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Take it from a Thai person, it's hard to find a really good, authentic pad thai outside of Thailand. I've searched high and low, and concluded that the best option is to master cooking it at home. This recipe is the real deal with all the ingredients of a traditional pad thai—no compromise. I'll share all the tips and tricks for success, and also a substitution guide for ingredients you may not have. Make sure you also watch the video tutorial because this is a dish that's better learned visually.
Pro Tip: Pad thai is easy to make, but it isn't quick if you make everything from scratch. So to prep it for a weeknight meal, check out my post on How to Make Authentic Pad Thai in 5 Minutes!
What does REAL traditional pad thai look like?
You've probably had pad thai in your local restaurant, but what you had may not be anything like the authentic version. First, it should not have ketchup or any tomato product in it. Second, it should not be syrupy sweet. And finally, it shouldn't be just a heavy, soggy clump of noodles with bits of green onions.
Real pad thai should be:
- Stir-fried in a hot wok, so the noodles come out dry with a little smokiness, not wet.
- A good balance of sweet, salty and sour, not leading with any one flavour.
- LOADED with beansprouts which lightens the noodles and add freshness.
- Have lots of "bits" in it which gives complexity: shallots, garlic, tofu, dried shrimp, etc.
- All in all it should be a well-balanced dish that leaves you satisfied, and not heavy.
Why is it so hard to find good pad thai in restaurants?
Cooking pad thai is actually quite easy; after all it's a stir-fry! But the fully-loaded, traditional version has a lot of ingredients, not all of which are easy to find. For many restaurants some ingredients may not be available, the many prep may be too complex for their simple operation, or they need to keep the cost of such a staple item low. So things get left out and substituted.
But each ingredient in pad thai contributes a flavour. Nothing in there is added just for "fluff" - so the more you take away, the less complex the flavour becomes. Sure, you can omit or substitute a few things without much harm, but past a certain point, the flavour suffers significantly.
(Of course we can't always get all the ingredients we need; hence my pad thai substitutions guide below.)
Ingredients: What you'll need
The hardest part of pad thai is in prepping all the ingredients. Here's everything you'll need; with more details on a few, plus the substitutions guide.
For the Pad Thai Sauce:
You can make the sauce fresh as I showed in the video tutorial, or make it in bulk in advance and keep it in the fridge for months! If making fresh, you can omit the garlic and shallots from the sauce and just put them in the stir-fry. Check out this large-batch recipe for pad thai sauce.
For the Stir-Fry:
Choosing the right noodles
The noodles you want are dry rice noodles, size medium. This is the size used traditionally in Thailand. A lot of people mistakenly choose the large size, and though it won't really harm the dish, it's not quite the real deal.
I use Erawan Brand rice noodles which I find to be the best one with the right chewiness. Some brands, such as Thai Kitchen, make thinner noodles that are not as chewy. If using thinner noodles, you will not need to soak them as long, and you may need a little less water in the sauce.
EMERGENCY NOODLE SOAKING:
Medium size dry rice noodles take about 1 hour to soak in room temperature water. Brands that are thinner will take less time and vice versa. If you're short on time, you can use warm water and it'll take less time. Keep an eye on them and remove them once they become opaque white and completely pliable (don't resist your bending at all.) Don't over-soak.
If you're about to cook and forgot to soak them, don't panic! They can be soaked in 3 minutes in hot off-the-boil water, but it's a bit risky so I try to avoid it. Too long in hot water and they will become too soft, so you MUST time it and place them in cold water immediately after.
Sweet Preserved Radish: Chai Po Waan ไชโป๊
Chai po is Thai preserved daikon radish, and it comes in 2 varieties: sweet (chai po waan) and salty (chai po kem). You want the sweet one for this - however it is not critical that you have it, so don't sweat it if you can't find it.
You'll likely need to go to a specifically Thai grocery store to find these. Sometimes they come whole, and sometimes pre-chopped. I usually get the pre-chopped one if I can find it to make life easier.
Japanese sweet preserved daikon, takuan, makes for a decent substitute.
