Vegetarian Pad Thai

Hi family. I feel bad sometimes with these things I post - though following the outline of the recipe I often make substantial changes. This being a case in point. But I think if you follow what I did, it will turn out well. At first I thought, "oh it's okay" As Leigh can confirm because I was video chatting with her. But actually, it's quite excellent. You can find the original recipe on Epicurious, from Gourmet magazine called "Vegetarian Pad Thai". I guess this is my version, and it's good for 2 people. 

Vegetarian Pad Thai - original recipe from Epicurious

1/2 package of flat rice noodles (the wider slightly see-through ones). 

chunk of tamarind from a pliable block (approx 3 tbsp)

1/2 cup boiling water

1/3 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup  brown sugar

2 tbsp hot pepper sauce (the kind with the bright green lid)

recipe calls for 2 green onions - I left it out cause I didn't feel like chopping any more

2 large shallots, thinly sliced

shrimp - frozen, shelled or not - whatever. I shelled them after. 

1/2 cup oil - I had sunflower on hand. Peanut, or canola, or vegetable oil.

2 eggs (I did not use for obvious reason, but you certainly could). 

3 garlic cloves finely chopped (or minced is fine)

1.5 cups or whatever - of PC broccoli slaw. Failing this, bean sprouts. 

roasted peanuts

limes or lime juice

Soak noodles in a large bowl of warm water until softened, 25 to 30 minutes. I kept them there until I was ready to use them, at which point I drained them well. 

Make a sauce by soaking tamarind pulp in boiling hot water in bowl, stirring occasionally, until softened - about 5 minutes. You can watch a video about what to do with tamarind pulp on gourmet.com - it's very helpful. You can find tamarind pulp pretty easily - for sure they have it at most larger grocery stores, including Superstore. It's kind of citrusy. What you're supposed to do is get this stuff all softened up, and then force it through a wire strainer. I do not have a wire strainer, and so I thought I could strain the seeds and stringy bits through cheesecloth which turned out to be yet another stupid idea I had to try. Anyway, if you do it right, which is, putting it all through a strainer so what you're left with is a kind of pureed prune looking mixture, that's great. Add to that the soy sauce, brown sugar and chili sauce. 

If you are using them green onions, now is the time to chop them. (Mom, they may be too oniony for you - that's partly why I left them out. Already lots of shallots and, it turns out, lots of flavour anyway).

Cut shallots into fine slices. 

Heat oil in pan and then add shallots, stirring until golden brown. The recipe calls for an alarming 1.5 cups of oil for whatever reason. I"ve simplified the method and reduced the oil, so you might even be able to add less than I have called for. Once the shallots are about a golden brown, remove them - drain on a paper towel. 

Now into the shallot oil, add the shrimp and cook until they are pink and done - remove and set aside. This is the point at which you would do the eggs. If you do, you take out, and reserve, all but 2 tbsp of the oil. You would lightly beat them with 1/4 tsp salt, add eggs to the hot oil, stirring gently with a spatula until cooked through. Break into chunks with spatula and remove to a plate. 

If you did the eggs, you would add the other oil back to the pan. Then you would add the garlic and stir fry it about 1 minute or so. Then you would add the noodles, and broccoli slaw, and sauce, and heat through until it's a bit sticky. 

To serve, add shrimp, fried shallots, roasted peanuts and a drizzle/squeeze of lime juice (and green onions and eggs if you want).