the classic recipe
Pad thai
Pad thai is Thai street food at its most accessible to outsiders — the gateway drug to Thai cuisine. Rice noodles stir-fried in a wok over fierce heat with a sauce that's a balance of four pillars: sweet (palm sugar), sour (tamarind), salty (fish sauce), and umami (dried shrimp). Shrimp or chicken cubes, scrambled egg, crisp bean sprouts and garlic chives folded in last, finished with crushed peanuts, lime wedge, and chili flakes that the eater customizes. The trick is the sauce balance — none of the four pillars should dominate. Authentic Thai pad thai has a 'funk' from fish sauce and dried shrimp that gentler Westernized versions soften. Try authentic first; you may never go back.
yields 2 servings·982 kcal per serving·cuisine Thai
The traditional recipe
Instructions
Prepare the sauce: combine 30g tamarind paste with 3 tablespoons brown sugar (or palm sugar), 2 tablespoons fish sauce, and 1 tablespoon Thai dark soy sauce; stir until sugar dissolves and set aside.
Soak the flat rice noodles in hot (not boiling) water for 20–30 minutes until pliable but still firm to the bite. Drain and set aside.
Complete your mise en place before turning on the heat: mince garlic (3–4 cloves), slice shallots (2 units), grind dried shrimp (1 tablespoon), cube firm tofu (100g), measure out bean sprouts (150g), cut garlic chives into 1-inch pieces, and lightly beat the eggs.
Heat the wok over high heat until smoking. Add 1 tablespoon oil and sear the shrimp (250g) or chicken until golden; remove and set aside.
Add 2 more tablespoons oil. Fry ground dried shrimp for 1–2 minutes until fragrant and crisp. Add garlic, shallots, preserved salted radish, and tofu; stir-fry over high heat for 30 seconds.
Add the drained noodles and the prepared sauce. Toss vigorously with a wok spatula for 1–2 minutes until the noodles absorb the sauce and begin to caramelize at the edges.
Push the noodles to the side of the wok. Drizzle a little oil in the center, pour in the beaten eggs, let them set about 70%, then break them up and fold into the noodles.
Return the reserved protein, add bean sprouts and garlic chives. Stir-fry for just 30 seconds — the sprouts should retain their crunch.
Plate immediately. Top with crushed roasted peanuts, fresh cilantro leaves, and Thai chili flakes. Serve with lime wedges for each person to squeeze over their own plate.