What is Pressed Tofu? เต้าหู้แข็ง
Pressed tofu is exactly what it sounds like...tofu that has been pressed to drive off most of the water, leaving only the firm bean curd behind. It is the firmest of all the tofus you can buy—firmer than extra firm!
Sometimes this is labeled "bean curd," which I think might be slightly different because in my experience it tends to be slightly firmer, but it tastes about the same and can also be used in pad thai.
Pressed tofu and bean curds are great for stir fries because they do not fall apart. Extra firm tofu can be used instead, but if you're concerned about them breaking you might want to pan-fry them first until golden to firm up the exterior.
Ingredient Substitutions Guide
There is a substitute for just about everything, but please remember that the more you alter it, the less it tastes authentic. If I didn't include an ingredient below, it means there is no good substitute.
- Palm sugar - Substitute equal weight of light brown sugar.
- Fish sauce - You can probably find fish sauce, but if you are vegetarian, use an equal amount of soy sauce or try my Vegan Pad Thai recipe.
*It's important to use good quality fish sauce for this as it is the main seasoning. For how to choose the best fish sauce, watch my video on The Ultimate Guide to Fish Sauce. - Tamarind paste - Please don't substitute this. It's so important, and there isn't really a good substitute. You can buy it pre-made, which is sometimes labeled "tamarind concentrate". But the best flavour will come from one you make from tamarind pulp. It's easy to make, and you can make it in bulk; here's my video tutorial on how to make tamarind paste from pulp.
Don't know what tamarind is? Here's a video to answer all your questions. - Sweet preserved daikon radish (chai po waan) - This is one you can omit without much harm to the dish. Some Thai people don't even add it, so you can feel good about this one. But if available, you can use the same amount of Japanese yellow sweet daikon radish pickle (called "takuan").
There also exists the SALTY version of Thai preserved radish (chai po kem), this is not the right one and it would make your pad thai too salty. - Dried shrimp - Dried shrimp adds a nice umami and you'll never find pad thai in thailand without them, but if you're allergic to shrimp, you can omit them and the dish will still be delicious.
Any Asian grocery store should have dried shrimp in the refrigerated section. You can also try dried scallops if you can have them; these are quite expensive but you don't need a lot. Watch my dim sum turnip cake video to see how to work with dried scallops. - Garlic chives - Most people will add green onions or scallions instead, which is fine, but garlic chives is actually quite mild as it is more of a vegetable than an herb. So if you are using green onions, do not add the same amount or it will be overpowering.
Also, don't cut green onions into 2-inch pieces as with garlic chives; thinly slice them. Green onions are much chewier in big pieces, with a much stronger taste. You will only need 1-2 green onions for this recipe. - Peanuts - If you are allergic, try cashews, pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds. You just wanna add a bit of nuttiness and crunch.
- Pressed tofu - Use extra firm tofu and pan fry them until golden to firm up the exterior to prevent them from crumbling.
Step-By-Step: How to make pad thai
I highly recommend watching the full video tutorial to ensure success, but here's a bird's eye view of what you need to do:
To make the pad thai sauce:
- Melt and caramelize the palm sugar.
- Add water to stop the caramelization.
- Add fish sauce and tamarind and bring to a simmer.
- Off heat and let it sit until the sugar is completely dissolved.
- Cook off the shrimp (or any other protein you're using). Remove from pan.
- Saute shallots, garlic, tofu, dried shrimp, preserved radish, and chili flakes.
- Add the soaked noodles.
- Add the sauce.
- Toss until the noodles have absorbed all the sauce.
- Push the noodles to one side and add the eggs to the space you've made and break the yolks.
- Put the noodles on top of the eggs and let it cook for 15-30 seconds.
- Flip and toss to mix.
- Add the peanuts, bean sprouts and garlic chives.
- Turn off the heat and toss until the beansprouts are incorporated and slightly wilted.
- Plate and top with more peanuts and shrimp.
- Don't forget to add fresh lime before eating!
