Since we moved from New York City to the Hudson Valley, we have been enjoying the area a lot. We love the mountains and the rivers, the fresh air and the slower pace of life. However, the one thing that I miss the most is the restaurants in the city. Back then we had hundreds of restaurants in the neighborhood to choose from. When we were feeling lazy, we could order pretty much anything from different countries and regions and get top-quality takeout. Living in a small town now, we have a busy main street for great American comfort food. But when it comes to Asian food, I’ve found that the homemade version is so much better. Lately I’ve been craving a good shrimp pad thai that does not taste like it’s loaded with ketchup. So I developed this recipe so that it’s extremely easy to make a great pad thai at home. Here is how.
Ingredients
The noodles
Shrimp pad thai uses the narrow dried rice noodles that are about 1/4” (4 cm)-wide. These days you can easily find them in many grocery stores in the international / Asian aisle. And of course you can find them in most Asian markets. Some of the most common brands are Thai Kitchen, A Taste of Thai, and Erawan Brand (the one with three elephants logo). They all yield really good results if you soak them properly.
Key ingredient – tamarind paste
Tamarind paste is the crucial ingredient to use so your shrimp pad thai won’t taste like it’s made with ketchup. Tamarind paste / puree has a dark color, thick consistency like honey, and a tart and sour fruity taste. It is made from the pods of a tamarind tree. It’s a common ingredient in Southeast Asian and Indian cooking to add a sour fruitiness to a dish. Because tamarind paste has such a vibrant and complex flavor, you only need to add some sugar and fish sauce to it to make a great pad thai sauce! These days you can easily find these ingredients in a grocery store’s Asian / ethinic aisle. You can also find them online or in many Asian grocery stores.
The tofu
A great shrimp pad thai uses small pieces of tofu to add texture. If you’re already at an Asian market, you should grab a block of smoked tofu. Different from the regular tofu, this type of tofu is extra firm and almost impossible to break apart during a stir fry. It’s a staple in home-style Chinese cooking and we use it in stir fries because it adds a heavenly smoky flavor. If you cannot find the smoked tofu, try to use baked tofu (many grocery stores have it) because it is firmer. The next best option is to get extra firm tofu and pan fry it until crispy before adding it to the pad thai. You can even use deep fried tofu or aburaage (Japanese deep fried tofu puffs) although they will yield a different texture.
Dried shrimp (totally optional)
Authentic shrimp pad thai often uses small dried shrimp (also called papery shrimp) or shrimp paste to add extra seafood flavor. I like to use some in my pad thai just because I always have dried shrimp on hand. But you can totally skip them because the fish sauce in the recipe is quite pungent already.
Ingredient prep
It might look like you have to prepare two dozen ingredients to make a shrimp pad thai and the ingredient list might look daunting. But believe it or not, this one is quite easy to get ready. When you’re ready to cook, your table should have the ingredients below.
A word of caution – what pan to use
If you have a nonstick skillet, that will be the best option and fuss free way to make shrimp pad thai. It requires less oil and the rice noodles won’t stick to the skillet. You can use a carbon steel or cast iron wok or a heavy skillet but you’ll need to pay extra attention. Because the pad thai sauce has high acidity, it may unseason your cast iron pan or carbon steel pan. What you can do is to cook with high heat and use a bit more oil, to limit the food from coming in contact with the pan for a prolonged period. I tested this recipe multiple times over the course of a week using a carbon steel pan. In the end, my 5 years’ worth of pan seasoning flaked off badly and I had to re-season my pan all over again. I do not recommend using a stainless steel pan because the rice noodles will stick badly.
Shrimp pad thai cooking process
Afterthoughts
It takes a bit of planning ahead to make a great shrimp pad thai at home. But once you try it, you’ll find it incredibly easy to make once you have the basic pantry ingredients. Tamarind paste, rice noodles, and fish sauce keep for a super long time in your pantry. And you can easily find the rest of the ingredients in a grocery store if you want to make it again (I’m sure you will, once you try out this recipe)!
More Southeast Asian Inspired Mains
Thai Beef SaladEasy Vegetarian Thai CurryFresh Spring (Summer) Rolls with ShrimpBasil Chicken (Pad Krapow Gai)
Lilja Walter is a part of the Omnivore’s Cookbook team and worked closely with Maggie to develop and test this recipe.
