time I think I would use even less, but that's just personal preference. Thanks for a delicious and quick recipe! Made for ZWT6.