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Main · Thai

Pad thai

Tamarind, fish sauce and palm sugar. Rice noodles, eggs, peanuts, lime.

40 min 20 min hands-on Serves 4 Thai Kid friendly

Pad thai is Thailand's famous stir-fried rice noodle dish, balancing sweet, sour, salty, and savoury in one wok. The sauce of tamarind, fish sauce, and palm sugar is what defines it. Cooked fast over high heat, it is a quick dinner once everything is prepped and lined up.

Ingredients

  • 250 g flat rice noodles, about 5mm wide
  • 300 g prawns or chicken, peeled prawns, or thinly sliced chicken thigh
  • 2 eggs
  • 3 tbsp tamarind paste
  • 3 tbsp fish sauce
  • 3 tbsp palm sugar, grated or finely chopped, or brown sugar
  • 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
  • 3 tbsp neutral oil
  • 150 g beansprouts
  • 3 spring onions, cut into 3cm lengths
  • 60 g roasted peanuts, roughly chopped
  • 1 lime, cut into wedges
  • 50 ml water, if needed

Method

  1. Soak the noodles in a bowl of warm tap water, not boiling, for 20 to 30 minutes, until they bend easily but are still firm at the centre. Drain in a colander; they finish cooking in the wok.
  2. Meanwhile, warm the tamarind, fish sauce and sugar in a small pan over a low heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves, 1 to 2 minutes. Taste it: it should be sour, salty and sweet all at once. Adjust with a little more of whichever is missing.
  3. Set everything out by the hob, with tongs: garlic, prawns or chicken, eggs cracked into a cup, sauce, noodles, beansprouts, spring onions and peanuts. Use a wok at least 30cm across. If yours is smaller, split everything in half, use half of each oil measure, and cook steps 4 to 7 twice (about 10 minutes longer).
  4. Heat the wok over your highest heat until it just smokes. Add 1 tablespoon of oil and the garlic, stir for 10 seconds, then add the prawns or chicken. Stir-fry until the prawns are just turning pink, 1 to 2 minutes, or the chicken is white all through, 3 to 4 minutes. They finish with the noodles.
  5. Push everything to one side. Add another tablespoon of oil to the empty side, pour in the eggs and leave them for 20 seconds to start setting, then scramble into large curds and mix them through.
  6. Add the noodles, the last of the oil and the sauce. Toss constantly with tongs for 2 to 3 minutes, until the noodles have soaked up the sauce and are soft but chewy. If they stick or are still firm, add the water a splash at a time.
  7. Take the wok off the heat and toss in the beansprouts, most of the spring onions and half the peanuts, so the sprouts stay crunchy.
  8. Pile onto warm plates straight away, while the noodles are still glossy. Scatter over the rest of the peanuts and spring onions, and serve with lime wedges to squeeze over at the table.

Tips

  • Soak the rice noodles in warm water until just pliable, not soft, so they finish cooking in the wok.
  • Have every ingredient prepped and within reach, as the stir-frying happens fast over high heat.
  • If you cannot find tamarind, approximate its sweet-sour tang with lime juice and a little brown sugar.

Common questions

What gives pad thai its sour tang?

Tamarind paste is the traditional source of the sourness, balanced against fish sauce and palm sugar.

Can I make pad thai vegetarian?

Yes, swap fish sauce for soy or a vegetarian fish sauce, skip the dried shrimp, and use tofu instead of meat.