Perfectly balanced Pad Thai: savory, sweet, and tangy with shrimp and tofu in the most delicious homemade Pad Thai sauce. Chewy and soft noodles tossed with shallots, pickled radish, tofu, garlic chives, and beans sprouts. Topped with lime juice and roasted peanuts. Way better than any restaurant and ready in 30 minutes!
It's all about the prep: Soak the noodles in hot water for 20 minutes. Drain and set aside. While the noodles are soaking, prep the rest of the ingredients and make the Pad Thai sauce.
Let's get cooking: In a large skillet or wok on medium high heat, add 1 tb oil and cook the shrimp for about 3 minutes or until cooked through. Set aside. Add 2 tb oil, then add dried shrimp, garlic, shallots, zha cai, and tofu and stir fry for 3 minutes.
Noodle time: Add the noodles and pad thai sauce and stir fry for about 3 minutes or until the sauce is absorbed. The noodles should be soft and slightly firm. If they are undercooked, add 2 tb of water at a time until they are cooked.
Let's get crackin': Move the noodles to one side of the pan. Add a little oil if needed and add the eggs. Scramble and let it cook for a minute then toss with the noodles.
Toss toss toss: Add in the shrimp, bean sprouts, and garlic chives and toss for 1 minute or until the chives are just wilted.
Plate it up: Serve immediately with peanuts, dried chili flakes, and some extra bean sprouts. Squeeze some lime on the noodles before eating.
Notes
Instead of soaking the noodles in hot water, you can also soak them in cold water for a couple of hours before cooking.
You can substitute 6 ounces of thinly sliced chicken instead of shrimp.
Grate or chop the palm sugar into small pieces so it will dissolve in the sauce better.
The level of tartness in the tamarind paste can vary depending on the batch of fruit so you may need to add more sugar if it's on the sour side. Or start with 3 tb of tamarind paste.