How to Make Pad Thai Fast
Pad thai made from scratch isn't exactly weeknight-friendly because there's so much prep to do. But good news: the prep can be done days in advance so you can have pad thai on a Tuesday night in minutes, just like at a restaurant!
Learn all the pro-tips here! How to Make Pad Thai in 5 Minutes.
FAQ's & Common Issues
You used the wrong tamarind. You probably used "tamarind concentrate" from India, which is entirely different from the one we use in Thailand and is much more concentrated. It can be used but you'll have to dilute it. Unfortunately I've not personally used it so I don't know for sure how much water to add, but I would start with using just 1 Tbsp of the concentrate mix with 3 Tbsp water. See this video for everything you need to know about tamarind, and this video on how to make tamarind paste at home.
A few potential issues: Do not boil the noodles before using. Noodles only need to be soaked for 1 hour in ROOM TEMP water. They can be soaked in advance, but be sure to drain them well after 1 hour. Pre-soaked noodles can keep in the fridge for a few days.
Also, do not crowd the pan, especially if you have a weak stove. If you crowd the pan you'll trap too much steam, which causes the noodles to boil rather than fry.
Make sure you measure the ingredients correctly. This is not the recipe to "eyeball". The sauce amount is designed to be perfect for the amount of noodles, so if you eyeball the noodles and use too much, it will be too diluted.
Rest assured, you pad thai is NOT supposed to be orange! Many restaurants will add ketchup and paprika to boost the colour in order to make it look more appealing, but this is not traditional.
However, we DO make a type of pad thai that is orange, and that colour comes from prepared shrimp tomalley (also known as shrimp paste in oil). Check out my recipe for Pad Thai Mun Goong here!
Pad thai is not a dish I recommend making for a party. It's hard to make a large amount of pad thai using a home stove—you will need to make multiple batches.
Also, the noodles don't sit well and they are best when eaten fresh off the wok. If they sit for too long the noodles will start to clump up together.
It IS possible to do it for a not-too-big party, but I would cook multiple small batches, and plan it so that people will eat them shortly after they're done.
Pad thai, and rice noodles in general, do not keep well. One day in the fridge isn't too bad; it can be microwaved or re-fried in a pan with a splash of water. But after multiple days in the fridge, the noodles will harden and can't really be brought back to life. So it's best to not make too much.
Don't modify this recipe! Use my awesome vegan pad thai recipe here instead!
Sure. I'd marinate the chicken with some fish sauce or soy sauce though so it has some flavour first. Sear it off the same way I do the shrimp, remove from pan, and toss it back in towards the end with the beansprouts.
Watch The Full Video Tutorial!
All my recipes come with step-by-step video tutorials with extra tips not mentioned in the blog post, so make sure you watch the video below to ensure success - and if you enjoy the show, please consider subscribing to my YouTube channel. Thank you!
*If you prefer, you can also watch the video on YouTube.
Authentic Pad Thai Recipe
- Prep Time: 30 mins
- Cook Time: 10 mins
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 2 servings
- Category: Noodles
- Cuisine: Thai
- Diet: Gluten Free
Description
This pad thai recipe is the real deal. Fully loaded with all the classic ingredients an authentic pad thai should have. Perfectly balanced flavour that is complex and not overly sweet. It's also naturally gluten-free. Vegetarian or vegan? Check out my vegan pad thai recipe.
Ingredients
Pad Thai Sauce
- 35 g palm sugar, chopped (3 Tbsp tightly packed)
- 3 Tbsp (45 ml) water
- 4 Tbsp Thai cooking tamarind (see note 1, and also see how to make tamarind paste from pulp)
- 2 Tbsp good fish sauce (how to choose good fish sauce)
Pad Thai
- 4oz (115g) dry rice noodles, medium size, soak in room temp water for 1 hour (see note 2)
- 2 Tbsp dried shrimp, medium size, roughly chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, chopped
- ¼ cup roughly chopped shallots
- 3 oz (85 g) pressed tofu, cut into small pieces
- 3 Tbsp finely chopped SWEET preserved daikon radish (see note 3)
- Dried chili flakes, to taste (optional)
- 3 Tbsp (45 ml) vegetable oil
- 10 medium sized shrimp, or as many as you like (to sub other protein, see note 4)
- 2 eggs
- 2 ½ cups (120 g)bean sprouts, loosely packed
- 10 stalks garlic chives, cut into 2” pieces
- ¼ cup roasted peanuts, roughly chopped
- 1 lime
- Garnishes and condiments for serving: chili flakes, roasted peanuts, bean sprouts and garlic chives.
