Authentic Pad Thai Recipe Thailand, Asia
JUMP TO RECIPEWe strongly advise you to read the cooking tips before jumping to the recipe though
Introduction & history
When making pad Thai, one thing to keep in mind is the careful balance of textures and flavors which are synonymous with the dish itself — the chewy and crunchy ingredients for texture, and the balance of sweet, sour, and salty, the three primary flavors of Thai cuisine. First, garlic, tofu, turnip, shallots, and radish are quickly stir-fried in a wok, after which pre-soaked rice noodles are to be incorporated. To make sure the noodle strands separate, they must be vigorously stirred, making sure they are cooked quickly and evenly. If the noodles are still hard, gradually add more water tablespoon by tablespoon. As soon as the noodles are soft and chewy, the sauce ingredients should be added — fish sauce, palm sugar, tamarind, and ground pepper. While stirring continuously, the next ingredient to be added is dried shrimp. Once all the ingredients have been well combined, check and adjust the seasoning. The noodles are then pushed aside ... Read more
Pair with
Cooking tips
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noodles
The main ingredient of the dish, and one which is always constant, the rice noodles, comes in two varieties: sen lek and sen chan. Because of their sturdier consistency, most cooks choose sen chan rice noodles. However, don’t be tempted to substitute those with fettuccini, rice vermicelli, or Chinese egg noodles. -
meat
For the longest time, dried shrimp has been the main meat ingredient in the dish, but, with the rise of competitiveness between the vendors, fresh shrimp is nowadays most commonly used. Pork and chicken are also frequent in recipes today. -
peanuts
Toast the peanuts before adding them to the dish to enhance the flavor and the texture. -
sauce
There are two ways to incorporate the sauce into the dish. One way is to directly add the ingredients needed to make the sauce to the wok, and the other is to make the sauce on the side separately and then, once it’s time, add it to the other ingredients. -
technique
If you’re new to pad Thai, when making the dish, it’s good to have the rice noodles under soaked, as that way, you have enough time to adjust the flavors of the dish. -
vegetarian option
Using soy sauce instead of the fish sauce and leaving out the shrimp can turn pad Thai into a perfectly satisfying vegetarian meal.
Recipe variations
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Traditional Pad Thai
Ready in 40minThis traditional version of pad Thai sold by street cart vendors calls for dry shrimp, not fresh ones, which are more common nowadays. In the past, pad Thai would come served wrapped in an old newspaper page lined with a plastic sheet, and additional condiments like sugar and ground chili pepper would be placed between these two sheets.
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Bangkok’s Pad Thai
Ready in 50minWhen roaming the streets of Bangkok, you will see this version of pad Thai most often sold by food cart vendors. The competition between the vendors drove some to opt for more high-quality ingredients, in this case substituting dried shrimp with fresh ones. The impact was so strong that nowadays most of the food vendors use fresh shrimp when preparing the dish. Besides this switch, this recipe also has a unique preparation method.
Traditional Pad Thai
PREP 30min
COOK 10min
READY IN 40min
This traditional version of pad Thai sold by street cart vendors calls for dry shrimp, not fresh ones, which are more common nowadays. In the past, pad Thai would come served wrapped in an old newspaper page lined with a plastic sheet, and additional condiments like sugar and ground chili pepper would be placed between these two sheets.
Ingredients
Traditional Pad Thai
1/2 quartered banana flower, lengthwise
2 cups (200g) bean sprouts
5-6 cut Chinese chives - green parts
1/3 cup (25g) dried shrimp
1 egg
1 tbsp fish sauce
3 cloves chopped garlic
1/2 tsp ground dried chili pepper
ground pepper
1 lime
2 tbsp toasted and crushed peanuts
2 tbsp chopped preserved turnip
1 chopped shallot
2 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp tamarind paste
1/2 packet Thai rice noodles
3 tbsp cooking oil
1/3 cup (65g) julienne pressed tofu
Preparation
Traditional Pad Thai
Start by preparing the ingredients. Soak the noodles in lukewarm water for 15 minutes, making them flexible and not soft.
Toast and coarsely ground the peanuts. Chop up garlic, shallots, and preserved turnip. Remove the tips from the Chinese chives. From each cut off 6-inch (15 cm) pieces; the rest chop up into 1-inch (2.5 cm) pieces. Cut the banana flower into quarters lengthwise and rub the cuts with lime juice to prevent them from going dark.
You will need a wok or a large pan that will allow you to stir the ingredients easily. First, heat up the wok, but not extremely, and add the oil in.
Place the chopped shallots and garlic in, stir for half of a minute, and then add in the preserved turnip and tofu. Stir for a minute till the tofu has browned.
Next, add drained noodles and ground dried chili pepper. You will need to stir the ingredients to separate the strands so they cook quickly and easily. If you’ve soaked your noodles enough, you will see the noodles become soft and chewy. If the noodles are still hard and stiff, add some water tablespoon by tablespoon at a time.
When you see that the noodles are ready, add the ground chili pepper, fish sauce, sugar, and tamarind and stir them together, so they mix well.
Next, add in the dried shrimp while all the time you’re stirring the ingredients, so the flavors combine well together with the noodles. Taste to see if more seasoning is needed and if so, add them now. At this point, noodles should have a stronger flavor since they will later be diluted with more ingredients.
After this stage, when the noodles are chewy and cooked, make room for the egg by pushing the noodles to the side, then drop the egg in and scramble it into the noodles till the egg has cooked.
Next, add half of the bean sprouts and Chinese chives while at the same time quickly stirring everything so that the crunchiness of the bean sprouts and the green color of the Chinese chives is preserved.
Place on a plate and sprinkle with ground pepper and chopped peanuts. Decorate with the remaining bean sprouts, Chinese chives, and a wedge of lime and serve with condiments on the side; sugar, fish sauce, and dried ground pepper.
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