Shrimp Pad Thai Noodles

Tasty with a balance of sweet, salty, tangy and spicy flavors. And an added bonus with complimenting textures from chewy flat rice noodles to crunchy peanuts.

Pad Thai is one of my favorite noodles to eat! The best part is, it's super easy to make on a busy week night! Here's my super easy recipe for you to enjoy. Don't shy away from the list of ingredients, it doesn't take long to prepare at all!

Here's a funny fact; I have found myself mostly ordering pad Thai at one of my favorite Phở restaurant! I don't know why they have it on the menu there, but they do! It's in the dry noodle section of their menu. So when my family wants to eat phở or a combo rice plate and I don't, I order pad Thai. We each get to eat what we want!

Pad Thai is commonly served as a street food and available in most restaurants in Thailand. This dish is super popular with tourist who vacation in Thailand. It is a dish composed of rice noodles that have been rehydrated, eggs, firm tofu, bean sprouts, garlic chives, peanuts, and proteins such as shrimp, chicken or pork. Then dressed in a salty, sweet, tangy tamarind and fish sauce.

My favorite part about pad Thai is the combination of flavors and textures! There's chewy noodles that soak up the tamarind fish sauce, fresh veggies, crunchy peanuts and chili flakes that adds flavor and a tiny heat that compliment the sweet and tangy tamarind sauce.

Notes: You can serve the bean sprouts uncooked on the side for an extra crunch. However, my family prefers sauté bean sprouts so I add them into the cooking pan a head of time.

{Ingredients} Serves 6-8

• 1 package of flat wide noodles

• 1 package bean sprouts

• 5-6 garlic cloves sliced

• 1/2 large onion sliced

• 1 cup garlic chives

• 2-3 scallions slice diagonally

• 7 oz fried tofu

• 4 eggs scrambled

• 4-6 tbsp tamarind concentrate

• 3 tbsp oyster sauce

• 3-4 tbsp fish sauce

• 4 tbsp brown sugar

• 1/4 tsp black pepper

• 1 lime

• Olive/Cooking Oil (varying amounts during different cooking stages)

{Method}

1. Begin by soaking the rice noodles in really warm water (not boiling) for 15-20 minutes. Drain and set aside.

2. Rinse bean sprouts and drain.

3. Slice lime into individual wedges.

4. Slice the onion into thin wedges.

5. Chop garlic chives into 2-inch pieces.

6. Slice scallions diagonally into small pieces.

7. Cut the tofu into halves and then into thinner pieces.

8. Prepare the eggs: add a sprinkle of salt and pepper. Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil to a pan and allow to warm up on medium-high heat. Scramble them till they are cooked. Set aside.

9. Make sauce for the noodles. In a bowl, combine tamarind concentrate, oyster sauce, fish sauce, and brown sugar. Mix till ingredients are incorporated.

10. Add 3 tablespoons olive oil to pan from earlier. Set heat to medium-high. Let oil heat up then add shrimp. Add 5 tablespoons of the Pad Thai sauce mixture. Mix around to coat shrimp. Add the black pepper. When shrimp turns opaque and curl, they are cooked. Set aside.

11. Add 3 tablespoons olive oil to pan. Set heat to medium-high. Add garlic and onions. Sauté for 4-5 minutes. Add bean sprouts. Give it a toss.

12. Add drained noodles, remaining sauce, 3-4 tablespoons olive or cooking oil, and mix well. Sauté for 5-minutes.

13. Add sliced tofu, the scrambled eggs, shrimp, and garlic chives. Mix well. Sauté for 5-minutes.

14. The pad Thai is done! Now dish it up and add garnishes like lime, cilantro, basil, scallions, chili flakes and peanuts! Enjoy!