Basic, vegetarian Pad Thai dish. All other kind of ingredients can be added.

Pad Thai, also sometimes known as Phad Thai, is a dish comprising stir-fried rice noodles that have been tossed with eggs, tamarind juice, fish sauce, tofu, chicken, shrimp, red chilli peppers and topped with peanuts and coriander. Traditionally, pad thai is served along with a piece of banana flower. Usually, however, you may see the dish being served accompanied by wedges of lime or picked vegetables.

Contrary to its name, pad thai is not actually a Thai dish at all! It is said to have been brought to Thailand by Vietnamese traders. However, the dish gained popularity around the 1940s when it was declared a national dish by the Thai Prime Minister, Luang Phibunsongkhram. At that time, Thailand was dependent on rice exports and Phibunsongkhram wanted to reduce the domestic consumption of rice. He hoped to do this by popularizing pad thai, which in turn would increase the production of rice noodles and take away the focus from rice as a staple food. (More on the history of Pad Thai).

Outside Thailand, pad thai is accepted as part of Thai cuisine although in Thailand, it is largely found in street carts or small cafes. The version found on the streets of Thailand is dry and light while the kind you would eat at a western restaurant would be heavier and richer in appearance.

Pad thai can be made in several ways. Variations may be made by changing the ingredients or as per a chef’s personal touches. For example, some people prefer using soy sauce instead of fish sauce in order to make a vegetarian version of pad thai. Tamarind juice and palm sugar can be replaced with vinegar and cane sugar. You may sometimes a gooey, red-colored pad thai. The red color and texture would be most likely due to the addition of tomato ketchup. Instead of ground red chillies, which the traditional recipe demands, you can use bottled chilli sauce. You can choose to stir-fry the noodles straightaway or boil them and the stir-fry them for a more mushy texture.

Here is a simple but authentic recipe for making delicious pad thai. Start by making sure you have these ingredients in place:

Ingredients for Pad Thai

6 ½ oz/200g dried rice stick noodles – available at Asian stores

3 tablespoons fish sauce

1 tablespoon soy sauce

2 teaspoons brown sugar

3 tablespoons lime juice

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 dozen shrimps, shelled and deveined

3 garlic cloves, chopped finely

2 red chillies, finely sliced

2 eggs, beaten

2 spring onions, sliced finely

2 cups bean sprouts

3 tablespoons peanuts, roasted and crushed

4 tablespoons fresh coriander leaves, chopped

Wedges of lime

How to Cook Pad Thai

Begin by soaking the noodles in boiling water for 10 minutes. Rinse them out in cold water and drain thoroughly. In a bowl, combine the fish sauce, soy sauce, lime juice and brown sugar. Heat a wok until it is really hot. Pour in a tablespoon of oil and stir-fry the shrimp for 2 minutes until it turns pink. Set the shrimp aside. Pour in the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil in the hot wok and fry the garlic and chilli for half a minute. Add the noodles and stir-fry for a minute. Push the noodles to the side of the wok, add in the eggs and cook until they begin to set. Now stir the egg through the noodles. Pour in the prepared sauce and shrimp and stir-fry for approximately 1 minute. Take the wok off the heat and stir in spring onions, bean sprouts, and half of the peanuts and coriander leaves. Top with the remaining peanuts and coriander leaves before serving. Don’t forget to serve the lime wedges on the side. In this recipe, the shrimp can be replaced with tofu or chicken.

Tips

There are several variations of Pad Thai, and the dish is to a certain degree perfect for free style cooking. However, to get started, you might want to have a closer look on some ideas for pork,  chicken, beef, shrimp or detailed instruction on how to make Pad Thai sauce, respectively Pad Thai paste.

The image credits go TESFox and toavlxyz at Flickr.

Enjoy, your team at Pad Thai Recipe.