Shrimp Pad Thai

On nights when I'm too beat to cook, we order in. Chris usually suggests Thai first. Which I probably say "ok" to probably about 25% of the time. It's not because I don't like Thai, I really do, sometimes I just need other options. A gal needs options - what can I say?

When we do order Thai, we are creatures of habit. I usually order one of two dishes, green veggie curry with brown rice or veggie pad gra pow with brown rice. Chris usually orders some sort of pad thai or drunken noodle.  So when I came across this recipe on food52.com I knew I had to make it.  Although I had to substitute one of the ingredients it still worked and even the left overs were eaten!

This recipe is a lot of prep and really just a limited amount of cooking. If you can prepare all the ingredients ahead of time I think it would make for a really quick dinner to actually cook. Maybe even faster than takeout.



Ingredients (via food52.com)

• 3 tablespoons fish sauce
• 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 4 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1-2 tablespoon tamarind concentrate ( I couldn't find this so I substituted worcestershire sauce)
• 8 ounces thick rice noodles (like these)
• 2 eggs
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 pound medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 shallot, minced
• 1 jalapeno, seeded and minced
• small handful honey roasted peanuts, chopped
• small handful cilantro, chopped

Make it like food52.com!

1. In a small bowl, combine the fish sauce, rice vinegar, sugar, 2 tablespoons oil, and tamarind concentrate. Stir until sugar is dissolved and set aside.
2. Soak the rice noodles in hot tap water for about 20 minutes, or until they start to soften but not fully tender. Drain and set aside.
3. Beat the eggs with a pinch of salt in a small bowl and set aside. (There's lots of things to set aside, aren't there? Makes it easier in the end because the cooking of this dish is fairly quick)
4. In a large skillet or wok, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil under high heat for about 2 minutes. Add the shrimp and season with salt and pepper. Cook for about 2 to 3 minutes, or until the shrimp start to turn pink with browned edges. Remove shrimp and set aside.
5. Add remaining 1 tablespoon of oil to skillet. Add garlic, shallot, and jalapeno. Cook over medium heat and stir continuously for about 1 minute. Add eggs to skillet and stir vigorously with a wooden spoon until scrambled, about 30 seconds. Add the rice noodles and toss with tongs to combine. Pour the tamarind/fish sauce mixture over the noodles and increase the heat to high, continuing to toss the ingredients with the sauce.
6. Add 1/2 of the chopped peanuts and cooked shrimp. Toss noodles for about 2 more minutes.
7. Dish out onto hot plates and top with remaining peanuts and garnish with cilantro.