Try this Shrimp Pad Thai recipe, or contribute your own.
- 1 egg
- 3 tablespoons brown sugar
- 3 tablespoons canola oil
- 1 cup fresh bean sprouts
- 8 ounces uncooked flat rice noodles (i prefer the red noodl
- 2 1/2 tablespoons lower-sodium soy sauce
- 3 tablespoons fish sauce
- 1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
- 1 tablespoon sriracha (chili garlic sauce)
- 1 cup (2-inch) green onion pieces
- 8 ounces peeled and deveined large shrimp
- 5 garlic cloves minced
- 1/4 cup chopped unsalted dry-roasted peanuts
- 3 tablespoons thinly sliced fresh basil
- Carbohydrate 77.1139976660765 g
- Cholesterol 132.714 mg
- Fat 17.561402734379 g
- Fiber 2.96276560062923 g
- Protein 19.8025726576542 g
- Saturated Fat 2.04178593750097 g
- Serving Size 1 1 (253g)
- Sodium 1665.69458024197 mg
- Sugar 74.1512320654473 g
- Trans Fat 0.891986210938613 g
- Calories 543 calories
Step-by-step
- Bring a pot of water to boil and remove from the heat.
- Drop in the rice noodles and soak for 3-4 minutes until they are limp, but firm. The noodles will be under cooked at this point so that when you fry them later they will become ‘al dente.’
- Drain and rinse the noodle with cold water and set aside.
- Combine the brown sugar, soy sauce, fish sauce, lime juice and sriracha to make your pad thai sauce. Set aside.
- Heat a wok or large skillet over medium high heat. Add the canola oil and turn to coat the pan. Add the green onion and shrimp and stir fry about 2 minutes or until the shrimp is slightly pink but still a bit under cooked.
- Push them to the side and add the egg, stir frying for 30 seconds to a minute or until done. Mix the egg, onion and shrimp.
- Add the noodles to the pan and add the sauce, about ½ at a time, allowing the noodles to soak it up and the pan to go dry and then add ½ more. Repeat until the sauce is gone and the noodles begin to get glossy and taste chewy.
- Serve 1 cup of noodles/shrimp with ⅛ cup of bean sprouts, 1 tablespoon of peanuts and 2 teaspoons of basil.
Fish sauce provides the foundational umami backbone of this dish, supplying free glutamate molecules that amplify every savory element in the skillet. Developed through centuries of coastal fermentation practices in Southeast Asia, this amber liquid bridges the gap between the subtle sweetness of shrimp and the pungent bite of garlic. While traditionally prepared over roaring charcoal burners in an authentic cast-iron wok, a wide stainless steel skillet retains enough heat to yield comparable results on standard domestic stovetops.
- Soak the flat rice noodles in off-boiling water for exactly three to four minutes to stop them from oversoftening before they hit the pan.
- Maintain medium-high heat when stir-frying the shrimp, removing them the moment they turn partially pink to prevent rubbery protein fibers from forming.
- Add the prepared sauce incrementally, allowing the liquid to completely evaporate and concentrate before pouring in the next portion.
Stir-frying relies on rapid thermal transfer to cook delicate seafood without releasing excessive moisture. Success depends entirely on high heat management and proper pre-portioning of liquid elements.
