Pad Thai from my Kitchen- I Think I am in Love

When asked what my favorite food is, hands down is Pad Thai.  This is a fabulous noodle dish with scallions, peanuts, shrimp and egg.  If you have never had it, please do yourself a favor and head over to your local Thai Restaurant and pick some up.  Or just make this recipe below- it is equally as easy!

Each and every time I got out to a restaurant that serves Pad Thai I am physically unable to order anything else off that menu- yes it is that good.  I am sure that there are tons of other wonderful dishes on those menus, but until now I have seldom tried a single one (except maybe a taste off of my husbands fork).  Since this is a dish I had never attempted to make at home, it was always an exciting treat I could never pass up.  But there is also something about Pad Thai that I absolutely crave.  I could probably eat it every week and still not tire of it.  So when Scott got me this new cookbook, The Steamy Kitchen by Jaden Hair for Christmas I was super excited to see she had a recipe for it that seemed insanely easy.  I knew that had to be the first recipe I tried out of it!

Jaden Hair is such a cool lady.  She started off just as a home-cook who created her food blog as a place to hold all of the recipes her mother recited to her over the telephone.  At the same time she taught a cooking class at a local cooking school and slowly started combining the two.  Her blog became so popular she finally developed her recipes into a cookbook.  And what a great one it is!  She doesn't feel that Asian cooking needs to be difficult, and that you can make any of these recipes in the same amount of time it takes to drive to your local take-out.  OK, I'm in!!

Shrimp Pad Thai

Please excuse my crummy picture.  I was having problems with my lighting!  Please check out the link to her cookbook.  A great picture of the dish is on the cover.  

Ingredients

Pad Thai Sauce 

**Some of these ingredients might be new to you, but they are easy to find.  I have found all of these ingredients at Heinen's, Giant Eagle or depending on your location, Marc's

4 tablespoons pad thai paste

2 teaspoons tamarind paste/concentrate

3 tablespoons fish sauce

3 teaspoons sugar

2/3 cup water

2-4 teaspoons Asian chilli sauce (preferably Sriracha) or 1-2 teaspoons Asian chilli powder or ground red pepper 

Pad Thai Noodles

8 oz dried rice noodles (medium thickness)

3 tablespoons high-heat cooking oil

2 eggs, slightly beaten

1 lb peeled, deveined raw shrimp

1 tablespoon finely minced garlic

4 green onions (scallions), cut into lengths

1 cup fresh bean sprouts

1 lime, cut into 8 wedges

1/2 cup coarsely chopped unsalted dry roasted peanuts

Directions
Soak the rice noodles in hot water (just from the tap) for about 10-15 minutes or until they soften. (Do NOT over cook.  Otherwise they will turn into a soggy, clumpy mess)

Combine the ingredients for the Pad Thai sauce in a bowl.

Check back on the noodles.  They are sufficiently soaked when they are flexable but still a bit stiff.  Drain them and set aside.

In a wok or large saute pan over high heat, add just one tablespoon of the oil.  When the oil is very hot, add the beaten eggs and swirl gently while it sets.  Use your spatula to scramble the eggs and then remove from the wok.

Wipe down wok with a paper towel, return to high heat and add the minced garlic and do a few quick stirs. Add shrimp into the wok and stir until half cooked (if desired you can add chicken and firm tofu pieces), noodles and Pad Thai sauce into the wok and stir continuously. Add bean sprouts and chives into the wok, stir for 1 minute. Cover and let simmer until the noodles are soft and cooked through, about 1-2 minutes.  Check at the 1 minute mark and if the noodles are still a bit stiff, cover and cook another minute.  The noodles should have soaked up a lot of the sauce, and you should have a combination of sweet, salty and a little heat and a zing of tartness.  Dish out, sprinkle some peanuts on top and serve with a wedge of lime.

This dish was absolutely amazing!  It came out perfect- just like at our favorite Thai Restaurant, Charm Thai.  Only better because I made it myself!  Scott and I gave this recipe a full 5 stars.  Now I can start ordering all those other wonderful dishes on those menus!  Why don't you make it for dinner tonight?