This easy and quick Pad Thai with Prawns and tofu is a staple dish for the whole family for Friday nights.
Story of the Pad Thai
Noodles are a traditional Chinese dish.
How can you change noodles to stop being Chinese? Phibun, a Thai ex-prime minister had an idea. As pork was seen as a Chinese ingredient, it was replaced with shrimp. Tamarind, jaggery, and chili have always been Thai spices that have helped turn the Chinese into a completely Thai dish. And finally, to emphasize that this new dish is Thai and not Chinese, it was called Pad Thai (which literally means Fried Thai man).
Yes, there are many variations of the dish in Thailand. And I welcome you to try this classic Pad Thai recipe. With some changes from my side 😊 but still we can call it “classic”, with your permission 😊
Cooking Suggestion
In case you don’t have a large wok, first, fry the shrimp with the vegetables, scoop them out of the pan, and then fry the noodles with the sauce over high heat for 30 seconds. Mix everything and divide between plates.
Substitutes
- The original recipe calls for fish sauce. Fish sauce is an essential part of this dish, but you can replace it with soy sauce if you don’t have it or don’t like its taste.
- To make the dish plant-based, leave out the shrimp and eggs and add some extra tofu.
- If you want to use less oil, fry the tofu without oil in a non-stick pan or air fryer.
Try the Pad Thai with my Special Hot Sauce Adjika.
Try other Healthy & Delicious Recipes:
Bowl of Goodness: Baked Salmon with Broccoli & Shiitake
Sweet Potato Curry with Marinated Tofu
Easy Roasted Potatoes with Cauliflower
Pad Thai with Prawns
Equipment
- 1 wok or frying pan
Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp soy sauce or fish sauce
- 2 Tbsp pomegranate molasses or tamarind paste
- 2 Tbsp palm sugar or coconut sugar
- 2 Tbsp water
- 225 g rice noodles
- 1/2 cup unsalted cashew nuts or peanuts
- 1 block of firm tofu 200 g
- 3 Tbsp avocado oil
- 2 spring onions
- 4 shallots
- 3 cloves of garlic
- 1 chili pepper
- 200 g shrimps
- 2 free-range eggs
- 120 g bean sprouts
- 2 limes to serve
- Fresh coriander for garnish
Instructions
- Mix the soy sauce, pomegranate molasses and palm sugar in a saucepan with cold water, and bring to a boil. Let it boil gently for 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste and set aside.
- Cook the noodles according to the package instructions. Drain the noodles and rinse under cold running water.
- Heat a frying pan without oil or butter and roast the cashew for 2 minutes over medium heat. Remove from pan, let cool slightly, chop coarsely and set aside.
- Cut the tofu into 1 cm slices. Cut the slices into 1 cm strips. Heat ⅔ of the oil in the same frying pan over high heat and fry the tofu for 4 minutes until golden brown. Remove from pan and set aside.
- Remove the ends of the spring onions and chop 2 spring onions. Chop the shallots and finely chop the garlic cloves. Cut the stem of the red pepper. Roll the pepper between your hands so that the seeds fall out. Cut the pepper into rings.
- Heat the rest of the oil in a large wok over high heat and stir-fry the prawns with the spring onion and shallot for 5 minutes. After 3 minutes, add the garlic.
- Slide everything in the pan to one side and crack the eggs over the empty side of the wok. Break the yolks and stir after 30 sec. everything together.
- Add the bean sprouts and fry for 1 minute. Then add the noodles, sauce, and tofu, gently stir everything together and remove the pan from the heat.
- Sprinkle the noodles with the cashew and red pepper. Serve with lime wedges and fresh coriander.
Notes
- The original recipe calls for fish sauce. Fish sauce is an essential part of Pad Thai, but I don’t like its taste, so I replaced fish sauce with soy sauce.
- To make the dish plant-based, leave out the shrimp and eggs and add some extra tofu.
- If you don’t have a large wok, first fry the shrimp with the vegetables, scoop them out of the pan and then fry the noodles with the sauce over high heat for 30 seconds. Mix everything and divide between plates.
- If you want to use less oil, fry the tofu without oil in a non-stick pan or air fryer.
Nutrition