Authentic Pad Thai

Overview

  • Yield: 2

Ingredients

Ingredients For Pad Thai Sauce:

  • 2 oz. palm sugar

  • 1/4 cup fish sauce

  • 1 tb tamarind concentrate

  • 1/4 cup siracha sauce

Ingredients For Pad Thai:

  • 1 tb sliced shallot

  • 1/4 cup fresh chives, cut into one inch long pieces (I mixed both yellow and green chives for added color)

  • 1 tablespoon chopped salted radish

  • 1/4 cup diced firm tofu

  • Rice stick noodles (about a small handful, 2-4 oz. per person)

  • 1/4 cup plus 2 tbs water

  • 1 cup fresh bean sprouts

  • 1 tb sugar

  • 1 egg

  • 2 tbs chopped roasted peanut

  • Grapeseed or canola oil for sauteing

Optional:

* Note:

Method

Instructions For Making the Pad Thai Sauce:

  1. Prep your mise en place for all your ingredients for Pad Thai sauce.
  1. Make tamarind juice from the tamarind concentrate by adding 1 tc concentrate to 1/4 cup water, then stir.
  1. Measure and set aside fish sauce and siracha.
  1. In a small pan, melt the palm sugar on low. Once they the palm sugar has started to soften, add the fish sauce, tamarind juice, and siracha sauce. Continue to break up the palm sugar and stir. Note: the fish sauce will have a very strong smell as it heats up. Open the windows and turn on the vents and send anyone sensitive to smells out of the room. Do your best not to spill the fish sauce anywhere or the smell will linger.
  1. Bring the liquids and melted palm sugar to a boil, then remove from heat.
  1. Taste the liquid and adjust the amounts as needed to balance the flavors (different brands have different levels of potency and saltiness). The sauce will have a strong flavor on its own. If you’ve never made Pad Thai before it can be tricky to figure out the right balance.
  1. Pad Thai sauce can be made ahead and refrigerated for several days.
  1. Optional: If you are adding chicken, toss sliced chicken into the liquid mixture and marinade for 15-20 minutes (if using shrimp, it does not need to be marinated). Remove chicken. Because I am paranoid, I brought the marinade to a quick boil after removing the chicken (though this step may be unnecessary as the marinade cooks later). Put a little oil in wok, cook chicken or shrimp until cooked through, set aside.

Instructions For Make the Pad Thai , Bangkok Street Vendor Style:

  1. The key to getting the timing right is to make sure to prep all your ingredients in advance. I set out my mise en place and double checked to make sure I had everything ready to go.
  1. Rinse the radish under cold water, then squeeze out the water. Chop the radish, add a little bit of sugar to it.
  1. Soak the rice stick noodle in warm water for about 15 minutes (or follow the instructions on the package if they differ). Leave in water until you are ready to use, but do not over soak or you will end up with mushy noodles.
  1. Add 1 tb oil to wok, bring heat to medium-high.
  1. Add radish, tofu and shallots and saute for a few minutes until the aroma releases.
  1. Turn up the heat. Add soaked noodles, then add water. Stir-fry until noodles soften, about 5 minutes.
  1. Push noodles to side of wok, cook egg quickly.
  1. Add 1/4 cup of Pad Thai Sauce, stir and mix throughout.
  1. Add sugar, chives, bean sprouts and cooked shrimp or chicken (if using).
  1. Combine well for another minute or two.
  1. Place in two shallow bowls or plates. Serve with lime slices, chopped peanuts and additional chili sauce.

References and Acknowledgments

Authentic Pad Thai