Shrimp Pad Thai

The March Cooking Light  magazine had a feature where they took favourite restaurant dishes and tried to lighten them up. I was immediately tantalized by the shrimp pad thai recipe. It wasn't long though before my friend Jane tried it out and posted her rave reviews on facebook.

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There were a few things about the recipe that surprised me - having made pad thai a gazillion times there were some omissions. Normally pad thai utilizes some fried scrambled egg in the mix. This recipe didn't. I changed that. Usually pad thai includes protein other than the shrimp - tofu or chicken. I had a chicken breast that needed to be used up so that got tossed in the mix. The most eggregious omission of all was the missing cilantro. WHAT? Pad thai without cilantro?

That wouldn't do.

So . . . I followed the recipe as printed but made the following changes - I scrambled an egg in the wok before I started the first step. Once it was cooked I remove dit from the wo k and set it aside to add near the end of the cooking. I cooked a thinly sliced chicken breast next. Then I proceeded with the recipe as printed. After I added the noodles I tossed in about 1/2 cup of chopped cilantro (we LOVE cilantro) and half of the bean sprouts.

This was delicious pad thai - no, it isn't that same as pad thai you might get in a restaurant but then again it doesn't have 1200 calories and the same sodium count as 12 small bags of chips. It is, however, a quick, delicious alternative. Thanks for that CL!

 

Shrimp Pad Thai

8  ounces  uncooked flat rice noodles (pad Thai noodles)
2  tablespoons  dark brown sugar
2  tablespoons  lower-sodium soy sauce
1 1/2  tablespoons  fish sauce
1 1/2  tablespoons  fresh lime juice
1  tablespoon  Sriracha or chili garlic sauce
3  tablespoons  canola oil
1  cup  (2-inch) green onion pieces
8  ounces  peeled and deveined large shrimp
5  garlic cloves, minced
1  cup  fresh bean sprouts
1/4  cup  chopped unsalted dry-roasted peanuts
3  tablespoons  thinly sliced fresh basil

Cook noodles according to package directions; drain.

While water comes to a boil, combine sugar and next 4 ingredients (through Sriracha) in a small bowl.

Heat a large skillet or wok over medium-high heat. Add oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add onion pieces, shrimp, and garlic; stir-fry 2 minutes or until shrimp is almost done. Add cooked noodles; toss to combine. Stir in sauce; cook 1 minute, stirring constantly to combine. Arrange about 1 cup noodle mixture on each of 4 plates; top each serving with 1/4 cup bean sprouts, 1 tablespoon peanuts, and 2 teaspoons basil.

Comments

[bellini]

Cooking Light is really coming in handy. I am addicted to the Fallen Chocolate Cake I just made from CL, certainly not as calorie conscious as your Pad Thai:D

[Kayte]

This sounds wonderful and definitely worth the savings in calories, etc. I have a question...fish sauce is something I can taste as fishy and no matter how many flavors are in there, I still taste it and dislike that. Is there something to sub for that or just leave it out and call it a day? It's the same with anchovies for me, I know everyone says you can't taste them, but I always always can taste them and I put my fork down after one bite.

[Jane]

This is funny...I had to go back and look at the recipe when you said it did not call for cilantro as I was sure that it did. But, it doesn't. I have thrown some in both times--must just have been inbred knowledge. Think I'll try your other additions next time. It is good, though, isn't it? The tortilla soup (think it was the March issue) is really good, too.

[JDeQ]

The chocolate cake sounds amazing bellini (even if it didn't photograph very well. *smile*)

I don't know about that Kayte - it is used to give the distinctive salty taste in asian foods. I'm not sure if there is a sub that would eb worth it. I have come to love it in foods but would never eat it on its own. LOL

Funny how that happens Jane - we just add things that we instinctively know should be in the dish!

I can't wait to try that tortilla soup1