Shrimp Pad Thai

This is one of the first recipes I made when I first started teaching myself how to cook and remains as one of my favorites. It is a touch pricier on the grocery bill due to the shrimp, and the large amount of components, but is a pleaser every time. It easily feeds four (or two with lots of leftovers!) and could feed five or six with smaller portion sizes (everyone will likely still feel plenty full).

 Shrimp Pad Thai

Prep Time: 15 minutes/Cook Time: 10 minutes

Serves: 3-4

8-10 oz. Pad Thai rice noodles (thin, flat linguini-like noodles)

2 eggs

2 cups bean sprouts

3-4 "heads" of baby bok choy chopped into bite-size pieces

2 spring onions, sliced

1/4 cup roughly chopped peanuts

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 lb cooked, deveined shrimp with tails off

oil for stir-frying (e.g. canola, almond, peanut, walnut, etc...)

PAD THAI SAUCE:

1/2 Tbsp. tamarind paste

3 Tbsp. water

2½ Tbsp. soy sauce

1-2 tsp. chili sauce

2 Tbsp. brown sugar

Directions:

Soak the noodles in hot water (but not boiling) for 10-15 minutes. Drain the noodles and rinse with cold water. Tip: Noodles are ready to stir-fry when they are soft enough to eat, but still firm and a little bit "crunchy". The noodles will finish cooking when they are fried, so don't over-soften them now, or you will end up with soggy Pad Thai.

While the noodles are soaking, prepare the sauce. Place all sauce ingredients in a sauce pan and bring to a soft boil. Stir well until the sugar and tamarind paste have dissolved and the sauce thickens (2-3 minutes). Take off the heat and taste-test. This sauce should have a balance of spicy, sweet, and sour, but definitely veering more toward sweet and spicy. If too sour, add a little more sugar. Reserve.

Beat the eggs. Heat a small skillet, add some oil, and quickly scramble the eggs. Reserve.

Place your wok (or large frying pan) over medium-high heat. Add 2-3 Tbsp. oil plus the garlic and baby bok choy. Stir-fry until the bok choy has turned bright green and the garlic is fragrant (1-2 minutes).

Add 1 Tbsp. more oil to the wok. Now add the drained noodles. Drizzle 1/3 of the sauce over the noodles and then stir-fry everything together for 1 minute.

Add a little more sauce and continue stir-frying in the same way for 1-2 more minutes, or until the noodles begin to soften and become sticky.

Depending on how many noodles you're using, you may need to add all the remaining sauce, or just a little more to achieve the flavor you desire. If you're not sure, taste-test as you go, adding more sauce as required.

Add the bean sprouts, egg, and shrimp. Stir-fry to incorporate everything together for 1 more minute.

Taste-test to make sure the noodles are done. Noodles are cooked to perfection when they are soft but still slightly chewy.

Remove from heat. Taste-test for salt, adding another sprinkling of vegetarian fish sauce or soy sauce if not salty enough. If you happen to over-salt your noodles, you can fix the problem with 1-2 Tbsp. lime juice.

To serve, scoop noodles onto a serving platter. Sprinkle with spring onion, coriander, and ground nuts. Serve immediately with more Thai chili sauce on the side (for those who like it extra spicy). Enjoy!