Pad Thai with Prawns
The street-stall classic done properly: tamarind-sour, palm-sugar sweet, fish-sauce salty, with chewy rice noodles and a bit of char from a very hot wok.
- Region
- Central Thailand
- Condiments
- Fish Sauce, Palm Sugar, Tamarind
- Vegetables
- Thai Shallots, Garlic, Dried Red Chillies, Bean Sprouts, Garlic Chives
- Fruits
- Lime
Ingredients
- 150 g dried rice noodles (sen chan, 3–5 mm wide)
- 8 large raw prawns, peeled and deveined, tails on
- 60 g firm tofu, cut into small cubes
- 2 eggs
- 3 tbsp tamarind concentrate (makham piak), made from pulp soaked in warm water and strained
- 2½ tbsp palm sugar, finely chopped
- 2 tbsp fish sauce
- 3 tbsp neutral oil
- 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 2 small shallots, finely chopped
- 1 tbsp sweet preserved radish (chai po wan), finely chopped
- 1 tbsp dried shrimp, rinsed
- 1 large handful bean sprouts, plus extra to serve
- 1 small bunch garlic chives, cut into 4 cm lengths
- 3 tbsp roasted peanuts, coarsely crushed
- Dried chilli flakes, to taste
- Lime wedges, to serve
Instructions
Pad Thai is a fast dish with a slow start. Almost all the work is in the sauce and the noodle soak; the cooking itself takes under five minutes, so have every ingredient chopped and lined up next to the stove before the wok goes on.
Make it in batches of no more than two portions. A crowded wok steams the noodles instead of frying them, and you lose the slightly smoky edge that makes the street version so good.
Method
- Soak the noodles in room-temperature water for 45–60 minutes, until they bend easily but are still firm in the centre. Drain well. (Hot water makes them limp and they will break in the wok.)
- Make the sauce: warm the tamarind, palm sugar and fish sauce in a small pan over low heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Taste it: it should be sour first, then sweet, then salty. Adjust and set aside.
- Heat 2 tbsp oil in a wok over high heat. Fry the tofu until golden on the edges, then add the garlic, shallots, preserved radish and dried shrimp and stir-fry for 30 seconds until fragrant.
- Add the prawns and cook for about a minute, until they just turn pink. Push everything to one side.
- Add the drained noodles with a splash of water and toss constantly for 1–2 minutes until they soften and turn glossy. Pour in the sauce and keep tossing until it is absorbed and the noodles are tender and slightly sticky.
- Push the noodles aside, add the remaining oil and crack in the eggs. Let them set for 20 seconds, scramble lightly, then fold through the noodles.
- Add the bean sprouts, garlic chives and half the peanuts. Toss for 20 seconds; the sprouts should stay crunchy.
- Serve at once with the remaining peanuts, extra bean sprouts, chilli flakes and lime wedges so everyone can season their own plate.
Cook’s tips
- If the noodles are still hard after the sauce has been absorbed, add water a tablespoon at a time rather than more sauce.
- Tamarind blocks vary a lot in strength. Make the sauce first and taste it on its own. It is much easier to fix before it meets the noodles.
Aroy Mak Mak
Aroy Mak Mak is a small team writing about the food of Thailand and its neighbours: recipes you can cook at home, guides to the ingredients behind them, and places worth travelling for. The name means "very delicious" in Thai. Every recipe on the site lists its ingredients, timings and method in full, explains the techniques that matter, and suggests substitutes for ingredients that are hard to find outside Thailand. The guides to regions, condiments, vegetables and fruits explain what things are, how they are used and how to buy and store them. Place pages are researched from current sources, including the latest Michelin Guide Thailand, official websites and maps, and give addresses, opening hours and what to order. Where a detail could not be confirmed, it is left out rather than guessed.