Pad Thai

Pad Thai with Prawns

(Pad Thai Gung Sot)

Pad-Thai-RecipePad Thai is the tourists favourite, I suppose because they feel safe or maybe because it’s not hard to pronounce, who knows?

Khwanjai’s Pad Thai Recipe sits proudly on the plate announcing its majestic presence. With just a glance you know that this is no ordinary Pad Thai. To use its proper title, “Kuaytiaw Pad Thai” is the classic Thai noodles recipe.

In this recipe we’ll share with you how to make Pad Thai and include our Pad Thai Sauce. Easy pad Thai it may be, however there are quite a few steps to make pad Thai noodles successfully, not to mention making a great Pad Thai Sauce which can make or break a pad Thai.

How to Make Pad Thai
Ingredients:Pad-Thai-Ingredients (Serves 4)
150g Rice Noodles
100g Fresh Prawns or Shrimps
1/3 Cup dried Shrimps (optional)
100g Tofu (extra firm)
2 Eggs
1 Cup Chives (when chopped)
1 Cup Bean Sprouts
1/3 Cup Chopped Pickled Turnip
3 Garlic Cloves
3 Shallots (red)
4tbs Tamarind Purée
3tbs Oyster Sauce
2tbs Fish Sauce
3 Heaped “Dessert Spoons” of Palm Sugar
2ts Chicken Stock powder (1/2 cube)
1/2 Cup Oil
Optional ingredients for serving
1/2 cup roasted chopped peanuts
Thai Chilli Powder

Preparation:
Soak Rice noodles for 2-3 hours, some brands require less, read the packet, if using fresh no need to soak at all
Prepare prawns as per Preparing Prawns Video Tutorial
Make Tamarind Purée as per Tamarind Video
Cut and chop the Garlic and Shallots there should be about twice as much Shallot as Garlic
Cut firm Tofu into 1cm (1/2″) cubes
Top and Tail a bunch of Chives and chop enough to fill 1 cup (see photo)

How to make Pad Thai Sauce:
Add 1/2 cup of water to wok and bring to boil
Add the Palm sugar, (don’t bother with alternatives, there are none really suitable) stir until dissolved
Add Tamarind Puree, stirring in well, leave to simmer stirring occasionally until reduced by about 30-40%, or until it becomes thicker and slightly sticky
That’s it! You just learned how to make Pad Thai Sauce
Using this method do not add any other sauces such as dark sweet soy sauce it doesn’t need it

How to Make Pad Thai:
Add small amount of oil to hot wok and add 1/2 of the Garlic, stir until starting to turn golden brown with good aroma
Next add the fresh prawns and stir fry about 1-2 minutes, remove and place to one side
Using the same wok add 4-5tbs oil and get medium hot, before adding the Tofu, stir fry about a minute until quite firm and golden brown
Remove most of the oil and add remaining Garlic and Shallots to half of the pan, continue stirring until garlic is turning brown before mixing all together, stir a further 1/2 minute
Next add the Shrimps and pickled Turnip, stir about a minute and add the noodles and stir everything together
Now add about 4tbs of the Pad Thai Sauce we made earlier and stir in for about 30 seconds
Now add Fish and Oyster sauces and the chicken stock powder stirring in well
Next form a well in the middle, ad a drop of oil and chuck in the eggs stirring them to scramble, cover with the noodles for a moment and stir again to mix the egg in
Now add the Bean sprouts and Chopped Chives and stir together until mixed in
Lastly add the Prawns and Garlic we pre-cooked earlier stir in a few times and…
Done! You just learned how to make Khwanjai’s delicious Pad Thai Recipe

Serving suggestions:
Serve into a nice serving dish, place on your table with a slice of lime and your choice of vegetables on the side. This dish is a meal in itself, beautifully savoury and can be enjoyed very nicely without adding anything however; in traditional Thai style you can sprinkle some peanuts or chilli powder on top to vary it a little. Give it a go you’ll love it.

Pad Thai also makes a fantastic addition to virtually any Thai banquet as it is savoury flavoured so will contrast and compliment many styles of Thai cooking. Try our Fish 3 Flavours packed with more top tips on how to cook truly fantastic fishy dishy. Also may we suggest our lovely Basil Shrimp Recipe (actually we use prawns) in keeping with the seafood theme. Perhaps moving towards meat; a nice Chicken Green Curry, creamy, rich and spicy. How about a Pork Red Curry the flavours of the Pad Thai will compliment and contrast and all of these delicious recipes.

Khwanjai’s Top Tips:
Blimey there are loads too many to write here so I’ll make a confession instead

The prawns we used were not as fresh as they might be, (not off) Khwanjai thinks her brother got stitched up at the market (he went), you can see as she fries them, they start to fall apart, so the texture was lacking in the Prawn department.  So the lesson is:…. Get them FRESH from the docks! Okay I’m kidding (unless you live near to the docks), get them from a high turnover supermarket or fishmonger you trust to ensure best freshness, having said that, frozen are usually okay.

Pickled Turnips? That’s what they are so it’s off to the Asian market I guess. To add to the confusion – they’re often labelled as “Sweet Radish” The reason is: In Thailand Radish is often referred to and labelled as Turnip. (Even in Tesco) I have eaten this raw and can assure you it tastes exactly like radish but slightly milder. Plus there are two varieties “in brine” and “in sweet vinegar” the latter is usually labelled “seasoned”. In this recipe we use the sweet (seasoned) version. If you can’t get them leave them out!

https://s3.amazonaws.com/tcsimages/Pickled-Turnip.jpgThis Brand does a Red packet (chopped) as well as this Green one (stripped) and Khwanjai prefers to use the one!

Jules on a rant in this Thai food blog post Easy Pad Thai

Print the recipe so you can make your own notes.

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