If you ever went to Thailand you probably heard of it, Thailand’s most famous noodle dish is “Pad Thai”. It is a stir-fried noodle that is sweet, spicy and salty in flavor, this flavor must be balanced to make a perfect pad thai. This dish usually consists of soaked dried rice noodle, tamarind paste or pulp, Thai fish sauce, brown or cane sugar, ground roasted peanuts, eggs, chilies, cubed firm tofu, bean sprout and a choice of seafood like shrimp, crabs, clam, and lobster but pork or chicken may also be used.

In 1940’s Thailand suffered a rice shortage due to the world war II, the Thailand Government wanted to reduce the rice consumption of the country so the pad thai was invented and then the government asks it’s people to sell these noodles in a cart in every village of the country to increase its popularity. Today Pad Thai is a staple of Bangkok Street food and sold in many village streets of Thailand.

This recipe will teach you how to make a tasty sweet, spicy and salty pad thai.

Pad Thai Recipe

Course Main Course

Cuisine Thailand

Ingredients

Ingredients:

150 g - Flat Rice Noodles
5 pcs. - Shrimp
100 g - Tofu Cut into Cubes
1 pc. - Egg
2 tbsp - Chopped Chives
1 cup - Bean Sprouts
½ - Minced Shallots
2 Cloves - Minced Garlic
½ tsp - Chili Powder
¼ Cup - Ground Peanuts

Sauce:

3 tbsp. - Thai Fish Sauce
1 tbsp. - Lime Juice
3 tbsp. - Vinegar
3 tbsp. - Brown Sugar
1 tbsp. - Thai Chili Sauce

Extra For Toppings:

Diagonally Chopped Red Chili
1 tbsp. - Brown Sugar
Lime wedge

Instructions

Soak the rice noodle into cold water for 1hr.
Prepare all of your ingredients. Thai fish sauce might be hard to find in your local grocery store but if it’s not available you can use regular fish sauce this goes the same with Thai chili sauce. Use a fresh cured tofu cut it into ½ inch thick cubes.
To create pad thai sauce take a small bowl then mix in the bowl the lime juice, brown sugar, vinegar, Thai fish sauce and Thai chili sauce, using a fork or a small wire whisk stir the sauce until well combined. Set aside for later use.
Begin the cooking process by heating a pan or a wok with vegetable oil over medium heat.
Add the cube of tofu into the pan then fry it in oil, keep monitoring the tofu until the bottom sides turn into golden brown then flip each cube of tofu in the other side, do this until all sides of the tofu are golden brown, then set the tofu at the side of the pan.
Add the minced garlic and onion into the vacant surface of the pan then saute it until lightly brown.
Add the shrimp to the pan then saute it together with the tofu and sauteed garlic and onion, cook it until both sides of the shrimp turn orange.
Add the soaked rice noodle and the chili powder into the pan, stir it a little then add the pad thai sauce that you made earlier. keep stirring noodle cause the rice will quickly absorb the sauce, stir it to make the sauce evenly coat the noodle.
Add the egg then stir it with your ladle, let it sit there in the heat for a while until the egg is cooked, once the egg is cooked stir the egg into the noodle to evenly distribute the egg within the noodle.
Add half of the ground peanut and all of the bean sprout into the noodle then stir it until well combined.
Transfer the pad thai noodle into your desired serving plate then top it with chopped chives and the remaining half of the ground peanut

Step 1: Prepare all Ingredients

The first thing to do before you start preparing your ingredients ready is to soak the rice noodle into cold water for 1hr.

After you soak the rice noodle then you can begin preparing all of your ingredients, Thai fish sauce might be hard to find in your local grocery store but if it’s not available you can use regular fish sauce this goes the same with Thai chili sauce. Use a fresh cured tofu cut it into ½ inch thick cubes. If ground peanuts aren’t available in your local grocery store you can use raw peanut then bake it in 300F for 10 min then crumble it by hand or using a mortar and pestle or food processor. Bean sprout is available in your local farmers market, In shrimp, I would suggest you use tiger prawn. Chives, egg, Shallots, Garlic and other remaining ingredients should be available at your local grocery store. As an extra ingredient for the topping, you can add a fresh chili pepper that is cut diagonally, a tablespoon of brown sugar or cane sugar if available and a lime cut into wedge. You may add these extra ingredients if you want your food plating representation to be nice or you may not.

Step 2: Prepare the Shrimp

Prepare the shrimp by removing the head and the skin of the shrimp leaving the tail on. Devein the shrimp by slicing with a knife at the back of the shrimp then remove the black string that’s on the back of the shrimp. Set shrimps aside for later use.

Step 3: Create the Sauce

To create pad thai sauce take a small bowl then mix in the bowl the lime juice, brown sugar, vinegar, Thai fish sauce and Thai chili sauce, using a fork or a small wire whisk stir the sauce until well combined. Set aside for later use.
If tamarind paste is available at your local grocery you can replace the lime juice with ½ tbsp. of tamarind paste to give your dish an extra sour flavor that is really balanced. Tamarind paste is the original ingredients of pad thai but because that it’s a south Asian product it might be unobtainable in your local grocery store.

Step 4: Begin the Cooking Process.

Begin the cooking process by heating a pan or a wok with vegetable oil over medium heat.
Add the cube of tofu into the pan then fry it in oil, keep monitoring the tofu until the bottom sides turn into golden brown then flip each cube of tofu in the other side, do this until all sides of the tofu are golden brown, then set the tofu at the side of the pan.

Add the minced garlic and onion into the vacant surface of the pan then saute it until lightly brown.

Add the shrimp to the pan then saute it together with the tofu and sauteed garlic and onion, cook it until both sides of the shrimp turn orange.
Add the soaked rice noodle and the chili powder into the pan, stir it a little then add the pad thai sauce that you made earlier. keep stirring noodle cause the rice will quickly absorb the sauce, stir it to make the sauce evenly coat the noodle.

Set the noodle at the side of the pan to make a small space for the egg to cook, in this small space add the egg then stir it with your ladle, let it sit there in the heat for a while until the egg is cooked, once the egg is cooked stir the egg into the noodle to evenly distribute the egg within the noodle.
Add half of the ground peanut and all of the bean sprout into the noodle then stir it until well combined.

Step 5: Plating

Transfer the pad thai noodle into your desired serving plate then topped it with chopped chives and the remaining half of the ground peanut, you may add the diagonally cut chillies, a tablespoon of brown sugar and lemon wedge as extra topping.
You can also add other seafood ingredients like crab, lobster or clams just make sure you cook these seafood first by steaming, grilling, baking or any type of cooking method you like before adding to the dish.
If you’re going to use chicken breast or lean pork as a substitute for shrimp, first cut the chicken or pork into cubes or strips then cook it in the oil first before you add the tofu.

Michael John Blancaflor