(In Thailand, fresh banana blossom is sometimes served on the side of pad thai. I don't love them personally, but if you do and can find them, go for it!)
Instructions
To make pad thai sauce (see note 5):
- Add palm sugar to a small pot and melt over medium heat. Once the sugar is melting, keep stirring until it darkens in colour (see video for colour). Immediately add water, fish sauce, and tamarind paste. The sugar will harden immediately and this is okay.
- Bring sauce to a simmer, then turn off heat. The hardened sugar will not have dissolved at this point, but let it sit while you prep other ingredients and it should be dissolved by the time you need it. Check that it is dissolved before you start cooking!
To make pad thai (see note 6):
- Cut drained noodles once with scissors so they are half as long. This makes them easier to toss and separate in the wok.
- In a bowl, combine tofu, garlic, shallots, preserved radish, dried shrimp, and chili flakes.
- Heat a wok or a large nonstick skillet over high heat and add just enough oil to coat the bottom. Sear shrimp, or whatever protein you're using, until done and remove them from pan.
- In the same wok over medium heat, add a little more oil if needed, then add everything in the tofu bowl and sauté for a few minutes until garlic starts to turn golden and shallots are wilted. If the wok looks dry, add a little more oil. (Don't skimp on oil otherwise the noodles will clump up together.)
- Turn heat up to high then add noodles and sauce. Keep tossing until all the sauce is absorbed.
- Once sauce is absorbed, you can turn off the heat and taste the noodles for doneness. If they're still undercooked, add a little more water and continue cooking, being careful not to add too much water!
- Once noodles are done, push them to one side of the pan. Add add little extra oil to the empty space and add eggs. Break the yolks, then put noodles on top of eggs and cook for about 30 seconds. Flip and toss to mix eggs into noodles.
- Toss the cooked protein back in, plus any collected juices. Then add bean sprouts, garlic chives and half of the peanuts. Turn off the heat and toss until well mixed.
- Serve immediately with a lime wedge and extra peanuts on top. For a classic presentation you can add a little extra side of bean sprouts and some garlic chives garnish.
- Be sure to squeeze a bit of lime on top before eating!
Notes
- Do not use the black, sticky "tamarind concentrate" from India as it is much more concentrated and cannot be used in the same way in this recipe. Either make it from pulp or buy the brown paste that is from Thailand or Vietnam.
- You can soak noodles in advance, drain, and keep them well sealed in the fridge for a few days. I use Erawan brand noodles. Some brands, such as Thai Kitchen, have thinner noodles and take less time. Keep an eye on them and drain once the noodles are completely pliable (no resistance when bending). No time to soak? See emergency noodle-soaking in the blog post.
- Thai sweet preserved radish is hard to find, but you can omit or use the Japanese version instead which is called “takuan” and is bright yellow. See blog post for more info.
- If using chicken, pork or beef, slice into bite-sized pieces and marinate them with just a bit of fish sauce or soy sauce so the meat isn't bland.
- You can make a big batch of sauce in advance and store indefinitely in the fridge. See this recipe for large-batch pad thai sauce.
- I recommend cooking no more than 2-3 servings at a time to avoid crowding the pan and making the noodles soggy.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1
- Calories: 682
Keywords: pad thai
Maria
Hi, I've soaked my rice noodles for an hour but they haven't turned white (except for one noodle) and although they are flexible they are very hard when bitten. I am wondering if they need to soak longer or if they are ready to fry as is?
