About this recipe

A reliable, restaurant-quality Pad Thai you can make at home. Rice noodles are tossed in a perfectly balanced sweet-salty-tangy sauce with shrimp, scrambled egg, crunchy bean sprouts, and finished with roasted peanuts and fresh lime. The key is high heat, a well-prepped mise en place, and not overcrowding the wok — follow these steps and you'll nail it every time.

Instructions

1. 1

   Soak the flat rice noodles medium-width in a large mixing bowl of room-temperature water for 20–30 minutes, until pliable and bendable but still firm — they should not be fully soft. Drain and set aside. Do not use hot water or they will become mushy.

2. 2

   In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the tamarind paste, fish sauce, oyster sauce, brown sugar, and soy sauce until the sugar is fully dissolved. Taste — it should be a bold balance of sour, salty, and sweet. Adjust with a little more tamarind paste for tang or brown sugar for sweetness if needed. Set aside.

3. 3

   Prep all your ingredients before you start cooking: mince the garlic, slice the green onions white and green parts separated (keeping white and green parts separate), chop the peanuts, cut the lime into wedges, and have the bean sprouts, eggs, large shrimp peeled, flat rice noodles medium-width, and sauce all within arm's reach. Pad Thai cooks very fast — there's no time to prep once the wok is hot.

4. 4

   Heat a wok or large skillet over ^[the highest heat your stove allows]. Add 1 tablespoon of oil. Once shimmering and just beginning to smoke, add the large shrimp peeled in a single layer. Cook undisturbed for 60–90 seconds until pink on the bottom, then flip and cook another 30 seconds. Remove shrimp to a plate and set aside.

5. 5

   Add another tablespoon of oil to the wok. Add the garlic and the white parts of the green onions white and green parts separated. Stir-fry for 30 seconds until fragrant.

6. 6

   Add the drained flat rice noodles medium-width to the wok. Pour the sauce over the noodles and toss continuously with tongs, letting the noodles absorb the sauce and stir-fry for 2–3 minutes until they are tender, glossy, and slightly caramelized in spots. If the noodles stick or clump, add a splash of water (1–2 tbsp) to loosen them.

7. 7

   Push the noodles to one side of the wok. Add the remaining tablespoon of oil to the empty side. Crack in the eggs and scramble them gently with a spatula, cooking until just set but still slightly wet, about 60 seconds. Fold the eggs into the noodles before they fully set.

8. 8

   Return the cooked large shrimp peeled to the wok. Add the bean sprouts and the green parts of the green onions white and green parts separated. Toss everything together for 30–60 seconds — you want the sprouts to retain some crunch. Remove from heat immediately.

9. 9

   Divide the Pad Thai among plates or bowls. Top each serving with a generous handful of chopped peanuts, a few sprigs of cilantro, and a wedge or two of lime. Serve with chili flakes on the side. Squeeze the lime over the noodles just before eating — this brightens the whole dish.