One of my favorite dish when visiting a Thai restaurant is Pad Thai. I like its sweet, salty, and tangy taste. The sprinkle of ground peanuts also gives this tasty, chewy noodles a little crunch. One important note is that you need to serve this dish immediately; all that tasty, yummy sauce gets soaked up by the noodles quickly if the noodle is left standing after taken out of the wok.

• Prep Time: 1 hours
• Cook Time: 20 min
• Serves: 2 – 3

Ingredients

Tamarind Paste

• 4 Tbsp tamarind pulp
• 1/3 cup hot water

Pad Thai Sauce

• 3 Tbsp tamarind paste
• 3 Tbsp coconut sugar
• 3Tbsp fish sauce
• 1 1/2 Tbsp lime juice
• 1/3 cup hot water

Pad Thai

• 1/2 package of thin rice noodles (7 oz)
• 1 shallots, sliced thinly
• 2 Tbsp minced garlic
• 1 Tbsp minced ginger
• 1 cup firm tofu, cut into small cubes, fried
• 3 Tbsp coconut oil
• 1/2 boneless, skinless chicken breast, thinly sliced
• 1/2 tsp soy sauce
• 1/4 tsp ground pepper
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1/2 tsp cornstarch
• 1/4 lb tiger shrimp, shelled and deveined
• 1 cups chives, cut into 1 inch pieces
• 1 cup bean sprouts
• 1/2 cup julienned carrots
• 2 large eggs
• 1/4 cup coarsely ground peanuts
• 1 lime cut into wedges
• cilantro for garnish

Directions

To prepare Tamarind Paste:

1. Add hot water to the tamarind pulp. Let stand for 1/2 hour.
2. Massage the tamarind pulp in the hot water and pass the mixture through a sieve to collect the tamarind paste.

To prepare Pad Thai sauce:

1. Dissolve coconut sugar in hot water.
2. Add tamarind paste, fish sauce, and lime juice to the syrup.
3. The sauce should be salty, sweet, and sour. Adjust to taste.

To prepare Pad Thai:

1. Soak noodles in lukewarm water for one hour.
2. Marinade the sliced chicken breast with soy sauce, ground pepper, sesame oil, and corn starch.
3. Stir fry the chicken over medium high heat until cooked. Set aside.
4. Stir fry the shrimp over medium high heat until cooked. Set aside.
5. Heat 2 Tbsp of coconut oil in wok over medium high heat. Add shallots, garlic, and ginger and stir fry until fragrant.
6. Turn up heat to high and add the soaked noodles. Stir fry for a minute.
7. Add 3/4 of the Pad Thai sauce and stir fry until noodles are al dente.
8. Push noodles to one side of the wok, add another Tbsp of coconut oil and scramble the eggs.
9. Add the fried tofu cubes, chicken breast, shrimp, and the remaining Pad Thai sauce. Stir fry for another minute.
10. Add the chives and beansprouts. Toss to combine.
11. Transfer to serving plate. Garnish with cilantro and lime wedges. Sprinkle ground peanuts generously over the noodles.
12. Serve immediately.