Prep time
15 mins
Cooking Time
15 mins
Serves
4
Ingredients
For the sauce
- 3 tbsp tamarind paste
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- 6 tbsp fish sauce
For the noodles
- 250g / 9oz flat rice noodles
- 400g / 14oz medium-sized MSC certified raw prawns (shrimp), deveined
- 4 free range eggs (RSPCA approved), lightly beaten
- 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 1 small shallot, finely chopped=
- ½ red chilli (chile), deseeded and finely chopped
- ½ head of pak choi (bok choy), roughly chopped
- 100g / 4oz bean sprouts
- 2 spring onions (scallions), trimmed and finely sliced
- 4 tbsp finely chopped unsalted peanuts
- 1 lime, cut into wedges
- handful of coriander (cilantro) leaves, finely chopped
- groundnut (peanut) oil, for frying
When shopping for sustainable seafood, look for the MSC blue fish tick label to be sure.
![The MSC blue fish tick The MSC blue fish tick](/images/default-source/au-library/english-landscape-blue-cmyk0915ad570b0f413ba7d3661ac7276899.tmb-small.jpg?sfvrsn=f668e00a_1)
Method
No book that claimed to be an authority of fish cooking would be complete without a recipe for pad Thai with prawns (shrimp). Wherever you are in the world you will find a prawn that could be used – they are all delicious!
To make the sauce
- Mix the tamarind paste, brown sugar and fish sauce together with 4 tablespoons of water in a bowl, stirring until the sugar has dissolved.
To cook the dish
- Bring a large pan of water to the boil, remove it from the heat, add the rice noodles and leave to soak for about 3 minutes until softened, or follow the instructions on the packet. Stir the noodles occasionally with a pair of tongs to keep them separate.
- Drain the noodles and rinse lightly under cold running water to prevent them sticking together.
- Heat 2 tablespoons of groundnut (peanut) oil in a wok over a high heat, add the prawns (shrimp) and stir-fry for 1–2 minutes until they have turned a deep pink.
- Remove the prawns from the wok and set aside.
- Add another spoonful of oil to the wok, pour in the beaten eggs and stir until the eggs are set.
- Remove from the wok and chop the cooked egg into small pieces.
- Return the wok to a high heat, add 2 tablespoons of oil and stir-fry the garlic, shallot and chilli (chile) for 30 seconds.
- Tip in the noodles, pour over the sauce and stir-fry for 1–2 minutes until the noodles have absorbed the sauce. Taste to check the noodles are tender and, if the sauce is too thick, add 1 tablespoon of water.
- Add the prawns and chopped egg, mix well and then add the pak choi (bok choy), bean sprouts and peanuts. Stir-fry for 30 seconds.
Serving instructions
Divide the pad thai between four serving plates and garnish with the coriander (cilantro) and lime segments to squeeze over.
Photo credit: David Loftus
Recipes taken from Bart’s Fish Tales by Bart van Olphen, published by Pavilion Books.