Pailin Chongchitnant
Hi! Are you using the medium size, flat rice noodles? What brand are you using? Soaked noodles will still be hard when you bite into them because they're still raw, and they will cook and soften in the pan. Without knowing whether the brand you're using is might be different from mine in significant ways, I would go ahead and cook them, and just see how it is. Taste them once all the sauce has been absorbed and add more water if needed!
Joel
Had a lot of fun making this and going to find the ingredients. It's so easy to make your own tamarind sauce. One thing, I was using Red Boat fish sauce and I think its flavor is much more concentrated than the Squid brand because it overpowered the tamarind and palm sugar. Next time I will use less in the sauce, maybe even half - it's that strong!
★★★★★
Pailin Chongchitnant
That is very good to know re: red boat! Thank you!
Marcel
If you life in a country as me where you don't get that kind of radish or it is simply to expensive, try this: Use garden radish (the little round ones with red skin..). Peel them, cut them in small cubes or how you like it. Set up a pan with water and rice vinegar (Same quantities..), add brown sugar (we call it here Mascobado), a bit of curcuma powder and some bay leaves. Cook it up and let it cool down. The taste should be acid/sweet. Keep in the fridge for a long time. Note: IT has a terrible smell, but if you cook it, a nice sweet/acid taste and it doesn't smell anymore.
Myron
I found fresh Pad Thai noodles at my market. What’s would be the equivalent amount of fresh noodles to dry noodle when reconstituted?
Joel
I just made this yesterday and it was wonderful. It's the best homemade Pad Thai I've ever made, and it'll be one I keep going back to for sure. Thanks for all the wonderful insights into Thai cuisine!
★★★★★
Kang
Hi There,
Has anyone tried to make a batch for the sauce? Curious if it would be just multiplying the ingredients. The reason I ask is that I'm unsure of the impact of simply multiplying the ingredients on the saltiness of the fish sauce, for example. Thanks!
Pailin Chongchitnant
You can absolutely make the sauce in bulk, and just scale everything up proportionally.
Alex
Is there a particular way to store the sauce, or tamarind paste prepared from pulp, in the fridge? Mine did not keep indefinitely...it went bad (moldy) after a month or so. Were my hands not clean enough when squeezing the pulp?
michael daaboul
Every recipe of yours that I make "like in a book" comes out perfect.
★★★★★
Kristin
So easy and tasty! Also way faster than getting takeout :).
★★★★★
Ken
I’d would just like to check, 4 tbsps of tamarind paste? That is a huge amount.
Heather
Made this tonight, first time making pad Thai and it was not too bad! I know i missed some things and made a couple of mistakes but I plan on making it again and again until I get it right... and have a few questions...The tamarind: mine IS the concentrated kind BUT it IS from Thailand, not India. Would you recommend still doing a 1:3 ratio? Also, the shrimp threw me off...I cooked with chicken instead. Do I cook it separately from everything else and then add it when I add the tofu? Also the tofu...I could only get the kind that's one step down from pressed...and it just crumbled 🙁
Glenn
Hello
What kind of gas burner are you cooking on?
Adam The HTK Minion
https://kit.co/hotthaikitchen/kitchen-tools-i-use/603863-iwatani-corporation- Cheers!
Jim
Made this tonight and very much like the best local Thai place. Only thing missing was guidance on quantity of chilies. Usually get it spicy when ordering and had to make a guess so used 1 tsp and it was like Thai restaurant mild. Next time going for 3 tsp but 4 may be proper with the chilies I have. Better to go light than heavy handed on them.
Pailin Chongchitnant
Hi Jim, it's hard to give guidance on chilies because chilies vary significantly in how spicy they are. So if i used 1 tsp of the chili flakes that I make myself, it would be VERY hot! So just gotta "know your chilies" which is kind of frustrating! Thanks for the review and glad you liked it!
