I nearly always order Pad Thai when we go to a Thai restaurant. I love those tangy noodles and big prawns, and being someone who LOVES toppings, a Pad Thai is probably the most toppings-heavy item on the menu.We’re usually talking crushed peanuts, fresh coriander, wedges of lime, fresh chillies and maybe a sprinkling of dried chillies too. Just give me all the toppings.
What is Pad Thai?
Originating from Thailand, Pad thai (also called phad thai), is a popular street food dish of stir-fried flat rice noodles. The noodles are flavoured with tamarind, shrimp paste, chillies, fish sauce, sugar and lime. Common additions include eggs, tofu, prawns, chopped peanuts, bean sprouts and pickled radishes. I love the layer-upon-layer of flavours in a Pad Thai - as well as the abundance of toppings to finish the whole thing off.
What do we need?
It’s really important to get the right noodles in a Pad Thai. Skinny noodles or egg noodles just won’t do it.
The noodles:
The best noodles for Pad Thai are flat rice noodles or ‘rice sticks’ that are around 3-5mm wide. Thai Taste and Mai Thai noodles are a good choice.Rice noodles are notorious for sticking together, so I recommend soaking the noodles in a pan of just-boiled water for 3-4 minutes. Then drain them and run them under cold water to stop the cooking process. Add a teaspoon of sesame oil or an unflavoured oil, such as vegetable or rapeseed oil, and toss together. I also use these noodles in my Beef Chow Fun.
The tiny shrimp:
In addition to king prawns, I like to add tiny brown shrimp to my Pad Thai.You can go down the traditional route of frying up dried shrimp, and then use the frying oil to flavour your Pad Thai. However I find the dried ones a little too pungent. Brown shrimp (also known as crangon crangon) are a lovely tender alternative. They’re widely available in the UK in little pots with butter. That’s what I’m using for this recipe.
How to make it
Once you’ve fried up the shrimp with the butter, oil, salt and a little garlic salt, they’re removed with a slotted spoon - leaving that lovely flavoured oil behind. The king prawns are then fried in this oil with garlic and chilli flakes.Next in goes eggs, followed by cooked noodles, fish sauce, tamarind paste, chilli sauce, sugar, shrimp paste and soy sauce.Once that’s mixed together and heated through, we finish off with Thai preserved radish, crushed peanuts, spring onions (scallions), bean sprouts and coriander (cilantro).
Toss it all together and serve.Top with some sliced red chilli and lime wedges . I also like to finished with a few more chopped nuts, fresh coriander and chilli flakes.
Easy Pad Thai! A fair few ingredients, but simple to put together and so delicious!
Is Pad Thai fishy?
Authentic Pad Thai does tend to be on the fishy side - mostly from the addition of fish sauce and shrimp paste. Shrimp paste is rather pungent, but it does mellow a little as you cook it. How fishy a Pad Thai is generally depends on how much shrimp paste and fish sauce is added. I add in 2 tsp of shrimp paste and 2 tbsp of fish sauce - which is enough to give it that addictive umami tang and to add to that distinctive Pad Thai taste, but without it being overly fishy-tasting.
Try some of my other Thai recipes:
Thai green curry, Thai red curry or Thai yellow curry - all made with homemade curry paste Thai fishcakes with vegetable ribbons Thai chicken salad with peanut dressing Thai style Peanut Pork Thai fish burgers with sweet chilli sauce
Watch how to make it:
Stay updated with new recipes!Subscribe to the newsletter to hear when I post a new recipe. I’m also on YouTube (new videos every week) and Instagram (behind-the-scenes stories & beautiful food photos). Thai prawns with cauliflower rice Chicken, Chorizo and Prawn Jambalaya Coconut Prawns with Fiery Tomato Dip Chris’s AMAZING Prawn Toast Recipe This post was first published in July 2019. Updated in July 2020 with new photos, tips and video. Some of the links in this post are affiliate links – which means if you buy the product I get a small commission (at no extra cost to you). If you do buy, then thank you! That’s what helps us to keep Kitchen Sanctuary running. The nutritional information provided is approximate and can vary depending on several factors. For more information please see our Terms & Conditions.
