In Thailand, it’s mostly Joe Average street food. But when it immigrated to the United States, pad Thai morphed into a coast-to-coast culinary heartthrob, teasing the palate with its balanced blend of salty, sweet, tangy and spicy.
But what looks so easy on the street or at the noodle bar usually gives way to platters of gummy, greasy noodles at home.
The problem: not following the basic tenets of stir-frying, which include using a smoking-hot pan with a good amount of oil and cooking in small batches.
“You want the oil to be smoking or right on the verge of smoking, which keeps the noodles from sticking and getting greasy,” says Mai Pham, chef-owner of Lemongrass Asian Grill and Noodle Bar in Sacramento, Calif.
“You are moving all the time, and the dish takes you no more than 3 minutes to make,” says Pham, who was raised in Thailand.
Ready to dish out some authentic street food for dinner? Here’s what you need to know:
The rice noodles
Literally meaning “Thai-style stir-fried noodles,” Thailand’s national dish probably came to Thailand via China, which food historians say introduced the rest of Asia to rice noodles and the art of pan-frying them.
Pad Thai is made using rice noodles (noodles made from rice flour and water) the thickness of linguini. Use any other style noodle and you’re not making pad Thai, says Pham. And they must be prepared properly.
That’s partly because in Thailand, the noodles generally are used fresh. But those aren’t common in the U.S. The dry rice noodles that are common here have a higher starch content. If they are prepared incorrectly, they will be sticky.
In Thai restaurants, the noodles are soaked in warm water until pliable, then blanched and left to rest in a colander until used later in the recipe. They shouldn’t be fully cooked when they come out of the water because they will cook again during frying.
The sauce
Most pad Thai found stateside has been Americanized, usually with the addition of ketchup and sweet-and-sour sauce.
“Years ago, that was all that was available,” says Corinne Trang, author of “Essentials of Asian Cuisine.” “It was an easy way to get the sweet and sour and salty flavors into the dish. It was also a familiar flavor.
“A lot of Asian restaurants cut corners because they think that’s what Americans like better,” she says.
But it’s no longer necessary to resort to such measures. Today, it’s easy to find traditional ingredients once considered obscure, such as palm sugar and tamarind paste.
A perfectly cooked pad Thai should have a balance of flavors — tangy, sweet, spicy and salty, Trang says. This comes from a blend of tamarind paste, palm sugar, crushed red chili peppers and fish sauce.
Traditional pad Thai sauces follow a basic formula of a third each of palm sugar, tamarind paste and fish sauce. The peppers can be added to the sauce or fried in the oil. Frying them gives the peppers an added smokiness that complements the noodles.
The classic ingredients
Order pad Thai in America, and you probably will get your choice of chicken, beef, pork, tofu or shrimp.
On the streets of Thailand, standard pad Thai starts with meaty pressed tofu, minced garlic and pungent dried shrimp, then is finished with bean sprouts, garlic chives and crushed peanuts. Fish sauce, lime wedges and green chiles are served on the side.
Dried shrimp — baby shrimp that are salted and fermented — can be found at any Asian grocer. They add a wonderfully authentic chewy and salty texture that makes it worth hunting them down.
“When you are selecting dried shrimp, you want them to be plump and pink,” Trang says. “If they are gray, they are too old.”
Pressed tofu usually is found along with the refrigerated Asian ingredients and is vacuum-packed. This is not the variety packed in water.
The technique
Pad Thai is a stir-fry, and a stir-fry moves hot and fast, taking no more than 3 minutes to make.
So having everything ready to go before you start cooking is key. Note: A well-seasoned wok works best, but a stainless-steel skillet or a seasoned cast-iron skillet works, too.
Make the sauce ahead and leave it near the wok so you can just scoop it and add to the noodles when the frying begins.
This also is not a dish that can be made in large batches, because too many cold noodles crowding the pan will cool down the oil and cause them to steam and stick instead of fry.
Pad Thai is not meant to be a healthy dish, so don’t be afraid to be heavy-handed with the oil. You’ll need 2 tablespoons per two-serving batch.
As for the egg, it is intended to add color as much as flavor. Once the noodles are cooked, crack the egg directly into the pan and let it sit for a few seconds and then swirl for a few seconds before tossing with the noodles.
From Alton Brown and the Food Network:
Pad Thai
1 ounce tamarind paste
3/4 cup boiling water
2 tablespoons fish sauce
2 tablespoons palm sugar
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
4 ounces rice stick noodles
6 ounces Marinated Tofu (recipe follows)
1 to 2 tablespoons peanut oil
1 cup chopped scallions, divided
2 teaspoons minced garlic
2 whole eggs, beaten
2 teaspoons salted cabbage
1 tablespoon dried shrimp
3 ounces bean sprouts, divided
1/2 cup roasted salted peanuts, chopped, divided
Freshly ground dried red chile peppers, to taste
1 lime, cut into wedges
Place the tamarind paste in the boiling water and set aside while preparing the other ingredients.
Combine the fish sauce, palm sugar and rice wine vinegar in a small bowl and set aside.
Place the rice stick noodles in a mixing bowl and cover with hot water. Set aside while you prepare the remaining ingredients. Once the other ingredients are measured out into separate bowls, drain the water from the noodles and set them aside. Cut the tofu into 1/2-inch wide strips, similar to french fries.
Press the tamarind paste through a fine mesh strainer and add to the sauce. Stir to combine.
Place a wok over high heat. Once hot, add 1 tablespoon of the peanut oil. Heat until it shimmers, then add the tofu. Cook the tofu until golden brown, moving constantly, for no longer than 1 minute. Remove the tofu from the pan to a small bowl and set aside.
If necessary, add some more peanut oil to the pan and heat until shimmering. Add 2/3 of the scallions and then the garlic; cook for 10 to 15 seconds. Add the eggs to the pan; once the eggs begin to set up, about 15 to 20 seconds, stir to scramble.
Add the remaining ingredients in the following order and toss after each addition: noodles, sauce, cabbage, shrimp and 2/3 of the bean sprouts and peanuts. Toss everything until heated through, but no longer than 1 to 2 minutes total.
Transfer to a serving dish. Garnish with the remaining scallions, bean sprouts and peanuts. Serve immediately with the ground chile peppers and lime wedges.
Makes 2 servings.
Marinated Tofu
6 ounces extra-firm tofu, not silken
1 1/2 cups soy sauce
1 teaspoon Chinese five-spice powder
Wrap the tofu firmly in a tea towel. Place the wrapped tofu into an 8-inch cake pan. Top with another cake pan and weigh down with a 5-pound weight. (Bags of dried beans or grains work well.) Place in refrigerator and press for 12 to 15 hours.
Place pressed tofu in a 2-cup container. Combine soy sauce and five-spice powder and pour over tofu. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes, turning once. Remove the tofu from the marinade and use immediately or store in the refrigerator for up to 2 to 3 days.
Makes 6 ounces.
