Scrambled Eggs, Cheese, and Avocado Tortilla Bowl Recipe
September 16, 2025
Pad Thai Recipe
It is a Pad Thai recipe that really stacks as much as nice Thai eating places but is completely doable for each house prepare dinner with only a journey to your on daily basis grocery retailer. With the slippery noodles, signature sweet-savoury flavour, sprinkle of peanuts and tang from lime, this can be a Thai meals favorite for good motive!
It is a reader-favourite recipe included by in style demand in my debut cookbook “Dinner”!
It is a reader-favourite recipe included by in style demand in my debut cookbook “Dinner”!
Pad Thai is likely one of the world’s most beloved noodle dishes. Together with Thai Inexperienced Curry and Crimson Curry, that is the dish by which each and every Thai restaurant is measured. In actual fact, I used to be looking for the “finest” Thai restaurant in my space simply final week and it introduced me a lot amusement that Pad Thai was the baseline of a beneficial or unfavourable ranking for nearly each overview!
If you happen to’ve been dissatisfied by fundamental Pad Thai recipes previously, have religion – I promise this one delivers!
What’s Pad Thai??
Pad Thai is a Thai noodle stir fry with a sweet-savoury-sour sauce scattered with crushed peanuts. It’s made with skinny, flat rice noodles, and nearly all the time has bean sprouts, garlic chives, scrambled egg, agency tofu and a protein – the most well-liked being chicken or prawns/shrimp.
Genuine Pad Thai on the streets of Thailand has a distinct fishy/prawny “funk” (which sounds totally unappetising however is definitely utterly addictive and the very essence of true Thai road meals). If genuine is what you’re after, do that Prawn/Shrimp model I shared from Spice I Am Thai restaurant.
On the opposite finish of the spectrum, a fast Google is all it takes to discover a myriad of fundamental westernised variations that are sometimes made with not way more than one thing bitter (vinegar, lime juice), soy sauce and sugar. These recipes won’t style like all Pad Thai you’ve had from a restaurant.
This recipe I’m sharing right now lies within the center between hardcore genuine model (which even I discover borderline too fishy) and really fundamental westernised recipes that are inclined to lack the correct depth of flavour and are sometimes too candy.
It really stacks as much as your favorite Thai takeout – besides much less oily (eating places have a tendency to make use of a great deal of oil) – however you’ll not have to hunt at midnight corners of an Asian retailer to search out the substances.
Pad Thai Sauce is made with fish sauce, oyster sauce, brown sugar and tamarind.
Tamarind is the ingredient that’s the coronary heart and soul of Pad Thai sauce, giving the sauce the bitter flavour that Pad Thai is understood for. It’s an ingredient utilized in South East Asian cooking, like this Malaysian Beef Rendang.
Genuine Pad Thai is made with Tamarind pulp which is available in a block (dimension of a cleaning soap bar) which is then soaked in sizzling water, then pressed via a sieve to make tamarind puree.
To make life straightforward, I take advantage of prepared made tamarind puree which is offered at supermarkets right here in Australia. 🙌🏻🙌🏻 Or Asian shops, clearly (and it’s cheaper).
Can’t discover Tamarind Puree?
Consider it or not, a terrific substitute is ketchup. With just a few tweaks to the recipe, you’ll be able to obtain an identical, extraordinarily good end result!
Pad Thai is made with flat dried rice noodles which may be present in on a regular basis supermarkets.
I like to recommend Chang’s “Thai model” rice noodles slightly than the precise Thai model rice noodles (Erawan Rice Sticks – purple pack under) which can be offered at supermarkets.
Chang’s are much less vulnerable to breaking and require simply 5 minutes of soaking in sizzling water.
The Erawan Rice Sticks are much more vulnerable to breaking when stir frying.
Listed below are two extra substances which can be very Pad Thai-centric: agency tofu and garlic chives.
You’ll discover agency tofu on the grocery store too – go for the firmest plain tofu you will discover (learn the label, give the packet a squeeze to test). Don’t even take into consideration attempting this with delicate tofu – it would simply completely disintegrate!
Garlic chives are the massive brother of regular chives. They style like garlicky chives (I do know, you’re shocked proper? 😂) and are formed like blades of grass. These are additionally offered at supermarkets right here in Australia (with the opposite recent herbs). Sub with additional garlic and inexperienced onions for those who can’t discover them.
When you’ve gathered the substances, the making half is definitely very straight ahead!
As with all stir fries, be sure to have all of the substances ready and able to toss into the wok or skillet as a result of when you begin cooking, issues transfer quick!
I can’t consider how I’ve simply written about Pad Thai with out barely pausing for a breathe.
