Pad Thai at 2am

After grad school, I lived near Hollywood, in the area of Los Angeles know as Los Feliz.  My apartment was about 2 blocks from the William Mulholland fountain, walking distance from the Griffith Observatory and the Los Angeles Zoo, and just about a mile from Thai Town.  I got used to being able to go grocery shopping at 3am, and being able to order really good Thai food (delivery) at 2am.

Now that I live in a town that seems to shut down at 8pm, I remember those late night Thai food cravings... and how easily they were satisfied.   But what do you do when it's 8pm, you don't live near Thai Town... and a craving for Pad Thai strikes?  Lucky for me, Pad Thai is not that hard to make.  Now, this may not be "from scratch Pad Thai" that somebody's Thai grandma makes... but it's good enough to satisfy my cravings.  Most of these ingredients can be found in an Asian supermarket.

Pad Thai:

1/2 pkg rice noodles
8 oz. jar pad thai paste
1/4 c. honey
1/2 c. warm water
1 T. oil
16-18 medium shrimp
3 c. bean sprouts
2 carrots
1/2 can baby corn
5 stalks green onion
8 large shitake mushrooms
1 c. peanuts
3 eggs
1 small bunch cilantro (about 1/4 c.)
salt, pepper to taste

1.  Peel the carrots.  With a grating tool, shred long thin strips of carrot.  If you don't have an asian grating tool, you can grate the carrots instead, using the large holes on a box grater.

2. Wash the mushrooms, then slice thinly.

3. Chop a small bunch of fresh cilantro.  (Don't mind the cilantro flowers.  This bunch came out of my patio potted herb garden, and the cilantro had produced some lovely flowers.)

4.  Chop 1 c. of peanuts.  I used half regular peeled peanuts, and half Okinawa sugared peanuts.

5.  While prepping the vegetables, set a large pot of water to boil.  Add the rice noodles and turn off heat.  Set a timer to 5 minutes, and allow the noodles to soak.  After 5 minutes, drain into a colander, and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking.

6. Chop the green onions, set aside.  Meanwhile slice the baby corn longitudinally into quarters.

 7. Mix the pad thai sauce, honey, and water in a small bowl.

8.  In a large wok, scramble the eggs in a small amount of oil.  Once done, set aside onto a plate.

9.  Add the remaining oil into the wok, and stir fry the shrimp.  Set aside with the eggs.

10. Stir fry the mushrooms and peanuts, add the carrots.  Season lightly with salt and pepper.

11.  Add the bean sprouts and baby corn and stir fry for 1 minute.

12.  Add the noodles, sauce mixture, cooked eggs and shrimp and stir fry 2-4 minutes.  Add the green onions and cilantro, mix, and serve.