Paad Thai - Shrimp (Stir-Fried Thai Noodles)

Submitted by PanNan

"I attended a cooking class with chef Poolsin Krisananuwatara and this is one of the dishes we made. It was delicious."

 

• Ready In: 1hr
• Ingredients: 17
• Serves: 6

ingredients

• 1 (8 ounce) package rice noodles (the wider ones, about the width of fettucine noodles)
• 4 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 lbs fresh shrimp, shelled and deveined
• 4 eggs, beaten
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1 (8 ounce) package fried tofu, sliced thin
• 1⁄4 cup chopped preserved white radish, rinsed to remove excess saltiness (optional)
• 1 lb bean sprouts
• 10 green onions, cut 2-inch long
• 1⁄2 cup unsalted peanuts, chopped fine (or use food processor)
• 2 teaspoons chili flakes (to taste)
• 6 lemon wedges

• SAUCE

• 8 tablespoons tamarind juice (or substitute vinegar)
• 6 tablespoons fish sauce
• 8 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 1⁄2 teaspoons paprika

directions

1. Soak the rice noodles in hot water to cover, for at least 30 minutes. Drain and set aside. Prepare all the remaining ingredients to be ready to cook.
2. Make the sauce - combine the tamarind juice (or vinegar), fish sauce,brown sugar, and paprika in a small saucepan. Stir and heat over medium heat until it starts to boil, then lower the heat and simmer the sauce for 10 minutes. Taste for the proper balance of sweet/sour/salty, and adjust if necessary. Set aside.
3. Heat 1 tbsp oil in large wok or non-stick skillet. Add eggs and scramble them. Remove eggs and set them aside when just done.
4. Heat 1 tbsp oil in the wok or skillet and saute shrimp with 2 tbsp of the sauce. Remove and set aside as soon as the shrimp are pink (about 2 minutes).
5. Heat 1 tbsp oil in the wok or skillet and saute onion and garlic, adding about 2 tbsp sauce. Add noodles, stir well, adding more sauce to keep the noodles moist. If noodles become too dry, sprinkle with some water. Remove noodles and set aside.
6. Heat 1 tbsp oil in the wok or skillet and saute fried tofu, preserved white radish, and 1 tsp chile flakes (or to taste). Add remaining sauce. Return noodles to pan with tofu mixture. Taste again, and adjust. Add cooked shrimp, bean sprouts, green onion, and scrambled egg. Lift and turn the noodles a few times to mix.
7. Serve on the plate with a lemon wedge, and top with chopped peanuts, and a few chile flakes.

Reviews

[LifeIsGood]

We really enjoyed this version of Pad Thai. The sauce was very different than what I usually make, but we thought it was very good. All of the ingredients came together to create a delicious meal. Thank you!

 

[amid9603]

Very tasty, and fairly easy! I switched out 4 boneless, skinless chicken thighs for the shrimp and, since I had no peanuts handy, substituted 2 tbsp of peanut butter for 2 tbsp of the brown sugar. I thought the noodles would be too long, but they broke up perfectly in the final stir-fry. We did chili flakes to order because I'm hoping my toddler will enjoy it too, and it was very satisfying. I thought the fish sauce was going to be too much, but it was perfect.

 

[Laouli]

PanNan, you have delivered another good recipe to save! I have made Pad Thai one other time before and the recipe was much different from this one. I did leave out the Tofu as I do not like it.. and I mistakenly bought thine rice noodles by mistake.. none the less the flavor turned out good.. I think the only think differently I might do next time is somehow get more ppeanut flavor into the actual dish. perhaps with a tad bit of peanut butter or adding some finely chopped peanuts added during cooking.. I will definitely be trying this again. Made for Spring PAC 2009, thanks again!

 

[Rhiannon and Matt]

Absolutely delicious!! The only reason we didn't give it 5 stars is because we substituted & left out a few things depending on what we had on hand... Rice wine vinegar for the tamarind, and there was only 3 tbsp of oyster sauce left in the only bottle of anything fishy we had, so that had to do :)( I think it's flavour is stronger than fish sauce, so it worked out well). We used less shrimp, tofu & bean sprouts and added some red & yellow capsicum & used bok choi instead of radishes. We made this dish together after a trip to the market & there were hearty congratulations all-round when we first tasted it, followed by about 15mins of silence, interrupted by moans of satisfaction as we ate! :D Thanks for sharing PanNan. It's a winner and we'll be happy to make it again for guests.

 

[Zero7337]

This was great! It took me a while to make and I had issues with the noodles (they ended up being more like noodle balls...) but it was still really good. I will cook it again soon!