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4.60 from 5 votes

Inquiring Chef's Pad Thai

Serves 2
Prep Time20 minutes
Cook Time10 minutes
Total Time30 minutes
Servings: 2
Author: Jess Smith via Inquiring Chef

Ingredients

  • 2.5 oz extra thin “rice stick” noodles (when gathered tightly together, the ends of the noodles should be about the diameter of an American quarter)
  • 2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced (or 1 Tbsp. whole cloves thai garlic, including peels, crushed)
  • 3 Tbps. extra firm tofu, sliced into small rectangular pieces about 1-inch long
  • 8 raw shrimp, peeled and de-veined, tails intact
  • 1 cup bean sprouts
  • 8 green onions, cut into 1-inch slices
  • 2 Tbsp. cilantro, finely chopped
  • juice squeezed from 1/2 of a lime
  • 2 tsp. fish sauce
  • 2 Tbsp. peanuts, finely chopped
  • 1 Tbsp. sweet pickled radish or turnip
  • 2 tsp. palm sugar (can substitute 1 and 1/2 tsp. granulated or light brown sugar)
  • 1 Tbsp. tamarind paste
  • 1 egg

Instructions

  • Place noodles in a flat-bottomed baking dish or pan and cover with room temperature water. Allow to noodles soak in water for 10 minutes. Do not soak the noodles longer than 10 minutes – they should be tender but not soft enough to eat. Drain and set aside. While noodles are soaking, prepare other ingredients and set them next to the stove.
  • Add oil and garlic to a wok and turn on heat to medium-high. When garlic starts to sizzle, add tofu, shrimp, sprouts, green onions and cilantro. Stir ingredients gently and continue cooking until shrimp are pink, about 2 minutes.
  • Add lime juice, fish sauce, peanuts, radish, sugar, tamarind paste and noodles to the wok. Stir ingredients continuously to combine liquids and coat all ingredients in sauce. Cook until noodles soften and begin to caramelize on the bottom of the wok, 3-4 minutes.
  • Push noodles to one side of the wok and crack egg into wok. Gently scramble egg until just cooked through. Stir all ingredients together and remove wok from heat. Serve immediately, garnished with lime wedges, crushed peanuts and sprouts.