Pad Thai at home

I've never made pad thai at home, but I love it. So after the trip to the Asian market last week, I had all the ingredients and knew it was time. We've had rice noodles sitting in the back of the cabinet for months and I decided to use the recipe on the back of the bag:

Pad Thai
7 oz rice stick noodles
1 Tb Tamarind paste (this was hard to find, but it was in the refrigerated section at Huaxing)
1 tsp brown sugar, packed
1/4 c. peanut oil
4 garlic cloves, minced
1/3 c. small shrimp (I used much more: 1 lb med)
3 scallions, sliced
4 oz. firm tofu, rinsed, drained and choppped
2 eggs, beaten lightly
2 Tb fish sauce
1 c bean sprouts
1 tsp crushed chili pepper
2 Tb roasted peanuts, chopped
1/4 c cilantro, chopped
lime wedges to garnish

1. Soak noodles in cold water for 30 minutes. Drain. (I was worried they weren't soft enough at this point, but they soften more over the heat)
2. In a small bowl, mix 1/4 c hot water with tamarind. Let stand, then push through sieve and discard solids. Stir in brown sugar.
3. Heat half oil in large skillet. Stir fry garlic for a few seconds, then add shrimp, scallions and tofu and cook 3 minutes.
4. Add eggs and cook 30 seconds or until well incorporated. Add noodles, tamarind, remaining oil and fish sauce. Cook about 5 minutes, then add bean sprouts and chili pepper.
5. Garnish with peanuts, cilantro and lime wedges and serve.

Delicious! The flavor was terrific with just the right amount of heat. I think next time I will increase liquids a little bit (not oil), to have a little more of a sauce. Try it!