Shrimp Pad Thai

One of my CatholicMom.com friends and coauthors, Mary Lou Rosien, shared her recipe for Pad Thai with Shrimp (at my request. How sweet is that?!) I’ve enjoyed Pad Thai before, but I don’t know where to get it locally, so I figured I’d give her recipe a try. I had to Google the ingredients for the Pad Thai sauce, because I didn’t want to buy sauce packets–and it turns out that I had all those ingredients available anyway. The key with any stir-fry recipe is mise en place. Cooking actually goes faster because you don’t have to go searching for things AND you can ensure that everything is cooked only as long as it needs to be!

I’m going to choose to believe that my daughter, a college student, loved this because it’s delicious and not just because it was a welcome change from dining-hall food.

Serves 4

8 oz. wide rice noodles
2 TBL olive oil
1 cup red onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 cup mushrooms, sliced (I used Baby Bella because that’s what I had on hand)
1 cup asparagus, chopped in 1-inch pieces
1 lb. raw shrimp, peeled, deveined, tails off (I use large 31/40 shrimp)
1 egg, beaten

TOPPINGS
1 cup fresh bean sprouts
1/4 cup dry-roasted peanuts, chopped
1/2 cup cilantro, chopped

SAUCE
1 1/2 tsp soy sauce
2 TBL fresh lime juice
1 tsp fish sauce
2 TBL brown sugar

Rice noodles take about 25 minutes to cook if you’re using the “soak in hot water method,” so start them first according to package directions. CAVEAT: I tried this, but the noodles never did finish, so I had to turn on the burner under the noodle pot to a low simmer.

Mix sauce ingredients and set aside.

Stir-fry in this order, adding new ingredients as the first ones cook:
-onion
-garlic, mushrooms, asparagus
-shrimp

When all of those are done, push them to the sides of your pan and pour the egg into the middle. Let it set for a minute, then start scrambling it into the other ingredients.

Pour in sauce ingredients and stir until everything is coated.

Drain cooked rice noodles. Stir into the pan with other ingredients.

Top with bean sprouts, chopped peanuts and cilantro.