Authentic Pad Thai Recipe

Pad Thai is one of Thailand’s most iconic and beloved dishes — a flavorful stir-fried rice noodle dish. You can find it on nearly every street corner in Thailand, as well as in Thai restaurants across the U.S. It has a perfect balance of bold flavors and satisfying textures, with chewy rice noodles, crunchy peanuts, tender shrimp or chicken, and a zingy lime finish. If you’ve been craving a homemade version that tastes just like what you’d get in Bangkok, this is the recipe for you. Let’s get started!

Pad Thai Recipe

Serves: 2
Prep time: 15 minutes
Rehydration time: 1 hour
Cook time: 10 minutes

For the Pad Thai sauce:
5 tablespoons hot water
2 tablespoons palm sugar
3 tablespoons tamarind paste
2 1/2 tablespoons fish sauce
Pinch of salt

For the Pad Thai noodles:
6 ounces dried rice noodles, medium size, rehydrated in water for 1 hour
1 lime, cut into wedges
¼ cup roasted peanuts, chopped
2 tablespoons dried shrimp, chopped
2 tablespoons chopped sweet preserved daikon radish
2 tablespoons shallots, chopped
4 garlic cloves, chopped
1/4 cup extra-firm tofu, cut into small rectangular pieces
1 cup garlic chives, cut into 2-inch pieces
½ pound shrimp, peeled and deveined
3 tablespoons cooking oil, separated
2 large eggs
2 cups bean sprouts, separated

Pad Thai Instructions

1. Rehydrate noodles:

• Soak dried rice noodles in a bowl of room-temperature water for 1 hour. Drain well.

2. Prep ingredients:

• Cut lime into wedges. Roughly chop peanuts, dried shrimp, shallots, and garlic.
• Cut tofu into bite-size pieces and garlic chives into 2-inch pieces.

3. Make the sauce:

• In a bowl, combine hot water and palm sugar; stir until sugar dissolves.
• Add tamarind paste, fish sauce, and salt. Mix well and set aside.

4. Cook shrimp:

• In a wok over medium-high heat, add 1 tablespoon cooking oil.
• Stir-fry shrimp until pink on both sides, about 1-2 minutes per side. Remove and set aside.

5. Stir-fry aromatics and tofu:

• In the same wok over medium heat, add 1 tablespoon cooking oil.
• Add sweet preserved daikon radish, dried shrimp, shallots, garlic, and tofu. Stir-fry until aromatic, about 2 minutes.

6. Add noodles and sauce:

• Turn heat to high, add drained noodles and sauce to wok.
• Stir-fry until noodles have absorbed all the sauce, about 2-3 minutes.

7. Cook eggs and combine:

• Push noodles to one side of the wok and add 1 tablespoon cooking oil.
• Crack in the eggs and pan-fry for about 1 minute until partially cooked.
• Mix eggs into noodles, then return shrimp to wok.
• Add garlic chives and about 1 ½ cups of bean sprouts, mixing well.
• Finally, sprinkle chopped peanuts on top and mix lightly.

8. Serve:

• Transfer to a serving plate. Garnish with lime wedges and additional bean sprouts on the side.

Tips & notes

• Rehydrate noodles properly: Soaking rice noodles in room temperature water for 1 hour prevents overcooking and sticking.
• Adjust heat carefully: Use medium-high heat for shrimp to avoid toughness and medium heat for aromatics to prevent burning.
• Cooking oil substitution: Cooking oil is used here instead of extra light olive oil to ensure high smoke point and crisp stir-fry.
• Fresh ingredients: Use fresh shrimp and crisp vegetables for the best texture and flavor.
• Balance flavors: Taste the sauce and adjust tamarind, sugar, or fish sauce to suit your preference.