Description
Longing for Pad Thai from a street vendor in Bangkok, but your only option is to make it at home? I feel ya, that’s why I’m sharing my legit Pad Thai recipe with you dear!
Ingredients
Scale
- 8 oz. package of dry, medium width rice noodles (preferably made in Thailand) or 8 oz. of fresh rice noodles
- 2 tablespoons pickled radish*, chopped
- 2 servings of shrimp of choice, peeled and de-veined, tail off or on, whatever you prefer (or another protein of choice)
- 1 cup of fried tofu, or extra firm tofu cut into 1in. long by 1/4 in. wide-ish strips
- 2 shallots, finely chopped
- 4 garlic cloves, minced or smashed in a mortar and pestle
- 2–3 tbsp coconut oil for stir-frying, or oil of choice
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 1/2 c. of fresh Chinese garlic chives or green onions cut into 2 in. pieces*
- 1 c. of fresh bean sprouts
Sauce
- 1/3 c. tamarind pulp*
- 1/4 c. of water
- 1/2 c. brown sugar
- 1/2 c. of palm sugar finely chopped*
- 1/4 c. fish sauce
Toppings to have on the table
- sugar
- dried Thai red pepper flakes
- crushed peanuts
- 1 lime quartered
- extra fresh bean sprouts
- extra fresh Chinese garlic chives
Instructions
- If you have fresh rice noodles (my fav!), soak them in room temperature water for around 30 minutes before cooking and an hour if you have dry rice noodles. Make sure the water is not hot or your noodles will clump up into a pile of mush when cooked.
- Once a noodle can easily wrap around your finger, they are ready to be stir-fried. Drain noodles and have them ready to go by the pan.
- Prepare your sauce by letting the tamarind pulp sit in the lukewarm water for about 10 minutes. Then squish the pulp in your hand and get out all the massive seeds and strings. Only use enough water to help you squish it. You want the paste nice and thick.
- Put the tamarind paste in a small pot with the sugars and fish sauce. Stir over medium heat until the sugars dissolve. Taste the sauce. Does it need a more savory taste? Add fish sauce. More sweet? Add sugar. More sour? Add tamarind paste.
- If you have one, use a large cast iron pan to make the Pad Thai in. In Thailand, many Pad Thai chefs use a flat surface to cook noodles to help with not having too much moisture in the noodles. If you don’t have one, use whatever large pan you have.
- Warm coconut oil in pan. Add garlic and shallots and stir until fragrant.
- Add the shrimp or whatever protein you are using. If using shrimp, keep a close eye on them since they cook so quickly. Once they are pink and no longer translucent take them out and place them on a plate immediately to prevent them from shrinking up too much.
- Add more oil and garlic to the pan. Stir a few seconds until fragrant and add the beaten eggs and scramble until cooked through.
- Make sure your sauce is right next to your Pad Thai pan. I like to have a ladle in it, so it’s easy to add the sauce to the noodles.
- Add more oil to the pan if needed. Place two servings of noodles in the pan, and add a ladle or so of the sauce. The key to Pad Thai is the noodles, and you do not want your noodles mushy with too much moisture, so add the sauce slowly, as needed.
- Keep the noodles spread out in the pan as much as possible and add just enough sauce until the noodles are soft to touch and have soaked it up. If the noodles still don’t seem cooked, add a little water until they are cooked.
- When the noodles are soft, add the tofu, pickled radish, shrimp, chives and bean sprouts and mix it up and turn off the heat.
- If you think it needs some more sauce or certain flavors, add more.
- Make sure you have extra fresh bean sprouts, and fresh chives, crushed peanuts, lime, dried Thai red pepper flakes, sugar and fish sauce on the table, and add to your delight to each individual serving.
- Enjoy!
Notes
*If you use these ingredients your Pad Thai will taste more authentic, but if you don’t use them, it will still taste yummy, don’t fear.
*If you can’t find palm sugar, use more brown sugar. If you can’t find fresh green chives, use green onions.
*If you can’t find tamarind pulp or don’t want to make your own tamarind paste, you can buy tamarind paste at an Asian store. But usually its more watery than when you make your own, so you need to be extra sure you don’t add too much to the noodles. Soggy Pad Thai is not fun!
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Category: Thai
- Method: Stir-Fry
- Cuisine: Thai
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 2-3