Pad Thai is probably one of the most well known Thai dishes. It is a tangy and delicious combination of noodles, vegetables, and chicken or shrimp all tossed in a sweet and sour sauce with a little bit of spice. This recipe is a fast and easy version of traditional pad Thai, but maintains the authentic taste.
The key to perfect pad Thai is in the cooking of the noodles—cook them just enough so that they are chewy-perfect. When this dish is all put together, you will understand why pad Thai is so popular.
"A complex and flavorful version of Pad Thai thanks to the use of tamarind paste instead of ketchup and generous amounts of fish sauce for a great funky flavor. My local supermarket carried everything (even tamarind paste) except for the bean sprouts, which I easily found at a nearby Asian market." —Danielle Centoni
Make the sauce by combining the tamarind paste mixture, chicken stock, fish sauce, brown sugar, and chili sauce. Stir well to dissolve. Taste-test for a tangy balance between sweet and sour.Add more sugar if too sour or more tamarind if too sweet.
Bring a large pot of waterto boil and dunk in rice noodles. Stir to separate. Only cook until they are limp but still firm and slightly crunchy (they will finish cooking later in the pan).
Drain the noodles and rinse well with cold water to prevent sticking. Set aside.
Place the chicken in a small bowl. Stir together the soy sauce and cornstarch and pour over the chicken. Stir well and set aside.
Preheat a wok or large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add 1 to 2 tablespoons of oil followed by the garlic and minced chili, if using. Stir-fry until fragrant (30 seconds).
Add the marinated chicken. When the wok or pan becomes dry, add thechicken stock.Stir-fry 5 to 7 minutes, until the chicken is cooked.
Add the drained noodles and pour the prepared sauce over. Using two utensils or chopsticks, use a gentle "lift and turn" method to fry the noodles (like tossing a salad). Stir-fry in this way 5 minutes, or until the noodles are chewy. If you find your pan too dry, add a little more oil.
Add the bean sprouts and continue frying for 1 more minute, or until the noodles are cooked. The noodles are done when they taste chewy and a little sticky. Taste-test for seasoning, adding more fish sauce until yourdesired flavor is reached (you can add up to 1 tablespoonfish sauce).
Top with generous sprinklings of fresh cilantro, greenonion, and crushed/chopped nuts. Serve with fresh lime wedges on the side.
Look for tamarind paste at Asian/Chinese or Indian food stores.
If you don't have chili paste, use 1/2 teaspoon or more dried crushed chili or cayenne.
For even more flavor, make a double batch of the pad Thai sauce. Then, as you're stir-frying the noodles, add more sauce until you're happy with the taste (you can also add extra fish sauce).
Any leftover sauce can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to three weeks or the freezer for six months.
Is Pad Thai Spicy?
Pad Thai is not typically very spicy and is sometimes served with chili sauce on the side to adjust the spiciness. The dish is salty, tangy, and savory. You can adjust the level of spice in your homemade pad Thai by adding more or less chili sauce.
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)
Pad Thai Sauce is made with fish sauce, oyster sauce, brown sugar and tamarind. Tamarind is the ingredient that is the heart and soul of Pad Thai sauce, giving the sauce the sour flavour that Pad Thai is known for. It's an ingredient used in South East Asian cooking, like this Malaysian Beef Rendang.
Pad Thai is often served with chopped peanuts, bean sprouts, scallions, and sometimes carrots, cilantro and/or a wedge of lime. The sauce is key and is comprised of sugar, fish sauce, rice vinegar, and tamarind.
Traditional pad thai sauce includes fish sauce, vinegar, sugar and tamarind paste. Tamarind paste is not easily found at a regular grocery stores so I substituted rice vinegar. If you would like to use tamarind paste, substitute about 2 Tablespoons in place of the rice vinegar in this recipe.
The dish is mixed with a tamarind sauce and served with lime. The flavors of this dish are centered around a sweet-savory fusion. Salty, nutty, and with that slightly sweet sauce, it's a treat for tastebuds!
Tamarind concentrate: This is the starring ingredient in pad Thai that gives the sauce its signature tangy, sweet, and fruity flavor. Granted, some American Thai restaurants have switched to using ketchup in its place, which gives the dish a notably different and less-tangy flavor.
You've probably had pad thai in your local restaurant, but what you had may not be anything like the authentic version. First, it should not have ketchup or any tomato product in it. Second, it should not be syrupy sweet. And finally, it shouldn't be just a heavy, soggy clump of noodles with bits of green onions.
The name of this establishment refers to the five flavors (ha/ห้า=five, roat/รส=flavors) which are present in a good pad Thai: salty, sweet, sour, spicy, and savory.
When it's sold in restaurants outside Thailand, the noodles are sometimes bright orange – that's because sauces or spices, like paprika, have been used instead of tamarind. Authentic Pad Thai is a light reddish-brown colour.
Traditional Thai cooking calls for a whole range of fresh herbs and spices, from ginger to galangal, and Thai basil to turmeric. However, none is more prominent than the fiery chilli, featuring in just about any Thai dish in its various forms—dried, fresh, pickled, and so forth.
The vinegar-sugar mix works well in dishes like pad thai chicken. If your recipe calls for 1 tablespoon tamarind paste, substitute with 1 tablespoon vinegar mixed with 1 tablespoon brown sugar. If using fresh lime juice, substitute 2 tablespoons lime juice for every 1 tablespoon tamarind paste.
In a small bowl, whisk together the cornstarch and 2 tablespoons cold water until smooth to make a slurry (see note). Whisk the slurry into the tamarind sauce and reduce the heat to low. Simmer, whisking continuously, for 2 minutes. As the cornstarch cooks, it will thicken up the sauce.
Because they are made from rice flour, Pad Thai Noodles are cooked differently than traditional wheat noodles. Instead of boiling, Pad Thai Noodles are soaked in cold or warm water. The soaking process softens the noodles and makes them slippery, while boiling makes them sticky or gummy.
Peanut Butter: In my recipe, I add a big scoop of peanut butter to the sauce because I think it gives the whole dish an added creaminess and boost of flavor.
Cooking rice noodles is not actually hard, but most people misunderstand how they need to be treated.The #1 reason why your rice noodle stir fries are a soggy mess is that you're cooking them before cooking them.
Pad Thai, a popular traditional rice noodle dish is very mild, pleasant and kid-friendly and can be a great starting point into Thai flavors. The more traditional Pad Thai is made with tamarind, but this recipe uses ketchup which is much easier to find. The taste is very similar.
When it's sold in restaurants outside Thailand, the noodles are sometimes bright orange – that's because sauces or spices, like paprika, have been used instead of tamarind. Authentic Pad Thai is a light reddish-brown colour.
It is usually a mixture of fish sauce (condiment made of fish), oyster sauce (made from oyster extract), brown sugar and tamarind (tree seed), but can also include shrimp, garlic, shallots or red chili pepper. Some establishments or chefs may use soy sauce, which is traditionally made by fermenting soybeans and wheat.
The vinegar-sugar mix works well in dishes like pad thai chicken. If your recipe calls for 1 tablespoon tamarind paste, substitute with 1 tablespoon vinegar mixed with 1 tablespoon brown sugar. If using fresh lime juice, substitute 2 tablespoons lime juice for every 1 tablespoon tamarind paste.
Introduction: My name is Duane Harber, I am a modern, clever, handsome, fair, agreeable, inexpensive, beautiful person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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