Shrimp and Chicken Pad Thai

Pad Thai so good you wont need to live near a restaurant!

I have a love-hate relationship with pad thai. I feel like I’m a pretty good cook, but this dish has never turned out the way I wanted it to. Well I guess what they say is true, practice makes perfect. Finally I have found a process that works and a flavor that I love!

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 Ingredients: 

• 2.5 Tbsp tamarind paste or tamarind concentrate
• 3 Tbsp fish sauce
• 1 Tbsp seasoned rice vinegar
• 1 Tbsp ketchup
• 1 Tbsp lime juice
• 4 Tbsp dark muscovado sugar
• 3/4 Tbsp Sambal Oelek chili paste
• 1/4 cup water
• 4 Tbsp vegetable oil
• 8 ounces dried rice stick noodles ,  ( I like the smaller width ones, think linguine)
• 2 large eggs
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 8 ounces medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 1 large chicken breast
• 1 Tbsp of garlic, minced
• 2 medium sized carrots, julienned
• 1 medium shallot, minced (about 3 TB)
• 6 Tbsp chopped roasted unsalted peanuts
• 2 cups of bean sprouts
• 2 medium scallions (or sugar pea pods) cut diagonally for garnish
• Lime wedges for serving

Instructions:

First things first you’ll  want to heat up about a gallon of water on the stove top. Once bubbles being to form on the bottom (but it’s not boiling) remove the water from the heat. Pour it over your noodles that you have spread out on the bottom of a cake pan. 8 ounces is usually half of a package. Allow the noodles to soak according to the package directs which should be for about 30-45 minutes. Do this ahead of time!

After that you’ll want to dice up your chicken breast into small cubes, julienne your carrots, chop your peanuts, and have your shallot and garlic all ready to go. Next put your  minced shallot with about a tablespoon of oil in a very large pan (enough to hold all of the noodles). Once the shallots are are starting to brown add the minced garlic and stir continuously so that the garlic doesn’t burn. After about a minute add another tablespoon of oil to the pan and then add all of your chicken and stir to get the chicken coated with the oil, onions, and garlic.

In a separate bowl you’ll want to add your brown sugar, tamarind, lime, sambal oelek, ketchup, fish sauce, rice vinegar, 1/4 teaspoon of salt and about a 1/4 cup of water. Stir and have that read to go when you need it.

In a separate smaller frying pan I cooked all of my peeled and deveined shrimp with a little salt in about a tablespoon of oil. Cook for about 2 minutes on each side. When the shrimp are done remove them from the pan and add the two eggs that you have already scrambled with a little pinch of salt. Cooking them in the same pan lets them get a little of that shrimp flavor. Once the egg is done cooking set that aside as well.

When the chicken is cooked through, add your julienned carrots and give them about 3-4 minutes to soften up a bit. This next part is the tricky part and you’ll have to work quickly. Drain your noodles that you have been soaking. Then add your sauce into the the chicken pan. As soon as you add the sauce, also add the noodles and using a pair of large tongs begin tossing the noodles in the sauce. Keep stirring the noodles because they have a tendency to stick to the bottom of the pan very easily. The noodle will begin to absorb the sauce and start to look less stiff. If all of the liquid gets absorbed quickly you may need to add about a half a cup of water to keep the moist. It’s hard to describe how the noodles look when they are done so I would suggest to just keep tasting them until they are the doneness you desire. The will be soft and limp.

As soon as the noodles are done, toss in the bean sprouts and the scrambled egg and then remove from the heat onto a serving platter. Garnish with the chopped peanuts and either sliced green scallions or sliced sugar snap pea pods (or both).

Serves with the lime wedges so people can add a little extra tang to their pad thai. I saved the shrimp for last to garnish my pad thai with so that they wouldn’t get over cooked and everyone can have the same number of shrimp.

Happy eating!