Pad Thai
This recipe is for authentic pad thai. Most of the versions you see in Thai restaurants in the U.S. are an Americanized variation. They typically are heavy on the noodles and light on the vegetables, sometimes orange in color from paprika or ketchup to appeal to the common westerner. Not Thai. So let’s talk about what is the real classic pad thai.The most important thing about making pad thai is the order you cook the ingredients. It makes most sense to combine in separate bowls the ingredients that will cook together.For the protein, pad thai usually consists of shrimp. The shrimp is cooked first, then set aside instead of being stirred in. It is then placed over the top of the stir fried noodles. This ensures the shrimp isn’t over cooked. It works best to use larger shrimp.Next, the tofu, shallots, garlic, dried shrimp, and chili flakes are sautéed together until the garlic starts to brown; about 3 minutes. There are 2 options you can use for tofu. The first is to use pressed tofu, which is really firm and doesn’t crumble when you cook with it. It is almost as solid as a brick of cheese. The other option is to cut extra firm tofu into cubes and fry it. The dried shrimp is used to give it extra umami flavor.The next order of ingredients to add is the rice noodles and the sauce. There are 2 types of rice noodles you can use: either dry or fresh ones. The dried ones need to soak for 1 hour before using. The fresh ones only need 10 minutes of soaking. The sauce is really the most important component in pad thai. The sauce gives the pad thai it’s sweet/sour/salty flavor. Once you add the noodles and sauce, cook down until there is no more remaining liquid.The next ingredient to add is the eggs. Push everything to one side of the pan. Crack in the eggs, breaking up the yolk in the pan. Let the eggs firm up for just a minute. Then fold the noodles over the top of the eggs. Break it all up by giving it a toss with a pair of tongs.The last ingredients to add are the bean sprouts, garlic chives, and roasted peanuts. This might look like a lot of bean sprouts, but that is because we Americans are used to seeing this dish dominated by noodles. Even though they only cook for 2 minutes or so, the bean sprouts cook down just enough.To assemble the pad thai, place a generous serving of noodles on a plate. Place 6 of the shrimp cross the top of the noodles. Garnish with more chopped peanuts. Serve with a lime wedge and more fish sauce if you’d like to add more salty and sourness to the pad thai.This recipe has a lot of steps. It’s a little complicated. In the end, it is all worth it. You’ll never want to eat pad thai out again.
Ingredients
Pad Thai Sauce
- 1 cup tamarind concentrate
- 140 grams palm sugar finely chopped
- 8 tbsp fish sauce
- 12 tbsp water
Pad Thai
- 16 oz rice noodle
- 24 shrimp 21-25 ct
- 1/2 cup shallots chopped
- 1 head garlic minced
- 4 tbsp dried shrimp finely chopped
- 12 oz tofu either pressed tofu or fried extra firm tofu, cut into small cubes
- 2 tsp chili flakes
- 4 large eggs
- 5 cups bean sprouts
- 2 cups garlic chives or chive flower cut into 2” pieces
- 1 cup roasted peanuts chopped
- 1 lime
Instructions
- There is a specific order in how to cook pad Thai. First thing to do is to combine the ingredients that will be cooked at the same time in 6 separate bowls. 1. Shrimp. 2. Mix together tofu, shallots, garlic, dried shrimp, and chili flakes. 3. Soaked rice noodles. 4. Mix together sauce ingredients. 5. Eggs. 6. Bean sprouts/garlic chives/roasted peanuts.
- Heat up cooking oil in a large wok or sauté pan over medium high heat. Add the shrimp.
- Without moving the shrimp, cook for 2 minutes the first side. Flip and cook for 2 more minutes. Set aside.
- Add another 1/4 cup of cooking oil. Turn up the heat to high. Sauté the tofu, shallots, garlic, dried shrimp, and chili flakes for 3 minutes.
- Add in the rice noodles and the sauce.
- Sauté until all of the liquid has been absorbed by the noodles. About 5 minutes.
- Move everything to one side of the pan or wok. Add the eggs. Break the yolks in the pan. Let firm up for a minute. Fold the noodles on top of the eggs. Give it a good toss with a pair of tongs to break up and evenly distribute the eggs into the noodles.
- Add in the bean sprouts, garlic chives, and roasted peanuts.
- Cook for 2 more minutes until the vegetables are slightly wilted but still crunchy. Your pad Thai is almost done.
- Plate up the noodles. Put 6 shrimps across the top per person. Garnish with more chopped peanuts and a lime wedge on the side.
