Pad Thai

Tip: Prepare all of the veggies and ingredients that require prep ahead of time and have them ready for easy cooking.

For the noodles:
Bring a large pot of water to a boil and remove from heat. Dunk in your rice noodles. Allow noodles to soak while you prepare the other ingredients, about 4-5 minutes. You will be frying the noodles later, so you don’t want to over-soften them now. Noodles are ready to be drained when they are soft enough to be eaten, but are still firm and a little “crunchy.” Note: It is very important that you drain and rinse the noodles with cold water, to keep noodles from sticking together. Set aside.

For the sauce:
Heat a small pan on medium low and add fish sauce, palm sugar, tamarind concentrate and minced garlic. Add ground chili pepper. Cook sauce until palm sugar has completely dissolved. At this point, you will want to taste the sauce and adjust the flavor balance until it suits you (be careful, the sauce will be hot). Remove from heat and allow to cool 10 minutes before storing in a jar or plastic container.

For the chicken/shrimp:
Heat 3 tablespoons of oil in a wok or frying pan on high. Add 3 cloves minced garlic and the raw chicken, tofu or shrimp. Cook for 3-4 minutes. Remove chicken/tofu/seafood to a small bowl.

Now you’re ready to put everything together!

Make sure you have a very hot wok. Add the remaining oil and then add the remaining minced garlic and minced shallots to the hot pan. Stir fry for 1 minute, stirring the garlic mixture so it will not burn. Add noodles and stir for 1 minute.

Add 3-4 tablespoons of the pad thai sauce, continually stirring noodle mixture until well coated with sauce. Add cooked chicken/tofu/seafood back and fry for 2-3 minutes.

Move the noodle and meat mixture to one side of the pan and crack the egg on the other side. Scramble the egg with a wooden spoon and cook for 30 seconds. Add carrots, green onions and sprouts and cook for 1 more minute, frying everything together.

Test the firmness of the noodles. If the noodles are too firm, fry for an additional minute. If your noodles need more flavor, add another tablespoon of sauce and fry another 30 seconds.

Remove from heat and serve. Garnish with additional sprouts or carrots, cilantro, a wedge of lime and peanuts (omit if you have peanut allergies).