i made pad thai last night.
this has to the the quickest, tastiest thing that i make. granted, the sauce and noodles come in a box, but with my additions, start to finish, it's done in 10 to 15 minutes.
i start by putting on a pot of water to boil for the noodles. while that's going, i peel and de-vein a pound of 20 count shrimp. often, they are already split and mostly de-veined, so it's only a matter of quickly peeling and rinsing to make sure there's no poop veins left.
the water should be boiling by now, so the heat is shut off and the noodles dropped in.
next, i chop up a bunch of scallions, and rinse a big handful of mung bean sprouts. then, i shell and roughly grind a handful of roasted peanuts.
now that the mise en place, well, ees en place, i put a tbsp or two of peanut oil into a wok, then the shrimp. as soon as the shrimp begin to turn the slightest bit pink, in goes the scallions and bean sprouts. everything is stir fried for a minute, then the noodles drained and tossed with the shrimp and veg..
the sauce from the box is added, as well as the ground peanuts. a lime is quartered and juiced into the wok.
and that's it: pad thai.
i can't recommend "thai pavillion" brand of pad thai noodles and sauce in a box enough over other popular brands, like "thai kitchen" and "thai palace". the sauce is nutty and sweet, but not too sweet, and the noodles don't turn to mush if you overlook them for 30 seconds.
