Pad Thai

Name: Pad Thai
Yield: Serves 4 as a main dish
Cuisine: Thai
Ingredients: 2 tablespoons, tamarind paste or substitute (see Tamarind options in related articles); 3/4 cup, water (boiling); 3 tablespoons, fish sauce; 1 tablespoon, rice vinegar; 3 tablespoons, granulated sugar; 3/4 teaspoon, cayenne pepper; 4 tablespoons, peanut oil or vegetable oil; 8 ounces, dried rice stick noodles, about 1/8 inch wide (the width of linguine); 2 , large eggs; 1/4 teaspoon, table salt; 12 ounces, medium shrimp (31/35 count), peeled and deveined, if desired; 3 cloves, garlic, pressed through garlic press or minced (1 tablespoon); 1 , medium shallot, minced (about 3 tablespoons); 2 tablespoons, dried shrimp, chopped fine (optional); 2 tablespoons, Thai salted preserved radish (optional); 6 tablespoons, chopped unsalted roasted peanuts; 3 cups, bean sprouts (6 ounces); 5 , medium scallions, green parts only, sliced thin on sharp bias; 1/4 cup, fresh cilantro leaves (optional); , lime wedges

38 comments

Appears in Cook's Illustrated July/August 2002, America's Test Kitchen TV

SERVES4 as a main dish

TIME1¼ hours

has video

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS

Shrimp pad thai features clean, fresh, not-too-sweet flavors; chewy noodles; and plenty of plump, juicy shrimp with tender bits of scrambled egg. To get the noodles right, we soaked rice sticks in hot tap water for 20 minutes before stir-fr...

This is a members' feature.