SHRIMP PAD THAI (Thai stir-fried noodles, for four)
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“Thai-Chinese cooking is a popular and distinct cuisine, originating from the large Chinese migrant community in Bangkok’s Chinatown, that blends traditional Thai flavors with Chinese cooking techniques and ingredients. It is characterized by the use of a wok for stir-frying, diverse aromatics, and sauces balancing sweet, sour, and salty tastes. Key ingredients include Thai chili, palm sugar, fish sauce, and coconut milk, along with Chinese elements like black soy sauce and dried shrimp, resulting in dishes like pad Thai and savory olive pork.” Wikipedia AI
While still called rice sticks, the noodles used for pad Thai are flat and about ¼ inch wide.
7 ounces dried flat rice stick noodles
3 tablespoons tamarind pulp
3 tablespoons palm sugar or light brown sugar
2 tablespoons nam pla (Thai fish sauce)
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 tablespoon Thai chili powder
7 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 eggs, lightly beaten
3 small shallots, peeled and sliced
2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
6 ounces medium shrimp, peeled with tail intact and deveined
2 ounces smoked or fresh firm tofu, diced
2 tablespoons tiny dried shrimp
half bunch Chinese chives or 4 scallions, green part only, cut into 2 inch pieces
¼ cup chopped pickled turnips (optional)
1-½ cups bean sprouts
¼ cup roasted unsalted peanuts, chopped
1 lime, quartered
- Soak noodles in a large bowl of hot water until pliable, about 15 minutes. Drain and set aside. Dissolve tamarind pulp in 1 cup water in a small bowl, then strain through a sieve into a medium bowl, pressing on pulp with the back of a spoon to push most of it through. Discard seeds. Stir sugar, fish sauce, vinegar and chili powder into tamarind liquid and set sauce aside.
- Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a small nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add eggs and swirl around skillet to form an even layer. Cook until set on one side, about 1 minute, then turn and cook on other side until set, about 20 seconds more. Transfer omelette to a cutting board, thinly slice and set aside.
- Heat remaining 6 tablespoons oil in a wok or large skillet over high heat. Add shallots and garlic and stir-fry until soft, about 10 seconds. Add medium shrimp and stir-fry for 10 seconds. Add tofu, dried shrimp, chives, turnips, half the bean sprouts, half the peanuts, the noodles, the sliced omelette and the reserved sauce and stir-fry, tossing constantly, until noodles absorb most of the sauce and sauce thickens, 2 to 3 minutes. Garnish each serving with the remaining bean sprouts and peanuts and serve with limes.
from Bangkok’s Thip Samai restaurant, a street stall facing the Ratchanatda Buddhist Temple, printed in Saveur Magazine
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PAD THAI RICE STICK NOODLES, THAI CHILE POWDER