Pad Thai

This Pad Thai with shrimp and tofu gives you all the flavors and taste of the authentic Pad Thai, in the comfort of your own home. Who needs takeout when you can do this in less than 30 minutes!

Ah, Pad Thai! One of my favorite dishes, if not my favorite dish to order at a Thai restaurant. I’ve managed to find some restaurants that sell this delicious and satisfying dish, but nothing can quite compare to homemade.

My recipe is chock full of salty and satisfying dried shrimp, perfectly roasted peanuts, as well as cubed firm tofu. If you’re unfamiliar with this little flavor sponge, I’m excited to introduce you to your new favorite protein replacement! It’s all served over perfectly tender rice noodles slathered in a supremely tasty sauce.

What Is Pad Thai?

Pad Thai just means stir fry, so it’s essentially just a Thai stir fry. This means it’s a fabulous blank canvas for us to develop tons of flavor. In Thailand this dish is considered street fare and as Thailand’s street food is world renowned, this popular dish is a stand out for a reason.

Ingredients

Don’t be scared of the list of ingredients. Some may be hard to find like the dried shrimp or the Chinese chives, but I have provided substitutes for them all. However, if you have a good Asian market nearby, I really recommend going there and buying all these ingredients. You’ll find them all. Detailed measurements and instructions can be found on the printable recipe card at the bottom of the page.

• Noodles – I’m using rice noodles today, I’ve included how to properly make rice noodles before as it requires special care.
• Aromatics – You’ll need shallots and garlic diced up fine. If regular onion is all you have just use a little less as shallot has a less intense flavor.
• Shrimp – Dried shrimp and fresh plump shrimp are going in this dish today. Dried shrimp needs to be rinsed and chopped. Shrimp pastes can be substituted for dried shrimp.
• Daikon – We’re using sweet Daikon radish, available in the produce aisle.
• Tofu – Firm tofu cubed and cut into small pieces.
• Sriracha – To add some heat to the dish, be as stingy or as liberal as you’d like with this ingredient to change the spice profile.
• Sprouts – I love to add fresh sprouts as a nice crunch and juicy acidity in this dish.
• Chinese chives- Chinese chives (or garlic chives) look like regular chives but much bigger and leafier. They are garlicky in flavor, juice and crisp in texture. They can be substituted with regular chives or scallions.
• Peanuts – Roasted and finely chopped. Some recipes call for peanut butter which can be used as a substitute but crushed peanuts are traditional and so much better.
• Oil – Peanut oil, it’ll carry that flavor through.
• Eggs – We’re going to create almost a scramble with these eggs in our noodles.

Sauce

• Brown sugar – Will help us develop a complex flavor profile for this sauce and rounds out our flavor profile.
• Tamarind paste – A common ingredient around the world, tamarind paste is both sweet and sour so I would substitute it with equal amounts of lime juice and brown sugar.
• Fish sauce – A common ingredient in lots of Asian dishes, fish sauce must be stored in the fridge after buying. It’s pretty commonly found in most grocery stores.
• Water – To adjust the consistency of our sauce.

Toppings

We’re going to top this dish with even more bean sprouts, Chinese chives, and the chopped roasted peanuts. We will also want to include some of these:

• Cilantro – Fresh and chopped up well.
• Lime – Cut into wedges and squeezed over the finished dish.
• Sriracha – Even more hot sauce if you like a fiery dish!

Mise En Place

The whole idea to making this dish is mise en place. I’ve explained mise en place before, and it basically means getting all your ingredients ready first, including chopping your vegetables, chopping the nuts, making your sauce, etc. If you do all this first, then the dish is a piece of cake, because basically all you have to do is cook the ingredients, which takes no time at all.

How To Make Pad Thai

Detailed measurements and instructions can be found on the printable recipe card at the bottom of the page.

Mise en place

• Prepare the rice noodles: Place noodles in a large bowl. Add enough cold water to cover them and let them rest for 1 hour or until noodles are pliable but not soft. Drain well in a colander. They will change color from translucent to white
• Assemble the ingredients: In a small bowl whisk all the sauce ingredients together and set aside. In a bowl combine the shallots, garlic, dried shrimp, radishes, tofu and Sriracha. In another bowl combine the bean sprouts, chives, and 1/4 cup of the peanuts.

Cook the dish

• Cook the shrimp: In a medium skillet heat 1 tbsp of peanut oil over high heat. Add the shrimp and cook and stir about 1 to 2 minutes or until shrimp turns pink and starts to slightly char. Transfer to a bowl. Add the rest of the oil to the skillet or wok.
• Build the base: Add the tofu mixture to the skillet and saute for about minute. Add the noodles and sauce to the wok and toss everything. There is water in the sauce so the noodles will cook and absorb the liquid.
• Scramble the eggs: Move the noodles to the side of the wok and add the egg and break the yolks. Add a bit more oil if necessary before adding the eggs. Let them cook for 30 seconds then scramble them. Toss everything together.
• Finish the Pad Thai: Add the bean sprouts and chives mixture to the skillet and toss everything. Turn off the heat.

Serving

• Serving Pad Thai properly: To serve divide noodles mixture among 2 or 4 plates, depending on the size of the meal you want. Top with shrimp then sprinkle each serving with bean sprouts, extra chives, peanuts and lime wedges. Serve with fresh cilantro and Sriracha on the side.

Working With A Wok

These dishes are usually cooked in a wok over really high heat which is why they cook so fast. Every time you add something, you basically just cook it for 30 seconds, add the next ingredients, another 30 seconds, more tossing and that’s about all there is to it. Which is why preparing your ingredients first makes all the difference.

Once you start cooking you do not have time to go and chop this or that so be sure to follow my mise en place instructions above to get the most out of this dish. Although I used a wok for this recipe, a large skillet will work just as well.

What Else Can I Add

Like I said this dish is a perfect blank canvas for introducing whatever you’d like, so let’s get into it.

Veggies

• Shredded carrot
• Broccoli
• Peas
• Shredded cabbage
• Bell pepper

Protein

• Tofu – you can make this dish with only tofu if you’d like a more vegetarian meal, just be sure to axe the dried shrimp and fish sauce if that’s the case.
• Chicken
• Pork
• Beef

Sauces

• Some people love to add peanut butter to their sauce and I won’t stop you if you’re considering it!
• Hoisin sauce drizzled over top when done.
• Chili sauce to make it nice and spicy.

Noodles

If you’d like to bulk up the veggies in this dish, consider taking my Pad Thai Zoodle recipe for a spin!

Leftovers

This Pad Thai will keep for 3 – 4 days in the fridge if stored in an airtight container. I wouldn’t recommend freezing this dish as the egg and rice noodles don’t thaw well after time in the freezer.

More Thai recipes to try:

• Thai Meatball Lettuce Wraps
• Spicy Thai Chicken And Veggie Noodles
• Thai Red Chicken Curry
• Easy Thai Steak Salad
• Thai Chicken Salad
• Chicken Lettuce Wraps