Noodles & Rice · Southeast Asian

Pad Thai

Name: Pad Thai
Total time: 35 min
Yield: 2
Ingredients: 6 oz rice noodles (dried, 3mm flat sticks); 3 tbsp tamarind paste (concentrate); 3 tbsp palm sugar (chopped); 2 ½ tbsp fish sauce; 2 tbsp water (hot); 3 tbsp vegetable oil; 2 tbsp shallots (thinly sliced); 3 clove garlic (minced); 1 tbsp dried shrimp (rinsed, roughly chopped); 1 tbsp preserved sweet radish (chopped); 3 oz tofu, firm (cubed small); 5 oz shrimp (peeled, deveined); 2 unit eggs; 1 ½ cup bean sprouts; ½ cup garlic chives (cut in 2-inch lengths); 3 tbsp peanuts (roasted, coarsely crushed); 1 unit lime (wedges)

17 ingredients · 35 minutes · 2 servings

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932kcal39.6g protein35.2g fat118.3g carbs~$4.34/ serving*

PescatarianNo porkNo alcohol

Contains: egg, peanut, soy, shellfish, fish · May contain: gluten

Ingredients

Servings:

6 oz	rice noodles (dried, 3mm flat sticks)
3 tbsp	tamarind paste (concentrate)
3 tbsp	palm sugar (chopped)
2 ½ tbsp	fish sauce
2 tbsp	water (hot)
3 tbsp	vegetable oil
2 tbsp	shallots (thinly sliced)
3 clove	garlic (minced)
1 tbsp	dried shrimp (rinsed, roughly chopped)
1 tbsp	preserved sweet radish (chopped)
3 oz	tofu, firm (cubed small)
5 oz	shrimp (peeled, deveined)
2 unit	eggs
1 ½ cup	bean sprouts
½ cup	garlic chives (cut in 2-inch lengths)
3 tbsp	peanuts (roasted, coarsely crushed)
1 unit	lime (wedges)
1 tsp	chili powder (Thai roasted, ground)optional
1 tsp	sugaroptional
½ cup	bean sprouts (raw, to serve)optional

Method

rest25 min
warm tap water, off heat
rice noodles submerged until they bend around a finger but still snap when bitten — drain hard. Fully soft noodles have already spent the starch that lets them drink the sauce, and they will shred under the toss
mix4 min
gentle heat until the sugar dissolves
tamarind paste + palm sugar + fish sauce + hot water = the sauce, thin as maple syrup. Taste it now and fix it now: sour first, then sweet, then salty, in that order. Once the pan is loaded there is no window to adjust, and this syrup is the entire flavour of the dish
saute3 min
high, wok or wide skillet
oil + shallots + garlic + dried shrimp + preserved radish, until the shallots go translucent and the dried shrimp perfume the oil — this is the savoury base the sauce sits on, and it takes 30 seconds of inattention to burn the garlic bitter
saute3 min
high, undisturbed then tossed
+ tofu cubes, left still until they brown on one face, then + shrimp, tossed only until they curl and turn opaque — pull the shrimp to the pan edge so they stop cooking
fry1.5 min
high, pan cleared to one side
push everything to the rim, oil the bare metal, + eggs cracked in and broken up once they set at the edges. Scrambling them loose in the middle of the solids instead coats the noodles in egg and makes the whole dish taste of omelette
mix3 min
high, constant tossing
+ drained noodles + sauce poured down the hot pan side so it hisses and thickens on contact. Toss with tongs, lifting rather than stirring, until every strand is amber and no liquid pools — if it looks wet the noodles have not finished absorbing, and adding more sauce here makes them gummy
mix1 min
heat off
+ bean sprouts + garlic chives, folded through the residual heat only, so they stay squeaky and raw-crisp against the soft noodles
top1 min
plate in loose nests + crushed peanuts + lime wedges + chili powder at the table — the lime is squeezed by the eater, not the cook, because the acid dulls within a minute of hitting hot noodles