Perfect Pad Thai

Just back from a vacation to Thailand and I'm already missing the amazing food. Yes, they really do serve Pad Thai there and not just in tourist restaurants. A hot steaming plate of these delicious noodles will set you back $1.50 at the most.

Here's a recipe for Pad Thai from a cooking course I attended in Chiang Mai:

80 grams of rice noodles (cook them according to package)
1 cup bean sprouts
2 tablespoons of tofu cut into small pieces
1 egg
1 tablespoon of chopped, pickled white radish (try the Asian markets)
1 tablespoon of crushed roasted peanuts
1/3 cup of tamarind juice (buy tamarind paste and mix 1TB into 1/3 cup warm water) or substitute 2 teaspoons white vinegar mixed with 3 tablespoons water.
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon fish sauce or soy sauce
1 teaspoon of chopped spring onion
1 tablespoon dried shrimp
pinch of chili powder
3 tablespoon oil
pinch of salt
3 cloves of crushed garlic

Heat the oil in a wok on medium heat. Put in tofu and fry until crunchy. Turn heat to low. Add garlic, pickled radish, dried shrimp, chili powder, and stir until fragrant. Add tamarind juice (or vinegar) and noodles and turn heat up to medium. Stir fry until noodles are soft, stirring frequently so they don't burn. Turn the heat down to low. Make a space by moving noodles to one side of the wok. Add the egg and scramble. Add fish sauce, sugar, salt, crushed peanuts, bean sprouts and spring onion and turn heat up to high. Stir fry thoroughly until well mixed. Serve with a piece of lime and fresh salad. Serves 1-2.