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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OMG! Thank you! I am buying this cookbook!
This has been the only Pad Thai dish that I have either bought or made that is close to the authentic dish that we order at my favorite Thai Restaurant. It is owned and run by the sweetest Thai women and her husband where they cook her family recipes. The balance in this dish is perfect and was actually very easy to make… definitely worth the trip to the closest Asian market (1.5 hours from my house). Have you ever tried making a very thin egg omelette to serve the noodles in! This is our favorite way to eat this dish because of mention Thai restaurant!
Sorry for the long comment and thanks again for sharing this wonderful recipe!!
I’m so pleased you enjoyed this Samantha! This is hands down the BEST Thai cookbook I have ever come across – and I have a few. His restaurants are amazing, my favourite Thai restaurants in Sydney! I love the idea of serving the noodles in an omelette, I think I’ve seen that before! N x
Awful sauce. It seems to me that 2 tbsp of tamarind purée is too much. VERY sour even without vinegar or lime wedges. I couldn’t eat this. Still looking for authentic and true recipe of the sauce 🙁
Hi Eva – I’m sorry this wasn’t to your taste, did you follow the recipe exactly? Dried shrimp and all? I just double checked the recipe against the cookbook and it is exactly as written, and I’ve made this a bunch of times and love it. The chef is a very famous Thai chef here in Sydney!
This is doable, looks like my Thai bff’s Pad Thai n this sounds exactly like it, can’t wait to do this for my Ohana (family in Hawaiian) Aloha, Api
Hope you love it Papi!!!
That was Phenomenal reminded me of Pad Thai in Thailand. BTW dried baby Shrimp is a Genius Idea to bring in the flavour of Sea.
YES Viren. Spice I Am is as authentic as it gets! 🙂 So pleased you enjoyed it!
I’m not sure if I was supposed to dissolve the chili powder, but the texture was strange. Otherwise I liked it.
Hi Erin! How odd – it wasn’t a fine ground powder like other spices???
Delicious! I used pre-cooked and packaged noodles which unfortunately fell apart. I also subbed the fish sauce with soy, tasted great but next time I am going to make sure to use the fish sauce and the dry noodles.
Oh dear I’m sorry to hear that 🙁 Did you soak them per packet directions?? N xx
Hi Nagi. Going to try this tonight but I have some errands to run before, which means noodles would probably have to soak longer than an hour in the lukewarm water. Bad?
Bad!!! Sorry Chad they will fall apart when cooking. And wait – 1 hour? Your packet says 1 hour???
Hi Nagi. This recipe says 1hour soaking for the noodles. Is that not correct? Thx.
Hi John, yes that’s right 🙂 It’s a great tip for ensuring the rice noodles don’t break easily when cooking! N x
Hi Nagi
Can I substitute fish sauce with anything? Would it change the taste?
Thanks,
Shaila
Hi Shaila! Unfortunately it will because fish sauce has a lot of complex flavours in it that can’t be matched by substituting with soy sauce which is usually the best sub. It will still be tasty though! But not the same 🙂
Please include prep times in your total time… 1 hour of soaking + 20 minutes… not a mere 20 minutes. Thanks.
This is the second recipe of yours I tried this week, another WINNER. I substituted chicken, but followed the recipe as written, it was just delicious! Thank you for taking the time to give such detailed directions and notes, I find it very helpful and I am ableto create such amazing dishes.
I have the slow cooker Spicy Chinese Crispy Chicken in the slow cooker as we speak so I can make the stir fry tonight! Can you tell we love noodles? Thank you so much for the time and effort you put into the recipes, it is greatly appreciated.
You’re on a noodle BENDER Laura!! BA HA HA!!! 🙂
Hi Nagi! Just wondering how spicy this dish is… Is it decently mild? I’m going to be cooking for my parents and my dad really can’t handle much heat and I don’t want to give the poor man a heart attack haha!
