Recipes Dinner Seafood Main Course Shellfish Main Course Quick Shrimp Pad Thai 5.0 (2,993) 24 Reviews This great, fast version of American-style pad thai with shrimp has an appealing combination of sweet, sour, and spicy flavors. By Grace Parisi Grace Parisi Grace Parisi a former senior test kitchen editor for Food & Wine, where she wrote several successful monthly columns: Food & Wine Handbook, Tasting & Testing, Flavor of the Month, Power Pantry, and Chefs Recipes Made Easy. Parisi has also been published in McCall’s, Redbook, and The New York Times, has written five hit cookbooks, and has appeared numerous times on national television. Food & Wine's Editorial Guidelines Updated on March 21, 2024 Rate PRINT Share Trending Videos Close this video player Photo: Kelsey Hansen / Food Styling by Annie Probst / Prop Styling by Sue Mitchell Total Time: 30 mins Yield: 4 servings Frequently asked questions What is pad thai sauce made of? For this shrimp pad thai recipe, fish sauce is combined with light brown sugar, fresh lime juice, and thinly sliced Thai chiles. It gets added to the pan last, coating all of the other ingredients as everything is stir-fried together. Is pad thai always spicy? While pad thai doesn't contain any actual spices, it does include fresh chiles. Thai bird's eye chiles definitely pack the heat — they're roughly twice as hot as cayenne peppers. For a milder pad thai, you can remove the pith and seeds from the pepper before slicing and/or use less chile altogether. Note from the Food and Wine Test Kitchen Of course we love pad thai for its incredible array of flavors and textures, but this dish has something else pretty awesome going for it: The whole shebang cooks up in just one pan! Yes, you'll need to soak the noodles beforehand, and sure, the sauce is first stirred together in a small bowl, but after that, there are less than 15 minutes of actual cooking, all in a single skillet. Suggested pairing Ripe, lime-scented Pinot Gris from Oregon. Ingredients 8 ounces pad thai noodles, preferably A Taste of Thai or Thai Kitchen brands 2 tablespoons fish sauce 3 tablespoons light brown sugar 1/4 cup fresh lime juice, plus wedges for serving 2 Thai bird chiles or 1 serrano with seeds, stemmed and thinly sliced 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon canola oil, divided 3 large shallots, thinly sliced (1 cup) 3 large garlic cloves, minced 12 ounces shelled and deveined medium shrimp 2 large eggs, beaten 4 scallions, thinly sliced Roasted peanuts, for serving Chopped cilantro, for serving Bean sprouts, for serving Directions Put the noodles in a large bowl and cover with very hot water. Let soak until just pliable, about 5 minutes. Transfer the noodles to a colander and drain, shaking and tossing the noodles once or twice. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk the fish sauce, brown sugar, lime juice, and chiles. In a large nonstick skillet, heat 3 tablespoons of the oil until shimmering. Add the shallots and garlic and cook over high heat, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned, about 3 minutes. Add the pad thai noodles and stir-fry until heated through, about 2 minutes. Add the shrimp and cook, stirring occasionally, until they begin to curl and turn pink, about 2 minutes. Scrape the noodles and shrimp to one side of the pan and add the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil to the empty side of the skillet. Add the eggs and cook, stirring occasionally, until nearly set, about 1 minute. Add the scallions and toss everything together, keeping the eggs relatively intact. Add the fish sauce mixture and stir-fry until the noodles are evenly coated, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer the pad thai to a platter. Top with peanuts, cilantro, and bean sprouts and serve with lime wedges. Originally appeared: May 2011 Rate It Print