Which Is Faster — Making Pad Thai or Getting It Delivered?

Depends on your stir-fry skills, but this recipe is pretty easy

Plateresca

Totally ubiquitous (and often underwhelming) in Thai restaurants, pad Thai is a near-universal crowd-pleaser that most of us don’t bother to make at home. The biggest hurdle — and it’s really just a matter of going shopping — is collecting the ingredients that you may not have on hand, like rice stick noodles and tamarind paste. Beyond that, it’s just a simple stir-fry that requires little more than chopping and stirring (and you don’t even have to boil the noodles; you just soak them in hot water). (Click here if you want to see a video of how it’s made.)

Ingredients

12 ounces dried flat rice noodles, ¼ inch thick

5 tablespoons of peanut or neutral oil, like grapeseed or corn

3 eggs, lightly beaten

4 garlic cloves, minced

4 ounces small shrimp, peeled

4 ounces pressed tofu, or extra-firm tofu

2 scallions, cut into 1-inch lengths

1 cup bean sprouts, rinsed and trimmed

2 tablespoons nam pla (Thai fish sauce)