Hi Chanel! I would cut the chilli down to 1/2 tsp, just to be safe! He will barely notice it 🙂
We made the restaurant style of this, and next time will try the home version – we found the smell the dried shrimp added was horrible!! It tasted just fine, but the smell made the whole thing unpleasant. Totally not worth it! Looking forward to the other version tonight! Will comment again once I make it =)
Hey we loved the restaurant version but, I could only find dried shallots and not dried shrimp so maybe that’s an option…
Oh dear, I’m sorry you didn’t enjoy the restaurant style 🙂 It really is very authentic. So YES to the homestyle version, I am sure you will love it, much more westernised! And thank you for the feedback, I will add some commentary at the top of the restaurant version. N x
Omg we had this tonight for the second time in a week! (I’m pregnant and Pad Thai is a favourite) I did the lazy mans version both times and it came out amazing and is better than most I’ve had at a restaurant. My husband says the only one better he’s had was from the street vendors in Bangkok. It has been added to the list of regular meals in our house, now if there is any leftover we will see if my one year old likes it as well
I’m so glad you and your hubby enjoyed this Michelle, thank you for letting me know! ❤️ N x
Hi Nagi, your pad see ew recipe is fabulous- i make it weekly! I tried the restaurant version of Pad Thai (with chicken, no prawns), but found it to be way too fishy. I’m guessing it was the dried shrimp? I’m thinking I’ll omit those next time. The only ingredient I couldn’t find was tamarind purée, I was only able to find tamarind paste which had to be reconstituted in water and strained.
Hi Erica! I’m so glad you like my Pad See Ew! I’m sorry you found the restaurant version too fishy, it really is very authentic 🙂 I think the homestyle version will be more to your taste then, it is a bit closer in flavour to the Pad See Ew! 🙂
Ooo Nagi, this was fantastic! I did the chef version and it was perfect, the best Pad Thai I’ve ever made at home. It’s surprisingly fast to make and I will be adding this to our regular dinners from now on. Next to try, your Singapore noodles 🙂
Woah! You made the real deal one!!! Thank you Jo, I’m so glad you enjoyed it!! It really is bang on exactly like the one at the Spice I Am restaurant!!! PS Those Singapore noodles are a ripper, not my recipe either!!! 😉
Made this tonight with chipotle chili powder which has nothing but chilies in it. Used 2 tsps and it was just spicy enough. Some like it hot and we are among them. Made this to use up some precooked shrimp, so just added the shrimp at the end and mixed them into the noodles to warm them. All in all, this recipe was delicious and we will definitely be having it again. The overlays of flavor, sweetness, tartness, fish sauce, nuts all contributed to a delicious 1 pot meal. Thanks.
YAY! So glad you enjoyed it Fredda, THANK YOU for coming back to tell me!!!
Sorry, I’m an avid foodie and Thai food lover having been many a time in my lifetime… But Alas this turned out totally unauthentic and flavourless…
I’m sorry you think that Lea! Sujeet along with David Thompson are without a doubt the two most critically acclaimed Thai experts in Australia so I do think this recipe fantastic and most definitely authentic. I’m big on flavour – I don’t have the appreciation for dulcetly flavoured foods, so I felt this had plenty of flavour! But we all have different palettes, and that’s totally ok!
Love, love, love Pad Thai and will definitely trying both of these recipes! Thank you
Ooh, I hope you love them!! N x
Hi Nagi! what is a good subtitute for pad thai noodles?i can’t find any here and also the tamarind puree, they only have tamarind powder…thanks
Hi Chinablue! Any wide flat rice noodles will be a great substitute 🙂
Made this tonight and it was delicious – unfortunately I used the cayenne pepper in place of the chilli, and I didn’t realise we had extra hot cayenne pepper. I put 1.5tsp in and holy moly – SO SO spicy!! The noodles were delicious, just unfortunately the more you ate the hotter it was 🙂 Will definitely be making again – minus the insane amount of cayenne pepper!!
OH no!!! My gosh, that WOULD be spicy!!! Trust me, I’ve made a similar mistake in the past when I made enchiladas for a baby shower and I used cayenne pepper instead of paprika! I blew the head off 20 girls! 😉 N x