I love making Thai food at home rather than going out to a Thai restaurant because I can have all the delicious flavours without the additives, sugar, cheap unnecessary fats and unwanted ingredients. Plus, it tastes clean, fresh and bursts with flavour. The most challenging part is having the right ingredients on hand. For Pad Thai, the necessary ingredients needed that might not be in your cupboard or refrigerator are ; Redboat or Son fish sauce, dried shrimp, tamarind paste, concentrate or root, sweet potato noodles and mung bean sprouts.

There are tons of fish sauces around but it is important to find a good one and Redboat and Son are Vietnamese fish sauces made and fermented traditionally for a year and contain only anchovies and salt. They are worth their weight in gold. I find mine at a local health food store. Sometimes the supply chain runs dry and I go to the internet where I can usually find one and I buy two 500 ml bottles at a time! It tastes for a long time in the refrigerator!

Small dried shrimp may be tricky to find but they are usually available at an Asian grocer because most Asian cuisines use them in one form or another.

Tamarind is a spice so you can find it in dry form as the root which you soak in water and use the juice. Herbie’s Spices sells the root and tamarind concentrate. Tamarind is used in lots of Asian dishes so Asian grocers and good spice stores will stock it.

Sweet potato noodles can be found in good health food shops and at Asian grocers. Be sure to read the ingredients! You want a brant that is made ONLY from sweet potato starch or sweet potato flour.

If you do not want to sprout your own mung beans, you will find the sprouts at a good grocers. When I buy them, I take them out of the bag when I get home, wash, spin and lay them on a dish cloth to dry completely. Then store them in a plastic bag with holes and they will last for several days. Do NOT omit the mung bean sprouts from your pad Thai as they make the dish! Their light crunchiness combines with the density of the noodles to create culinary heaven!

Shrimp pad thai is surprisingly easy to make if you have everything you need! It is a great Asian dish for those who do not like chilli as you can include chilli or not; it is delicious with or without it!

The recipe below makes enough sauce for 4 servings. Store it in a sealed jar in the refrigerator. As Pad Thai needs to be eaten fresh, the amounts below are for one serving; adjust depending on how many servings you are making.

Have fun and enjoy!

Prawn Pad Thai

Ingredients

Sauce (makes enough for 4 servings

2 tsp tamarind concentrate dissolved in 4 tbs filtered water

2 tbs raw honey

2 tbs Redboat or Son fish sauce

Noodles (makes 1 serving)

1/2 red onion

2 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped

1 tbs dried shrimp, finely chopped

1 red chilli (optional), finely chopped

1/2 cup daikon radish or carrot, trimmed and julienned

1 tbs fresh lemon juice

pinch of salt

70-80 grams sweet potato noodles

2 handfuls fresh mung bean sprouts

1 scallion, finely chopped

1 tsp avocado oil

3 raw fresh or frozen prawns, deveined and peeled, with or without tails

1 tbs activated cashews, crushed (for topping)

1 wedge of fresh lime (for topping)

Method

Defrost prawns if they are frozen.

Prepare all the vegetables. Put the daikon or carrot in a small bowl and add the lemon juice and a pinch of salt and set aside.

Combine all the sauce ingredients in a jar and set aside for the honey to gully dissolve. Put the top on the jar and give it a good shake before using.

In another small bowl, combine the chopped dried shrimp, garlic, onion and chilli if using.

Bring a pot of water to a boil and cook the sweet potato noodles for 4 minutes. While they cook, put the cashews in a cup and crush, put the fresh bean sprouts in a bowl and chop the scallions.

When the noodles have cooked for 4 minutes, drain, rinse in cold water and mix with 3 tbs of the sauce in a bowl. Leave to marinate.

Heat a cast iron or stainless steel wok to a medium heat. Add the oil and cook the prawns for about a minute and a half on each side until they turn pink. Take them out of the wok and put them aside on a plate. Add the bowl of onion, garlic, dried shrimp and chilli to the wok and saute for about 2-3 minutes stirring. Add the marinated daikon or carrot with its juice and cook for an additional minute. Turn the heat to high and add the marinated noodles, sauce and cook stirring for a few minutes until the noodles are fully cooked. Right at the end, add a handful of mung bean sprouts and half the scallions. Turn off the heat and plate the pad Thai. Top with prawns, the remaining scallions, crushed cashews and a wedge of lime. Place a handful of fresh mung bean sprouts on the side. Serve right away.

Enjoy