Crazy About Pad Thai

It’s pretty weird I still haven’t posted any Thai food recipe, even that is definitely (alongside of Italian) the kind of food we cook most at home. Especially Thai curries are our favorites, because they’re flavorous, they are extremely quick and simple to do, and they have a real kick in them. I have never been to Thailand myself, but learned to love their food here in Finland, in Thai restaurants and in friends’ homes.

When me and my boyfriend started to date in 2009, it was one of the first times we went out in bars together and ended up eating whatever we could find in my fridge late at night. That day I had prepared me some red curry and so we devoured the leftovers with a good appetite - at least I did. For my significant one that was rather a strange experience, simply because he had never tasted Thai food before. However, something changed that night and since then he’s been a huge fan. It’s actually him, who requires us to have at least one Thai dinner in a week.

One of my favorites of Thai cuisine is pad thai. Along times I’ve tried to find a proper recipe for this dish by googling, but there’s always something that could be done better. This is why I have always done my own version of it. Actually it’s about a time for me to write the recipe down, as I always forget how I prepared it last time, and have to start all over again. In fact, I start losing the memory of preparing this delicious noodle dish already, but I’ll try to be as precise as possible with the amounts of ingredients.

And PS. I totally FORGOT the egg from my previous pad thai, that’s why you can’t see it in the pics ;)

The Best Pad Thai in Western World (serves 3-4)

200g flat dry rice noodles

150g firm tofu, cubed

1 tablespoon canola oil

200g shrimps (I use frozen ones but peel and devein yours, if raw)

150g bean sprouts, washed and drained

2 cloves garlic, very finely minced

2 eggs

50ml salted peanuts, coarsely chopped

4 spring onions, finely chopped

handful of fresh coriander, coarsely chopped

lime wedges, to garnish

For the sauce:

6 tablespoons Thai fish sauce

50ml fresh lime juice

3 tablespoons ketjap manis

1 tablespoon palm sugar

1 tablespoon light soy sauce

2 heaping teaspoons tamarind paste

2 teaspoons chili paste or one fresh red chili, finely chopped

Bring water to a boil in a large sauce pan. Break the noodle nests slightly smaller an boil according to the package instructions. Cooking time for rice noodles is usually very short, around 1-3 minutes depending on thickness. It’s better to leave the noodles a bit al dente and elastic, as they cook slightly more when added into the wok. Rinse ready noodles with cold water, drain and set aside.

Mix all the sauce ingredients well together, until the sugar dissolves. Break the eggs into a bowl and beat lightly.

Heat up a wok pan and fry tofu cubes over a medium heat without oil until they’re slightly golden on each side. When ready, add 1 tablespoon of canola oil, the shrimps (if you use raw ones, fry them for 1 minute before adding the next ingredients), garlic, bean spouts and drained noodles. Stir fry for 1 minute.

Make some room in your wok and pour the beaten eggs in the pan. Scramble until almost cooked, then mix with the rest of the ingredients on the pan. 

Lastly, add in the pad thai sauce, 3 chopped spring onions and half of the crushed peanuts. Stir fry for a minute or two more, until everything is cooked and well incorporated.

Garnish with rest of the spring onion, peanuts and fresh coriander. Serve with lemon wedges and shriracha.