Classic Pad Thai
Classic Pad Thai is known for its complex and balanced flavor profile, combining sweet, sour, salty, and umami tastes. This harmony comes from a core set of ingredients, especially in the sauce.
Sweet: The sweetness typically comes from palm sugar, which provides a caramel-like, aromatic taste that is less intensely sweet than white sugar.
Sour: Tamarind paste is the primary source of tartness in authentic Pad Thai, creating a fruity, smooth, and tangy flavor. This is often balanced with fresh lime juice, which adds a sharper, brighter citrus kick.
Salty and Umami: The savory, salty, and funky umami notes come from fish sauce and, in some versions, dried shrimp. For vegetarian versions, soy sauce is a common substitute.
Aromatic and savory: Shallots, garlic, and garlic chives provide a pungent, savory base. The chives, in particular, add a distinct garlicky-onion flavor that is characteristic of the dish.
Store-bought Pad Thai sauce
You can use store-bought Pad Thai sauce if you do not want to purchase the palm sugar and tamarind. It will typically have the sweet preserved daikon radish flavor in it already. If using it, skip the Pad Thai Sauce ingredients and the daikon radish.
Chicken
If using chicken for the protein. Use about 1/2 pound of boneless and skinless chicken breast. Place the chicken in the freezer for about 30 minutes to harden it up a bit. Then thinly slice it across the grain.
Noodles
You should soak Pad Thai noodles instead of boiling them to prevent them from becoming mushy. Soaking in cool or lukewarm water until they are pliable but still firm is the ideal method, as the noodles will finish cooking in the hot wok with the sauce.
If you are in a hurry, Boil water, turn off. Soak noodles for about 4-7 minutes. Stir with a fork after about a minute so they don't stick
Note:
Make sure to have all the ingredients prepped ahead of time; the recipe comes together quickly.
Ingredients
Pad Thai Sauce
3 tablespoons tightly packed palm sugar (coconut sugar, which offers a similar taste and texture, along with brown sugar, can be substituted)
3 Tbsp water
3-4 tablespoons Thai cooking tamarind (if you have not used the type of tamarind you purchased before, use 3 tablespoons. If you have and it is not overly sour, use 4 tablespoons.)
2 Tbsp good fish sauce
Pad Thai
4oz dry medium-sized rice noodles or Pad Thai noodles, soak in room temperature water for 1 hour.
2 Tbsp dried shrimp, medium size, roughly chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1/4 cup roughly chopped shallots
3 oz firm tofu, drained on a paper towel, and cut into small pieces
3 Tbsp finely chopped sweet preserved daikon radish
1-3 bird's eye chilies, to taste. One chopped fresh chili is about half a teaspoon of dried chili flakes.
3 Tbsp peanut oil or neutral vegetable oil
10 medium-sized shrimp, or as many as you like, peeled and deveined. (I like to remove the tails, but the classic recipe leaves them on)
2 eggs
2 ½ cups bean sprouts, loosely packed
7-10 stalks garlic chives (Chinese chives), or green onions, cut into 2” pieces
1/4 to 1/2 cup roasted peanuts, roughly chopped
1 lime
Preparation
Pad Thai Sauce
Add palm sugar to a small pot and melt over medium heat. Once the sugar is melting, keep stirring until it darkens in colour. Immediately add water, fish sauce, and tamarind paste. The sugar will harden immediately, and this is okay.
Bring the sauce to a simmer, then turn off the heat. The hardened sugar will not have dissolved at this point, but let it sit while you prep other ingredients, and it should be dissolved by the time you need it. Check that it is dissolved before you start cooking!
Pad Thai
Cut the drained noodles once with scissors so they are half as long. This makes them easier to toss and separate in the wok.
In a bowl, combine tofu, garlic, shallots, preserved radish, dried shrimp, and chili flakes.
Heat a wok or a large nonstick skillet over high heat and add just enough oil to coat the bottom. Cook shrimp, or whatever protein you're using, until done, and remove them from the pan.
In the same wok over medium heat, add a little more oil if needed, then add everything in the tofu bowl and sauté for a few minutes until garlic starts to turn golden and shallots are wilted. If the wok looks dry, add a little more oil. (Don't skimp on oil; otherwise, the noodles will clump up together.)
Add noodles and sauce. Keep tossing until all the sauce is absorbed.
Once the sauce is absorbed, taste the noodles for doneness. If they're undercooked, add a little more water and continue cooking, being careful not to add too much water!
Once noodles are done, push them to one side of the pan. Add add little extra oil to the space and add eggs. Break the yolks, then put noodles on top of the eggs and cook for about 30 seconds. Flip and toss to mix eggs into noodles.
Toss the cooked protein back in, plus any collected juices. Then add bean sprouts, chives, and the peanuts. Turn off the heat and toss until well mixed.
Serve immediately with a lime wedge. Be sure to squeeze a bit of lime on top before eating!
Garnish can include more chopped peanuts, more bean sprouts, more chives, and/or Chinese parsley (Cilantro).
Keywords: Main Asian Shrimp Chicken
