Pad Thai

Recipe courtesy Alton Brown, 2005

Show: Good EatsEpisode: Your Pad or Mine (Thai)

Rated: 4 stars out of 5Rate itRead users' reviews (38)

RECIPE
COMMENTS & REVIEWS(38)

Cook Time:
5 min
Level:
Intermediate
Yield:
2 servings

Times:

Prep: 40 min
Inactive Prep: 12 hr 0 min
Cook: 5 min
Total:: 12 hr 45 min

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Ingredients

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

Directions

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.

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.

Yield: 6 ounces tofu

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Comments & Reviews

recipe Pad Thai
Fran Columbia , MO 09-21-2009
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Best Pad Thai from Scratch I've Ever Had
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

(I have a crush on Alton Brown.) I didn't put in the shrimp (I'm allergic) or cabbage (didnt have); and I subbed brown... sugar for palm sugar (what IS palm sugar? where do you get it?) and that hot chili sauce ("cock sauce") for the ground chili peppers. I also used Tamarind concentrate instead of paste and skipped that straining step. Yet despite the substitutes, it came out awesomely and tasted like the local Pad Thai at my favorite restaurant. I will be using this recipe again and again. Love the tofu--it's so worth the steps to have it. Yum.Read more
recipe Pad Thai
Natalie Beaverton, OR 06-29-2009
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Alternative to Fish Sauce
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

In response to Andrew, I made this recipe without fish sauce or tamarind and it still turned out wonderfully. In place of... fish sauce: Rinse and pat dry 8 anchovy fillets then puree them with a bit of peanut oil (I use a mini chopper, but a mortar would work, too) In place of tamarind: 2 tbsp. brown sugar and 2 tbsp. lime juice Hope this helps! Read more
recipe Pad Thai
Matt Pleasantville, IL 02-27-2009
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Easy to make, great leftovers too
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

Great recipe for a light Pad Thai, very light not heavy and syrupy like cheap pad thai, love it
recipe Pad Thai
Purvi Strongsville, OH 02-20-2009
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Awesome!
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

Awesome recipe, I didn't use fish sauce and even dried shrimp but it came out very close to the one that we eat at our local... thai restaurant.Read more
recipe Pad Thai
Andrew State College, PA 02-17-2009
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pad thai rocks
Rated: 4 stars out of 5

alton's recipe is great...but is there an alternative to using fish sauce?
recipe Pad Thai
Kitiya Charlottesville, VA 02-17-2009
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Feedback from actual THAI COOK
Rated: 3 stars out of 5

Kudos to Alton for at least encouraging the average American cook to check out Asian markets. However, here are some... corrections to the recipe: 1. Pad Thai is not made with cellophane noodles, not with narrow (thready) rice noodles/rice sticks. It is made with flat rice noodles, called "Sen Chan" (Chan Noodles). 2. It is not salted cabbage that's used, but, as Courtney from Atlanta said, sweet salted radish. (Also referred to as preserved radish or turnip.) The flavors are NOT interchangeable! 3. You do not have to make your own five-spice tofu. If you're going to an Asian market, the have five-spiced tofu there. (But all you really need is extra firm tofu.) 4. Pad thai does NOT have rice wine vinegar. That's not even a condiment that's part of a Thai pantry. That's a Chinese condiment. All the sour comes from the tamarind. 5. Keep things simple. Here are the things your average respectable and sane Thai cook will have nixed from Alton's recipe for sure: peanuts & dried chilli peppers. Don't feel like you have to buy whole peanuts. Just buy a can of roasted unsalted peanuts or, if you're feeling industrious, raw blanched peanuts. (Fresh oven-roasted or pan-toasted peanuts taste amazing.) As for the peppers, red pepper flakes will do. If you're a stickler for "authentic," you can buy Thai red pepper flakes from the Asian market too. I would have rated it as "poor," by my standards, but I have to say that apart from the salted cabbage and rice vinegar gaffes, the sauce actually sounds about right. My biggest gripe, however, is with the noodles. Any respectable pad thai stand would NEVER use the little noodles. If you want authentic (these are recipes that look mostly like mine) check these: http://www.thaitable.com/Thai/recipes/Pad_Thai.htm http://www.thaifoodandtravel.com/recipes/padthai.htmlRead more