This is an authentic Prawn/Shrimp Pad Thai recipe from Spice I Am, a critically acclaimed Thai restaurant. To say it tastes incredible is an understatement!
Also, here is my everyday Pad Thai recipe which is the version I make most often, no trip to the Asian store required. 🙂
The restaurant version I’m sharing is an absolute ripper of a Pad Thai. I can go on and on about how incredible it is because it isn’t mine, so I don’t have to worry about sounding arrogant! It is the Pad Thai recipe of one of Sydney’s hottest Thai restaurants – Spice I Am.
The first time I went, I was blown away by the flavours. Seriously intense Thai, unlike the usual Thai restaurants. It’s phenomenal. And it’s authentic. That’s what I love the most. Spice I Am is unapologetically real. They don’t tone down the spiciness of curries. They don’t “westernise” dishes. They are modernised in the presentation but at the core of it, every dish is cooked the traditional way which is why it’s so different.
It was perhaps a decade ago when I first went and Spice I Am remains as one of my all time favourite Thai restaurants. So I was beyond excited when I spied a Spice I Am cookbook at my brothers’ house. I went to swipe it but he caught me and wouldn’t even let me borrow it. Hmph! So I wrangled my own copy.
I get such a kick out of getting restaurant recipes for signature dishes!! There are so many I want to try but in my excitement to share one with you, I decided to start with Pad Thai.
As you can imagine, after describing how authentic the Spice I Am dishes are, the Pad Thai recipe has more steps than my everyday version. And it has one ingredient that requires a trip to the Asian grocery store – dried tiny baby shrimp. It is the magic ingredient that makes this a real Thai restaurant style version. Yes it is worth the trip and the extra steps to make it! But you can get everything else you need from the supermarket.
It probably sounds like I was hired to talk about this cookbook, but I’m not! This is genuinely a cookbook I am obsessed with. Sujet Saenkham, the genius behind Spice I Am, is a native Thai and his recipes are actual family recipes he learnt from his mother and grandmother. Those are the kind of recipes that really get me excited!! You can get a copy of his cookbook from Bookworld or Booktopia (these are not affiliate links).
Yummy….Pad Thai….I could eat this every day. I swear! – Nagi x
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Shrimp / Prawn Pad Thai (Spice I Am Restaurant Recipe)
Ingredients
- 5 oz / 150 g dried Pad Thai rice noodles (Note 1)
- 4 tbsp vegetable oil
- 12 raw shrimp (prawns), shelled and deveined (Note 2)
- 1 small red shallot , finely sliced (Note 3)
- 3 oz / 80 g firm tofu , cut into small matchsticks
- 1.75 oz / 50 g dried shrimp (Note 4)
- 1/4 cup fish sauce
- 2 tbsp palm sugar (or brown sugar)
- 2 tbsp tamarind puree (Note 5)
- 1 tsp white vinegar
- 1/2 tsp + chili powder , to taste (Note 6)
- 2 eggs , lightly beaten
- 1.5 oz / 45 g roasted unsalted peanuts , finely ground
- 5 oz / 150 g bean sprouts
- 2 tbsp garlic chives , cut into 3/4" / 2cm lengths
- 1 tsp white sugar
- Lime wedges , to serve
Instructions
- Place the rice noodles in a bowl and cover with lukewarm water and set aside for 1 hour. (Note 7) Drain then set aside.
- Heat 2 tbsp of the oil in a wok or large heavy based fry pan over medium heat. Add the prawns and cook until they just change colour. (Note 8) Remove from the wok and set aside.
- Add the shallot and stir fry for 2 minutes. Then add the tofu, dried shrimp, fish sauce, palm sugar and tamarind puree and cook for 1 minute until the sugar has dissolved.
- Add the rice noodles, vinegar and 2 tsp chili powder and stir fry for 2 minutes.
- Turn the heat down to low and push the noodles to one side. Add the remaining 2 tbsp of oil into the wok then the egg.
- Push the noodles over the egg and stir, scraping the base of the wok so the egg scrambles and mixes in with the noodles.
- Remove from heat. Add half the peanuts, most of the bean sprouts, garlic chives, prawns and toss gently.
- Transfer to serving platter. Sprinkle with white sugar and remaining peanuts. Serve immediately with lime wedges on the side and sprinkled with extra chili powder, if desired.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
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I doubled the recipe following the instructions for 6 persons. The taste was too salty (dried shrimps combined with the fish sauce). Not sure I will follow this recipe again.
Tasty and quick, just as described. I will try your other Pad Thai recipe tho as there is just something that I’m searching for to match my favourite Pad Thai memory, maybe the dried shrimp in that recipe will do the trick. Fingers crossed.
I am based in Connecticut, USA and have been searching for the most delicious pad thai in the area to no avail. So I figured, why not check out Nagi’s site and I was taken here. Now I just ordered a used copy of the cookbook (for an exorbitant price!) but I know it will all be worth it. Thanks for the tip, Nagi. You are the best.
I am happy that you enjoyed it Nyss! N x
Coming back to this one to say I think I’ve found a workaround for when dried shrimp (which I agree are 100% essential) are out of stock or otherwise hard to source. If you buy whole raw prawns and de-shell them yourself, you can bake the heads and shells (I blast at 220 for 15 minutes then 135 for an hour) to cook and completely dry them out, then blend into a fine powder which can be used either as instructed, or to sprinkle over in the end as a condiment. The best part is that the amount of prawn shells/heads you need to make 50g of dried powder is almost the exact amount you’ll end up with after processing the raw prawns required for the rest of the recipe. It’s a little extra legwork and it may not be quite as potent as the factory produced stuff, but it’s neat to be able to use up the parts of the prawn that might otherwise get chucked away.
OMG I love another use for prawns heads (I have quite a few lurking in my freezer!!) Thanks for that great tip!! N x
I have made some of your other dishes which I really enjoyed but unfortunately not this one. I think the Tamarind paste tasted too strong and too sour and like some others, I think the dried shrimp were too chewy and did nothing to the flavour or taste.
Hi Gordie…I am sorry it was too strong for you. As I said in the post, the flavours in authentic Thai dishes are often too funky or strong for Western palates so maybe try this one next time https://www.recipetineats.com/chicken-pad-thai/ as its a bit less in your face flavour! N x
Hi Nagi, just cooked this tonight x flavours were great x authentic, except i think i used the wrong dried shrimp. they were not tiny, maybe 3cm long. i did chop them up as small as i could but the larger pieces made my pad thai have chewy bits. should i have bought different dried shrimp?
I just made this and honestly, I wasn’t impressed. It came out all stuck together and really didn’t look like the Pad Thai I get here in Thailand. I would do without the dried shrimp because they don’t do anything to the dish. I think I would also cut down on the fish oil too. Overall it didn’t taste too bad, but I won’t be making it again. I will get someone here to show me how the Thais make it I guess.
I just made this. EASILY better than any takeout I’ve ever tried. And finally I know what’s in my food and how many calories I’m eating. This is a win-win for sure. Next I will try your chicken Pad Thai, I was just feeling adventurous tonight and I have no regrets.