Jim
Thanks Pailin. I did get a jar that was made in Thailand but they are very mild. Cook and learn
Renée
Just made this for the first time. The extra effort was definitely worth it! My family loved it. We followed the recipe as written except for the palm sugar (subbed brown sugar). Thanks so much for the detailed instructions!
★★★★★
Adam The HTK Minion
Hi Renee and great to hear! (and yeah it is a bit of work isn't it? 🙂 )
Sarwat
This is by far the best pad thai recipe I have found! I have made this recipe soooooooo many times and it just gets better and better. It's also now faster and easier to make, since I am able to eyeball the ingredients. I make this dish and your Pad Gaprao at least once a month of not more.
★★★★★
Jef
I mad this and it was amazing. Totally authentic. Look no further and start cooking!
★★★★★
Adam The HTK Minion
Congrats and good to hear! Adam
Karen
Tasty and relatively easy to make...once all ingredients are gathered! Have saved this one for future use. Easy to follow instructions make it a pleasure to make this tasty dish.
★★★★
Adam The HTK Minion
Thanks Karen, and great to hear! And yeah there's a bit of "ingredients gathering" to be done isn't there? 🙂
Megan S.
Thanks for taking the time to make your videos and write on this recipe. Your instructions are ultra clear. It was my first time cooking pad thai, a grateful distraction during this terrible pandemic.
Now I have a BIG admiration for Thai chefs! Pad thai is quite a slow masterpiece! It took me over 2 hours.
As a first-timer, I made some mistakes. Mine turned out too sour, I must've gone overboard with the homemade tamarind paste, so I added (don't cringe!) a small mixture of peanut-butter-water-soy-sauce and that did the trick for me.
Next time I might leave out or reduce the dried shrimp, the dried shrimp flavor was too overpowering for me.
Now I have a lot of tamarind paste, I'll google around to see what else I can make with it...
Thank you again!
★★★★★
Shelly
A recipe that is really easy to follow and the taste is both authentic and tasty!
★★★★★
Celia
Love your recipe!! My husband loves it. Hoping the kids will too for dinner tonight!!! Thank you so much!
★★★★★
Adam The HTK Intern
Welcome!
valivida
Thank you Pailin for the recipe. I had all necessary ingredients at hand turned out great. My taste for tamarind in this recipe can’t be acquired🥜. I like it more the american version: tomato paste/a good european ketchup. I’m looking forward to an american version when it comes the time🥡!
★★★★★
Ben
This was my fist time making Pad Thai. A great recipie. Easy to follow. Will make again and again!
Neha Perry
Loved it! Perfect recipie!
★★★★★
Saki
Just made and ate this, absolutely delicious, and my house smells wonderful too an hour later. Totally goofed up the sauce and forgot to buy dried shrimp from the store, but still turned out great! The recipe was more forgiving than I imagined, though I do prefer things a bit less salty (did not have enough fish sauce in stock haha).
★★★★★
Patty
I love this recipe and have successfully made this recipe numerous times. I cut the fish sauce to one tablespoon because it was too fishy for my taste. I order the hard to find ingredients from Amazon.
★★★★★
Yvonne Roberts
Thank you for giving us a detailed and authentic recipe. This was a hit at our home. Thank you also for telling us how to make and keep the tamarind paste. Your attention to detail makes it possible for us to succeed while making this recipe. I thoroughly enjoyed your video as your enthusiasm is infectious and you are very pleasant to listen to. I used brown sugar and it worked but I will look for palm sugar to try it for next time. Tks again for all your efforts.
★★★★★
Mark
Fourth time making this... though I seem to still manage to let my noodles get too mushy... next time I am removing them from soaking while they still have considerable “bite”. Other than that, (which is my error), this is delicious.. I do use scallions as I cannot find garlic chives, but everything else, right down to my making the tamarind, turned out excellent!
★★★★★
Phillissa
Well since I’m the only negative review, I’m thinking I did something wrong. Mine had overwhelming tamarind flavor and was very sour—so much so that we threw it all away which killed me because I had worked hard on this and made a few trips to the Asian market. Definitely my fault was I put too many noodles in the wok at once making it difficult to cook my egg which gave everything a strange texture. Super disappointed as I really wanted this to turn out.
