Better Than Authentic Pad Thai

by admin on in Frugal Meals, What's for Dinner?

Better-than-Authentic Pad Thai

Well, according to my taste buds anyway. 

I love going to a particular restaurant and ordering Pad Thai. The delicate balance between, tart, sweet and hearty is no easy task. I have tried duplicating my favorite restaurant’s dish many many times, and have finally revised and tweaked the recipe until this one emerged and has surpassed the original dish (in my humble opinion). 

 Feel free to add your own touch and change things to your personal liking, but I hope this will give you a good reference to start your homemade Pad Thai journey. PLEASE for the love of all that is holy… don’t use the recipes that have ketchup in the sauce… umm… just don’t. 

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You will need:

    • 1 carrot- matchstick size pieces
    • 3 green onion
    • 1/3 bunch of cilantro- rough chop
    • 2 cups bean sprouts (Mung)
    • 1/2 lime cut into wedges
    • 1/3 cup peanuts- rough chop using a food chopper makes this super easy!
    • 2 eggs- scrambled
    • Rice noodles (size of package will vary I used enough to make 4 cups cooked)
    • 1lb boneless skinless chicken breast cut into strips (can use shrimp and/or tofu)
    • Oil of your choice that can withstand high heat
  • Sesame seeds for garnish (optional)

For Sauce:

    • 1/4 cup water
    • 2 cloves garlic crushed
  • Red Pepper flakes for heat (optional)

The night before or the morning you plan to make your Pad Thai, peel and cut the carrot into small match stick size pieces. 

Cover carrot with 1/2 cup rice vinegar and 1 Tbs coconut palm sugar. Cover with lid or plastic wrap and allow to marinate in the refrigerator until needed. 

It is wise to have all your ingredients cut and ready to use as the actual cooking is very fast. These handy 1 cup food prep bowls make assembly a snap!  You will want to cut the green onion into circles, keeping the white and green parts separate. You will use your ingredients in the following order for the assembly of your dish: Oil, white part of the green onion, Chicken (or protein of choice), egg, carrot, Rice noodle, sauce, bean sprouts/green part of onion/peanuts, garnish with cilantro, lime and sesame seeds. Having your ingredients lined up in this order will make for a quick and easy dinner. 

Make the sauce before you begin to cook. While making the sauce, have enough water to cover rice noodles coming up to a boil. 

For the sauce:

Add crushed garlic to a saucepan using a garlic press.

 Add 1/4 cup of water, and 3 Tbs of Tamarind Paste to a bowl

Follow with 2 Tbs Fish Sauce

Finally add 1/2 cup of Coconut Palm Sugar and a pinch or 2 of crushed red pepper flakes for some heat. 



This is a good time to turn the burner under the water off, place your rice noodles in the pan, cover and let sit until noodles are cooked (10 minutes generally). Drain and set aside for assembly.



Add sauce ingredients to garlic and turn on burner to medium. Stir occasionally until sugar is dissolved. Set aside for assembly. 

You are now ready to put it all together. Start with the oil in your skillet on Medium-High.

Add the white part of your green onion. Stir to begin cooking. 2 minutes

Add chicken (or protein of choice). Cook thoroughly, move into a ring on the outside of the skillet and scramble the eggs in the center.  

Drain carrot and add to pan. Stir.

Add Rice Noodles and sauce. Mix thoroughly.

Turn the heat off, and add remaining green onion, bean sprouts and peanuts. Mix.

Garnish with cilantro, sesame seeds and lime wedges Take a picture and serve to your hungry dining companions!

Enjoy! 

I hope you try this recipe. Let me know if you do! I’d love to hear from you!

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