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Shrimp pad thai with scrambled egg, peanuts, bean sprouts and lime

Shrimp Pad Thai, Protein Edition

Pad thai with the shrimp and egg quantities turned up, a real tamarind sauce, and the two batch method that actually works on a home stove.
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Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Servings: 4 servings
Calories: 600
Ingredients Method

Ingredients
  

  • 500 g large shrimp, peeled and deveined about 1.1 lb
  • 250 g dried flat rice noodles 3 to 5 mm wide
  • 4 eggs
  • 3 tbsp tamarind paste see notes, brands vary wildly
  • 3 tbsp fish sauce
  • 3 tbsp brown sugar palm sugar if you have it
  • 3 tbsp neutral oil divided
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 shallot, thinly sliced
  • 2 cups bean sprouts plus extra to serve raw
  • 4 garlic chives or scallions, cut in 4 cm lengths
  • 40 g roasted peanuts, roughly crushed about 1/3 cup
  • 1 lime, in wedges

Method
 

  1. Soak the noodles in warm tap water for 20 to 30 minutes until pliable but still firm, then drain. Do not boil them. They finish cooking in the pan, and boiled noodles turn to mush the second they hit the sauce.
  2. Stir the tamarind, fish sauce, and sugar in a small pan over low heat until the sugar dissolves. Taste it. It should be sour first, then salty, then sweet. Adjust until it is.
  3. Pat the shrimp dry. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a wok or your largest skillet over high heat until smoking, sear the shrimp about 90 seconds per side, and remove.
  4. Now cook in two batches, and this is the part that matters. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil, add half the garlic and shallot for 30 seconds, then half the noodles and half the sauce. Toss for about 2 minutes until the noodles absorb the sauce.
  5. Push the noodles to one side, crack in 2 eggs, scramble until half set, then toss through the noodles. Add half the shrimp, sprouts, and chives, toss 30 seconds, and plate.
  6. Repeat with the second batch. It takes 5 extra minutes and is the difference between pad thai and noodle soup.
  7. Top with crushed peanuts and serve with lime wedges and raw sprouts.