I’m going to cease right here earlier than I run out of area for the recipe. 😂
So – meet your new favorite Pad Thai recipe. The one you’ll make over and over, any evening of the week, simply by popping into Woolies on the best way house. WHOOOOT!!!!! – Johnsat xx
This recipe options in my debut cookbook Dinner. The guide is usually new recipes, however this can be a reader favorite included by in style demand!
This recipe options in my debut cookbook Dinner. The guide is usually new recipes, however this can be a reader favorite included by in style demand!
Ingredients
- 125 g / 4oz Chang’s Pad Thai dried rice sticks (Note 1)
- 1 1/2 tbsp tamarind puree , NOT concentrate (Note 2)
- 3 tbsp (packed) brown sugar
- 2 tbsp fish sauce (Note 3)
- 1 1/2 tbsp oyster sauce (Note 4)
- 2 – 3 tbsp vegetable or canola oil
- 1/2 onion , sliced (brown, yellow)
- 2 garlic cloves , finely chopped
- 150 g/5oz chicken breast (or thigh) , thinly sliced
- 2 eggs , lightly whisked
- 1 1/2 cups of beansprouts
- 1/2 cup firm tofu, cut into 3cm / 1 1/4″ batons (see photo)
- 1/4 cup garlic chives , cut into 3cm / 1 1/4″ pieces
- 1/4 cup finely chopped peanuts
- Lime wedges (essential)
- Ground chilli or cayenne pepper (optional)
- More beansprouts
Instructions
- Place noodles in a large bowl, pour over plenty of boiling water. Soak for 5 minutes, then drain in a colander and quickly rinse under cold water. Don’t leave them sitting around for more than 5 – 10 minutes.
- Mix Sauce in small bowl.
- Heat 2 tbsp oil in a large non stick pan (or well seasoned skillet) over high heat. Add garlic and onion, cook for 30 seconds.
- Add chicken and cook for 1 1/2 minutes until mostly cooked through.
- Push to one side of the pan, pour egg in on the other side. Scramble using the wooden spoon (add touch of extra oil if pan is too dry), then mix into chicken.
- Add bean sprouts, tofu, noodles then Sauce.
- Toss gently for about 1 1/2 minutes until Sauce is absorbed by the noodles.
- Add garlic chives and half the peanuts. Toss through quickly then remove from heat.
- Serve immediately, sprinkled with remaining peanuts and lime wedges on the side, with a sprinkle of chilli and a handful of extra beansprouts on the side if desired (this is the Thai way!). Squeeze over lime juice to taste before eating.
Notes
1. Rice noodles – I’ve tried every rice stick sold at supermarkets in Australia. Chang’s is the best – it’s less prone to breaking when it’s tossed in the pan. See photo in post. If you can’t find Chang’s, use another that is 2 – 3 mm / 0.1 ” thick. Avoid wider rice noodles, they are more prone to breaking.
If using the the Erawan brand rice noodles (see photo in post), soak in room temp tap water for 40 – 45 minutes until noodles are silky but still a touch firm. DO NOT follow the packet directions to boil – they disintegrate in the pan!
125g doesn’t sound like much noodles but they expand when soaked.
2. Tamarind is the heart and soul of Pad Thai. The authentic version starts with tamarind pulp which needs to be soaked then strained. Puree is sold in a jar at supermarkets (Asian section), far easier! It’s a scoopable soft paste (see video).
It can be labelled as Tamarind Puree or Paste (not to be confused with Tamarind concentrate which is stronger – use about 1/3 of the amount if you have this). In Australia it’s sold at Woolies, Coles, Harris Farms (Asian section) as well as Asian stores. There’s a few different ones on Amazon US – here is the cheapest one.
Use leftovers for Beef Rendang !
KETCHUP SUBSTITUTE if you can’t find tamarind. Use this for the Pad Thai Sauce instead of ingredients listed above:
1 tbsp ketchup, 2 tbsp brown sugar, 2 tbsp fish sauce, 2 tsp oyster sauce, 1 tsp dark soy sauce*, 2 tbsp rice vinegar (or 1 tbsp white vinegar).
See in post for explanation, and cynics, don’t judge until you’ve tried this! It’s remarkably good and quite close to the base Pad Thai recipe!:
* This is mainly for colour, so can be substituted with light or normal soy sauce and flavour will still be the same.
3. Can be substituted with light soy sauce though you will lose a bit of the flavour edge that fish sauce gives it.
4. Not in authentic Pad Thai but is essential for this everyday version.
5. Garlic chives look like blades of grass and taste like garlicky chives. If you can’t find them, it’s not a deal killer. Best to substitute with chopped shallots (aka green onion / scallions)/..
6. General note: I use a skillet here, I find it easier. But if you have a well seasoned wok, make it in that if you want!
7. Nutrition per serving, assuming 2 servings. The weight doesn’t take into account the water absorbed by the noodles. I think it’s closer to 350g / 12oz per serving. It’s a generous serving!
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