Shrimp pad thai

Put the noodles in a large bowl and cover generously with room-temperature water. Soak for about 60 minutes; start checking after 30 minutes, as the time varies with the brand and thickness. A noodle ready for stir-frying should wrap easily around your finger but still look matte and feel slightly springy, not soft like a cooked noodle. Once it reaches this stage, drain thoroughly. Do not boil the noodles and do not pour boiling water over them. Complete the next two steps while they soak; the roughly 20 minutes of preparation fit into the soaking time.

Pat the shrimp dry with a paper towel. Finely chop the shallot and garlic. Rinse the bean sprouts and dry them thoroughly, cut the chives into 3 cm lengths and roughly chop the peanuts. Cut the lime into quarters. Crack each egg into a separate small bowl. Divide the shrimp, shallot, garlic, bean sprouts, chives and drained noodles into two equal portions. Have ready a wok or deep skillet measuring 28–30 cm across and a clean plate for the cooked shrimp. Cook one serving at a time, using 15 ml oil for each: 5 ml each for the shrimp, aromatics and egg.

Finely chop or grate the palm sugar. Dissolve the sugar in 90 ml hot water in a small bowl, then add the tamarind puree and fish sauce. Stir until no lumps of sugar remain, then divide the sauce into two equal portions. Use pourable Thai tamarind puree intended for cooking; very thick, dark concentrate has a different strength and cannot be substituted in the same quantity. The sauce should taste distinctly sweet, sour and salty, as it has yet to be mixed with the noodles. Keep the extra water separately beside the stove.

Heat the skillet over medium-high heat and add 5 ml oil. Arrange half the shrimp in a single layer. Cook for about 1–2 minutes on the first side and about 1 minute on the other, depending on their size. They should be pink outside and opaque in the center but still juicy; do not cook them until they shrink tightly. At this point, only the cooked shrimp are in the skillet.

Transfer the cooked shrimp to a clean plate. Add 5 ml oil to the same skillet, add half the shallot and cook for 30–45 seconds, stirring. Add half the garlic and cook for another 15 seconds. Add half the drained noodles and half the sauce. Stir-fry for 3–4 minutes over medium-high heat, gently tossing the noodles or separating them with tongs. They should absorb the sauce and soften while retaining some springiness. If they are still firm and the skillet is dry, add water in 15 ml increments, up to 30 ml per serving, and cook in 30-second intervals until the noodles are tender enough. The finished noodles should look slightly glossy, with no hard center and no pool of sauce in the bottom of the skillet.

Reduce the heat to medium and push the noodles to one side of the skillet. Add 5 ml oil to the exposed surface and add one egg. Break the yolk with a spatula, leave for about 30 seconds, then break the egg into soft pieces and cook for another 30–45 seconds until completely set. For now, leave the egg beside the noodles without mixing them together.

Mix the set egg into the noodles. Add half the bean sprouts and chives, along with the cooked shrimp and any juices from the plate. Stir-fry gently for about 1 minute, until the bean sprouts and shrimp are hot and the chives have softened slightly. The bean sprouts should retain a little crunch. Remove the skillet from the heat when all the ingredients are evenly combined.

Transfer the first serving to a plate, scatter over half the peanuts and serve with half the lime wedges and the chili, if using. It is best eaten immediately. Repeat steps 4–7 with the remaining ingredients: the other half of the shrimp, noodles, shallot, garlic, sauce, bean sprouts and chives, the second egg and the remaining 15 ml oil. Remove any burnt bits from the skillet before cooking the next serving. Scatter the remaining peanuts over the second serving and serve with the rest of the lime and chili. Squeeze lime juice over the dish to taste just before eating.