Pad Thai Recipe

kevsdadhacks May 22, 2020

If you like pad thai at Thai restaurants, but would rather make it at home, then try out my pad thai recipe below. Recipe below made enough for my family of five and we also had some left over.

Tools

Bowls for ingredients (if you need them)
Mixing bowl
Measuring spoons
Serving spoon
Large frying pan
Cutting board
Kitchen knife
Measuring cups

Sauce Ingredients

8 tbsp fish sauce
6 tbsp tamarind paste
1 tbsp lime juice (I like 2 tbsp, wife likes 1 tbsp)
1 tbsp rice vinegar (I like 2 tbsp, wife likes 1 tbsp)
4 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp Sriracha chili sauce or ketchup for color (optional)

Below are links to the specialized ingredients you may not have in your pantry. Please keep in mind that links in my posts are affiliate links. If you go through them to make a purchase, I will earn a commission. Earning commissions enables me to write, manage and maintain this free blog for readers like you.

Mizkan Rice Vinegar – https://amzn.to/2zme3M4

Three Crabs Brand Fish Sauce – https://amzn.to/3gbDkcl

Dragonfly Tamarind Concentrate – https://amzn.to/3cWcdQG

Huy Fong Sriracha Chili Hot Sauce – https://amzn.to/3e7soe7

Pad Thai Ingredients

1 pkg pad thai noodles (14 oz)
4 tbsp vegetable oil
4 garlic cloves chopped
1 cup fried tofu cut into strips or cubes (I did little of both)
1 cup chopped skinless chicken thigh
4 eggs
10 frozen shrimp or fresh that is peeled and cleaned
2-4 chopped green onions
1-2 cups chopped dry-roasted unsalted peanuts
2 cup bean sprouts

Thai Premium Dragon Brand Chantaboon Rice Stick Noodles – https://amzn.to/3gg2NBC

I wasn’t able to find fried tofu on Amazon, but here’s what it looks like. Also, if you want to make your own fried tofu, here’s a link to a video on how to pan fry tofu: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XiJlWncaLLI

Steps

Soak the dry noodles in a large bowl of warm water for about an hour so they will soften. If using fresh noodles, you can use right out of the package.

To make the sauce, combine fish sauce, tamarind paste, lime juice, rice vinegar, Sriracha chili sauce or ketchup, and sugar in a small bowl. Make sure to stir well until the sugar dissolves.

The Sriracha chili sauce makes the noodles red and gives your pad thai a kick of spiciness. If you or your kids don’t like spiciness, then you can add ketchup or not add Sriracha or ketchup at all. Ketchup would add red color to noodles and more sweetness, typically kids like sweet dishes. I personally like Sriracha chili sauce.

Heat oil in a skillet or wok over high heat or until the pan gets pretty hot. Then add garlic and stir. Then add the tofu and stir-fry until garlic and tofu turn slightly brown.

Turn heat down to medium and move ingredients in pan to one side, then add eggs and chicken. You can pierce the yolks. Let chicken and eggs cook for a bit until eggs start to become opaque, then mix all of the ingredients in the pan.

Add shrimp to pan and cook until they turn opaque. If you’re using frozen shrimp, be sure to allow them to defrost in refrigerator or put them in cool water for 10-20 minutes to speed up the defrosting process. If you use fresh shrimp, here’s a video I found on how to clean and devein fresh shrimp: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PwibvHFwZ8

Drain noodles, then add to pan and cook for a few minutes until soft.

Add sauce mixture and mix into noodles until liquid is absorbed, typically a few minutes. Be sure shrimp, eggs and chicken are thoroughly cooked.

Note, in my picture above the noodles are not red. Its because I added the Sriracha chili sauce to my and my wife’s servings of pad thai only, kids ate the pad thai with no Sriracha chili sauce.