Authentic Pad Thai Recipe

Lately I’ve been spending more and more time at the local asian market. Asian food fascinates me to no end, and I’ve particularly been enjoying Thai food. I was talking with one of the darling workers, and she recommended a Pad Thai recipe from her mom that they had on the checkout counter.

I decided to try my hand at the Pad Thai dish. It was really easy, and the ingredients were simple. The only thing is that it takes some prep time, cutting the veggies and preparing the meat. Not too much time, but give yourself about 45 minutes from start to finish. *disclaimer- this is not my recipe, but I do feel comfortable posting it here because my dear asian market friend would’ve written down the recipe for you anyway if you’d just ask her:)

Authentic Pad Thai

2-3 servings

1/2 lime
1 egg
3 cloves garlic, minced
4 tsp fish sauce
3 Tbsp sugar
2 Tbsp tamarind liquid
1/2 tsp ground dried chili pepper
1/2 package Thai rice noodles
3 Tbsp vegetable oil
1/2 tsp ground pepper
1/4-1/2 lb chicken or shrimp
1/2 cup tofu-firm or extra firm
1 cup chinese chives or green onion
3 Tbsp roasted peanut (crushed)
2 Tbsp sweet radish (chop) (I omitted this)
2 cups bean sprouts

Preparation-

Soak the dry noodles in lukewarm water while preparing other ingredients for 10-15 minutes. Julience tofu and cut into 1 inch long matchsticks. Cut up chinese chives or green onions into 1 1/2 inch long pieces. Rince the bean sprouts. Mince shallot and garlic together.

1. In a wok or big pot, heat it up on high heat and pour 2 Tbsp vegetable oil in. Add chicken or shrimp, stir-fry till done and remove them from the wok.

2. Add shallot, garlic, and tofu and stir-fry until they start to brown.

3. The noodles should be flexible but not expanded, drain the noodles and add to the wok. Stir quickly to keep things from sticking.

4. Add tamarind liquid, sugar, fish sauce, chili pepper, ground pepper and sweet radish. Stir. The head should remain high. If your wok is not hot enough, you will see a lot of juice in the pot at this point. Turn up the heat, if this is the case.

5. Make room for the egg by pushing all noodles to the side of the wok. Add 1 Tbsp. veg. oil, wait 1 minute then crack the egg onto the oil and scramble it until it is almost all cooked. Fold the egg into the noodles.

6. Add cooked chicken or shrimp and stir.

7. Add chives or green onion. Stir.

8. Add bean sprouts and stir a few more times but don’t overcook. Remove from heat. Sprouts should be crispy, and the noodles should be soft.

Serving- Pour onto the serving plate and sprinkle with crushed peanuts. Serve hot with a wedge of lime on the side and raw mean sprouts on top.

As always, you can add sugar, chili pepper, fish sauce or lime to suit your personal taste.

Tips- By far, the trickiest part is the soaked noodles. Noodles should be somewhat flexible and solid, not completely expanded and soft. When in doubt, under soak. You can always add more water in the pan, but you can’t take it out.

Enjoy! Let me know how yours turns out!