🇹🇭 Pad Thai

Name: Pad Thai
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 30 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Bangkok, Thailand
Ingredients: 3 tbsp Tamarind Paste; 3 tbsp Palm Sugar; 3 tbsp Fish Sauce; 250 g Rice Noodles; 3 tbsp Oil; 300 g Prawns; 100 g Tofu; 3 cloves Garlic; 2 Shallots; 2 tbsp Preserved Radish; 2 Eggs; 1.5 cups Bean Sprouts; 1 cup Garlic Chives; 1/2 cup Peanuts; Lime Wedges

Bangkok, Thailand Stir-Fried Noodles Prep 20 min Cook 10 min Serves 4 520 kcal

Pad Thai is Thailand’s most famous street dish. Rice noodles are stir-fried with tamarind, fish sauce, palm sugar, prawns, tofu, and peanuts. The balance of salty, sour, sweet, and nutty is what makes it work. It comes together in minutes.

Ingredients

3 tbsp Tamarind Paste
3 tbsp Palm Sugar
3 tbsp Fish Sauce
250 g Rice Noodles
3 tbsp Oil
300 g Prawns
100 g Tofu
3 cloves Garlic
2 Shallots
2 tbsp Preserved Radish
2 Eggs
1.5 cups Bean Sprouts
1 cup Garlic Chives
1/2 cup Peanuts
Lime Wedges

Method

Soak noodles 30 min in warm water. Drain. Do not boil.
Mix tamarind, palm sugar, and fish sauce.
Sear prawns. Remove.
Fry tofu, shallots, garlic, and radish.
Add noodles and sauce. Toss 2–3 min.
Push aside, scramble eggs, fold in.
Add prawns, sprouts, and chives. Toss 30 sec.
Serve with peanuts and lime.

History

Pad Thai was created in the 1930s and 1940s, during a period of intense nationalism in Thailand. The government of Prime Minister Plaek Phibunsongkhram promoted a national identity that included a national dish, and pad Thai — a stir-fried noodle dish combining Chinese techniques with Thai flavours — was promoted as that dish. The government distributed the recipe and encouraged street vendors to sell it, and it became a staple of Thai street food. The dish was also a practical measure: rice noodles were cheap and abundant, and the dish used relatively little meat, which was expensive at the time. Today pad Thai is one of the most internationally recognised Thai dishes.

The science

The signature flavour of pad Thai comes from the balance of four tastes: salty (fish sauce), sour (tamarind), sweet (palm sugar), and nutty (peanuts). Getting this balance right is the whole point of the dish, and the sauce should be tasted and adjusted before it goes into the wok. The noodles must be soaked, not boiled, before stir-frying — soaked noodles are firm enough to absorb the sauce without becoming mushy, and the residual moisture in them helps the sauce cling. The wok must also be very hot, so that the noodles sear rather than steam, and the eggs are scrambled separately in a well made in the side of the wok so they stay distinct rather than coating every strand of noodle.

Substitutions

Prawns and tofu are the traditional proteins, but chicken, pork, or a mix of all three work well. For a vegetarian version, omit the fish sauce and use light soy sauce or a vegan fish sauce substitute — the flavour will be different but still good. Tamarind paste is essential to the authentic flavour and is available at Asian groceries; if you cannot find it, lime juice mixed with a little brown sugar approximates the sourness, though not the depth. Rice noodles come in different widths; the flat, 1/8-inch wide noodles are the right choice for this dish. Dried shrimp and preserved radish add an extra layer of umami and are worth seeking out.

Chef's tip

Soak, never boil the noodles — they need to stay firm to absorb the sauce.

Drink pairing

Singha beer or Thai iced tea. The crisp bitterness of the beer cuts through the richness of the peanuts and eggs, while Thai iced tea offers a sweet, creamy counterpoint that softens the dish’s acidity.