Sarah's Spicy Pad Thai
This dish, typically associated with Thailand, requires quite a bit of effort to prepare, but it is well worth it. This is an especially nice dish to prepare if you've got some help in the kitchen as the preparation isn't terribly complicated - just lengthy. Originally served as part of: Sarah's Spicy Pad Thai.
- Pad Thai (March 25, 2002)
- Thai-Style Chicken Stir-Fried Noodles (September 16, 2002)
Ingredients
- 12 ounces Thai rice noodles (Trader Joe's)
- 10 cloves garlic
- 2 large shallots
- 1 medium thin red chile pepper
- 1/2 cup frozen, roasted and unsalted peanuts (Trader Joe's)
- 4 tablespoons grocery-store fish sauce
- 2 tablespoons dark soy sauce
- 4 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 3 tablespoons dark brown sugar (firmly packed)
- 3 large eggs
- 1 pound jumbo uncooked frozen shrimp (Trader Joe's) ( pre-peeled and cleaned, tail-on)
- 3 tablespoons canola oil (divided)
- 2 cups fresh mung bean sprouts (picked over and rinsed)
- 4 medium scallions (trimmed and chopped into 1/2 inch pieces)
- 1 lime (cut into wedges)
- red pepper flakes
- 1/4 cup cilantro (washed and dried)
Instructions
We begin by heating a large pot of water for the rice noodles and pre-heating the oven to 350 degrees.
Meanwhile we prep the ingredients. We want everything ready for the stir-fry in about an hour. We mince our shallots and garlic, yielding 1/2 cup and 3 tablespoons respectively, and place in another bowl. We slit our red chile and using a spoon seed it. We cut the chile into small pieces and place them in the bowl with the shallots and garlic. We put the frozen peanuts on a foil-lined cookie sheet and bake for 3 minutes. We remove to cool.
We mix the fish sauce, soy sauce, rice vinegar and brown sugar in a medium bowl for the sauce. We lightly beat our eggs in another bowl. We place our peanuts in a resealable plastic bag and gently crush with the smooth side of a meat mallet. Then we put these into a bowl. We also have bowls for our bean sprouts, scallions, and cilantro.
When the water is boiling, we add the rice noodles and cook for 4 minutes, according to the package directions. We drain them in a colander and rinse with cold water. We set the colander aside and rinse out the pot for use for the stir-fry.
In another colander, we defrost our shrimp under cold running water for 5 minutes according to the package directions. We drain and let sit for another 5 minutes. We remove the tails and chop each shrimp in half.
In our clean and dry pot, we heat a tablespoon of oil over medium heat. When it is hot, we add the eggs and cook for a minute or so until they are set but not browned. We remove the eggs from the pot and place in a clean bowl.
We heat the remaining oil in the pot over medium heat and add the shallots, garlic, and chopped chile pepper. We stir-fry for a minute, add the shrimp, and raise the heat to medium-high. We stir-fry for about 3 or 4 minutes - we want the shrimp to be pink and almost cooked through. We remove the shrimp and vegetables to a clean bowl (we don't want to overcook the shrimp).
We quickly rinse the cooked noodles again and drain. We then add the rice noodles and 3/4 of the sauce to the empty pot still on medium-high heat. We toss these around to heat. Next we add the bean sprouts and scallions to the rice noodle pot. We cook for a few minutes, tossing often. When the noodles and veggies are hot, we add the shrimp, cooked eggs and the rest of the sauce, and stir.
We serve the shrimp-noodle dish with a squeeze of lime and sprinkled with the peanuts, red pepper flakes, and cilantro.
Ingredients
- ½ cup frozen roasted unsalted peanuts (Trader Joe's)
- 10 cloves garlic
- 2 large shallots
- 1 medium thin red chile
- 4 tbsp fish sauce
- 2 tbsp dark soy sauce
- 4 tbsp rice vinegar
- 3 tbsp dark brown sugar (firmly packed)
- 3 large eggs
- 2 cups fresh mung bean sprouts (picked over and rinsed)
- 4 medium scallions (in ½-inch pieces)
- ¼ cup cilantro
- 12 oz Thai rice noodles (Trader Joe's)
- 1 lb frozen peeled jumbo shrimp (Trader Joe's) (tail-on)
- 1 tbsp canola oil
- 2 tbsp canola oil
- 1 lime (in wedges)
- red pepper flakes
Instructions
What's a kid job?
A Kid job is a step kids can help with, with a grown-up nearby, not one they do on their own. Every kid is different, so go by what your child can do rather than by age. Roughly:
- Little ones (about 2 to 4) can stir, pour in ingredients a grown-up has measured, tear lettuce, wash vegetables and sprinkle toppings.
- Older kids (about 5 to 8) can also measure and level, crack eggs, whisk, roll and cut out dough, and put things together.
- Bigger kids can read the recipe aloud, keep track of the timer, and take on more of the cooking as they're ready.
Steps with a knife, microplane, skewers, stove, oven, grill or hot oil, or with raw meat, poultry or seafood, are marked Grown-up. Kids can still watch those, from a safe distance.
Grown-up
Put a large pot of water on to boil. Heat the oven to 350°F and toast the peanuts on a foil-lined sheet 3 minutes. Let cool.
Grown-up
Mince the shallots (about ½ cup) and garlic (about 3 tablespoons) into a bowl. Slit and seed the chile with a spoon, chop it small, and add it. Wash your hands.
Kid job
Mix the fish sauce, soy sauce, vinegar and brown sugar for the sauce. Lightly beat the eggs in another bowl. Crush the peanuts in a resealable bag with the flat side of a meat mallet. Set out the sprouts, scallions and cilantro in bowls.
Cook the noodles 4 minutes in the boiling water. Drain, rinse with cold water, and rinse out the pot.
Grown-up
Thaw the shrimp under cold running water 5 minutes, drain 5 minutes, then pull off the tails and halve them.
Grown-up
Heat the oil in the dry pot over medium heat. Cook the eggs 1 minute or so, until set but not browned. Move to a bowl.
Grown-up
Heat the rest of the oil and stir-fry the shallots, garlic and chile 1 minute. Add the shrimp, raise to medium-high, and stir-fry 3 to 4 minutes, until pink. Move to a bowl so they don’t overcook.
Grown-up
Rinse and drain the noodles again and toss them in the pot with three quarters of the sauce until hot. Add the sprouts and scallions and toss a few minutes. Add the shrimp, eggs and the rest of the sauce.
Serve with a squeeze of lime, the peanuts, pepper flakes and cilantro.