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Food from Around the World
One of the biggest challenges of cooking is to keep things fresh and interesting. We all have our favourites, but there’s a world of food out there. For each month, I will share an interesting recipe from somewhere around the world. I hope you will try it out.
This month’s recipe: Shrimp Pad Thai
Country of Origin: Thailand
Street food is becoming ever more popular and pad thai is a go-to for a quick, tasty meal. It’s one of those dishes you can throw into a wok, season to your tastes and enjoy. It also uses rice noodles, so if you are trying to reduce wheat in your diet, it’s a great mid-week addition. This recipe uses shrimp, but you can easily add chicken, fish or tofu to change things up.
Ingredients: (serves 4)
- 8 ounces wide rice noodles
- 3-4 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce, using more or less to taste
- 2 tablespoons fish sauce
- 2 tablespoons white vinegar
- 3 tablespoons honey or maple syrup
- 1/4-1 teaspoon chili flakes, plus more for serving
- 1 pound raw jumbo shrimp, peeled and deveined
- 3 tablespoons peanut oil or extra virgin olive oil
- 4-6 cloves garlic, finely chopped or grated
- 3 tablespoons salted butter
- 2-3 eggs, beaten
- 2 cups bean sprouts or chopped baby bok coy (or other greens)
- 4 green onions, chopped, plus more for serving
- 1/4 cup roasted peanuts, chopped
- Thai or regular basil and limes, for serving
Directions:
- Cook the rice noodles according to packaged directions.
- To make the sauce. In a small bowl, combine the soy sauce, fish sauce, vinegar, honey, and chili flakes.
- Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. When the oil shimmers, add the shrimp and sear on both sides until pink, 2-3 minutes. Add the butter, garlic, a pinch of both chili flakes and black pepper. Continue to cook the shrimp in the butter until the garlic begins to caramelize and turn light golden brown, another 1-2 minutes.
- Add the noodles and sauce, tossing to combine. Cook until the noodles are warmed through and begin soaking up the sauce, about 1 minute. Push the noodles to one side of the skillet and add the eggs to the other side. Let cook until the edges start to set, 1 minute. Roughly scramble the egg, then toss with the noodles. Remove from the heat. Add the bean sprouts and green onions, toss to combine.
- Divide the noodles and shrimp between plates. Top with basil, green onions, peanuts, and chili flakes. Add a squeeze of lime juice.
Share your pictures with us and we’ll have another recipe for you to try next month. Enjoy! |
