Pad Thai

I fell in love with Thai food in high school, and was spoiled by the abundance of wonderful Thai restaurants in the greater Boston area including three within 5 miles from my parents' house. In high school I also had a lot of disposable income, so going out for Thai food was just something we did... all the time. Unfortunately now I'm a broke college student and I don't know of many good Thai places in the Capital region nor can I afford it. As I was leaving for college, I decided to take on the challenge of making Pad Thai from scratch. I had hardly cooked before this attempt, and I was weirded out by the  ingredients, like Tamarind, fish sauce, and flat rice noodles. I tried a few recipes before I came across the best one ever, that is,  Chez Pim's recipe. It is totally fool proof, merely requiring the three main sauce ingredients in equal parts--fish sauce, tamarind juice, and sugar. Then a ton of chili sauce. And cilantro. And yeahh.

You're probably wondering where on earth one would get fish sauce, tamarind and rice noodles. Well even though Albany doesn't boast many Thai restaurants, it does have plenty of Asian markets, such as Lee's on Central. You can get all the ingredients there. Or even at Price Chopper probably (minus the Tamarind.. but I've used lime juice instead in a pinch). So long as you've got a salty (fish sauce), sour (tamarind), sweet (sugar) and spice (optional, but Sriracha works wonderfully), you've got a tasty Thai influenced meal.

Pad Thai
Serves 4

1/2 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined (or chicken or whatever you got)
12 oz dried rice noodles
1/3 cup fish sauce (if this really weirds you out, soy sauce is ok, but not quite the same)
1/3 cup tamarind (or lime juice, but again, it'll be different)
1/3 cup sugar (I like to add a little less, 1/4 cup)
Sriracha or other chili sauce or paprika
lime juice/slices
large handful of bean sprouts
2 eggs
2 Tbsp chopped cilantro
2 Tbsp oil
crushed peanuts

I like to make the sauce ahead so that it's easy to mix it in with everything. With this recipe, timing is key, otherwise the noodles get mushy. Cook the noodles first, until they are almost done, but still have a bite to them. Rinse with cold water, drain, and set aside. Heat vegetable oil in a wok, then add shrimp or whatever your protein is. Add some of the sauce and stir around, set the shrimp aside as to not overcook them (if it's chicken etc just leave it). Add the noodles to the wok making sure to separate them, then a bunch more of the sauce (to your desired consistency). Stir again for 2 minutes. Then divide the noodles so you have some empty pan space and crack your eggs. Let them cook up a little and then mix into the noodles. Return the shrimpies to the pan. Add the beansprouts and peanuts. Add Sriracha to your taste (lots of it hopefully) and more sauce if you think it needs it. Serve and garnish with cilantro and extra crushed peanuts.