Pad Thai Risotto

Make tamarind paste. Peel the hard shell off the tamarind pods and place them in a pan with enough water to come about 3/4 of the way up the pods. Simmer this for about 15 minutes until the pods are very soft and the water is brown.

Mix this paste with the sriracha, fish or soy sauce, brown sugar, and chicken stock to form the stock base for this risotto. Add a cup of water to this mixture and place it on the stove on low heat.

Chop and prep all of your ingredients. Get the shrimp ready, crack and whisk the eggs, cut the tofu into 1 inch squares, make 1/2 inch matchsticks out of the carrots, dice the onion, roughly chop the bean sprouts, and slice up the green onions. and in the food processor, make a paste from the chiles, garlic, and ginger. If you want it mild, take the seeds out of the chiles, if you like it hot, leave them all in!

Take about half of the chile, ginger, garlic paste and toss the shrimp in it.

Now we are ready to start cooking! Saute the carrots and onions in a small amount. After about 5 minutes, add the chile, ginger, and garlic paste to the pot. Next add the rice and stir to coat.

Slowly ladle in the pad thai chicken stock little by little as the rice cooks, stirring often. This process should take about 30 minutes.

While the risotto cooks, in a frying pan with oil over very high heat, fry the tofu. When it is browned on all sides, remove from pan. Fry the shrimp in that pan for about 2 minutes only and remove. Lastly, cook the egg until scrambled and remove from the pan.

When the risotto tastes tender and fully cooked, remove from heat. Stir in the shrimp, egg, bean sprouts, and scallions. Garnish with the peanuts (chopped), lime, and the fried tofu!