Once Upon a Quarantine: Pad Thai Night sans Lime

In these stay-at-home, uncertain days, it is absolutely normal to feel quite unaccomplished when a day ends. If you have been laid off and you don't have side projects such as a blog, an online business, a photography passion, a podcast, any type of art show coming up (naming a bunch of things off the top of my head), which many don't, it's normal to feel like you just read a lot or watched tons of television and well, didn't contribute much to society. However, you did as you are helping others stay healthy! Nonetheless, I have found that during a full lock-down, with barely any fresh air (if your streets are very busy and you do not have a balcony), cooking for a loved one, yourself, or whoever you are stuck with (hehe) is a great way to end your day on a positive an productive note. It will give you a delightful feeling to end the night on and one or many full tummies to vouch for it!

Now. There's nothing in the world I hate more (Goat cheese. Surprise visits. Unsolicited advice.) than (people who don't recycle) having 0 substitutes in my fridge- the taste of lime is hard enough to replace, but I had no citrus or citrus oils left and that was not okay (it really was just fine). To realise that, even if I only go to the store every 2 weeks, I pride myself in buying so much fresh produce that my fridge won't close- and I couldn't even think of a single lime, between the 6 kale batches!? Utterly unimpressed.

Let's just get to the Pad Thai recipe already as I am simply not done with judging my every move. I used the ingredient quantities from the Delish blog.

You will need,

Jumbo Shrimps (10 for 2 bowls was a good ratio)

Rice noodles (I used 1/2 pack)

Brown sugar (2 tbsp)

Lime juice (ahem, or not- 2 tbsp)

Chili flakes (a generous pinch)

Soy sauce (3 tbsp)

Vegetable oil (4 tbsp)

Red pepper (1, thinly sliced)

Yellow pepper (1, thinly sliced)

Garlic (3, minced)

Eggs (2)

Scallions (2, thinly sliced)

Black pepper, for taste

Salt (I used paprika-infused sea salt)

Roasted peanuts (1 handful, roasted)

A few steps,

1. For the peanuts: preheat the oven at 400 degrees and roast peanuts on a baking tray, lightly sprayed with oil, no longer than 10 minutes (watch for the colouring!). Set aside and chop if desired.

2. In a medium pot, bring salt water to boil and cook rice noodles according to package instructions. Drain and set aside.

3. In a large skillet over medium-heat, toss both peppers in oil and season with salt and pepper. Stir for 5-7 minutes, or until tender.

4. Add garlic to the peppers and stir for another minute. Add shrimps (let them cook for about 5 minutes and flip them halfway through until pink).

5. In a separate bowl, whisk soy sauce and brown sugar together (this is where the lime juice would go) in a bowl and set aside.

6. In the skillet, push all ingredients to one side and pour the eggs. Scramble, and when they are about to set, start mixing with the veggie-shrimp mix.

7. Add the cooked noodles right away and mix. Pour in the soy sauce mixture and mix thoroughly.

8. Sprinkle each bowl with chili flakes, green onions and peanuts. Enjoy!