★★
Pailin Chongchitnant
Hi Philissa, I'm sorry this happened. But I'm pretty sure I know what happened with the tamarind, and it's something I caution people about in the "notes" section of the recipe. Did you use "tamarind concentrate" from India? It's dark, sticky, and very sour; looks very different from the one shown in the video. If so, that would be why. More written about this in the post itself.
Dan
Made my own version of this as I was missing some ingredients, but the sauce was fantastic! I used Mexican tamarind brick. I followed your video to turn it into paste using boiling water, strainer and heat. Also missing the palm sugar but substituted brown sugar. I used a good Thai fish sauce. The rice stick was soaked in boiled water for 30 minutes and was perfect, not mushy at all - I think a lot depends on the brand. Another sub was to use chopped kimchi as I didn't have daikon pickle - it's got some daikon in it and nice umami. We found the sauce perfectly balanced salt and acid, coated the noodles and other ingredients, the toasted peanuts tops it off beautifully.
★★★★★
Haslin
I made the tamarind paste according to your blog post from the tamarind pulp block, and then I doubled the pad thai recipe. Maybe because I doubled the sauce? My pad thai was surprisingly sour. I like sour food so I still enjoyed it, but it was the most sour pad thai I've ever had.
Do you think doubling the sauce was the problem? Or do you think its just the way it is and Ive only had not really authentic pad thai?(even though I have also tried pad thais on the street in Thailand)
I will try again with less tamarind paste next time. Thanks for ur recipes!
★★★★
Neo
First time i cook phad thai. Well, my mom said it was okay. Its bec, i dont the palm sugar available. I forgot the shrimp haha. But i will definitely cook this again. Is it okay to substitiute palm sugar to brown sugar?
Adam The HTK Intern
Yes a lot of people use brown sugar instead - changes the taste profile a bit, but will still be good 🙂
Jordan Burda
First time making pad Thai and I didn’t have the shrimp flakes or daikon. Still delicious! I can’t wait to hunt down those ingredients and make it again!
★★★★★
Amy
This recipe was amazing, as are all of your other recipes!!! I have been so excited to eat the leftovers. Pai, I was wondering how best to store the sweet radish after opening. Should I keep them refrigerated or should I chop and freeze?
★★★★★
TJ
Great recipe, very authentic. Thanks for sharing!
★★★★★
Louise
Love this recipe. It is really the authentic taste from the streets of Thailand. 👏🏼
★★★★★
Ben
Do NOT use tamarind concentrate. I just threw the entire thing into the trash. It was inedible. Or if you do you the concentrate cut it back to maybe a teaspoon (I'm guessing). I hope this tastes better with the pulp because what I made tasted horrible.
★
MS
You didn't read all the instructions so the 1 star is not warranted. Her linked video says to not use concentrate.
Adam The HTK Intern
Thanks MS and yes Ben as Pailin said, do not use "concentrate". (once you've redone it perhaps you'll consider adjusting the one-star review?) Cheers! Adam
Abbie
Best pad thai recipe I've ever made a d I've made A LOT
★★★★★
Faith
I tried one of your Pad Thai recipes and it was good, but this one is much better. I can never judge the amount of rice noodles as I am only cooking for myself, so I've had to fiddle with that amount. I took your advice from the video you made about tamarind paste. I had the big block of tamarind in a package and the first time I made it, I was eating chunks of it and found a seed. Ouch. I made this recipe, used the paste from that block of tamarind - and happy happy. It was perfect. I love pad thai and will make this often !
Alexandra
This was one of the most amazingly authentic and delicious Pad Thai recipes I have ever found. I had everything on hand and even my son who would eat pad thai everyday if he could and tries pad thai from every Thai restaurant he sees, compared this to the best pad thai he has ever tasted. Thank you for this amazing recipe.
★★★★★
Polly
Such a great recipe! I didn’t have a few things (dried shrimp, radish) but still came out great! Next time I will cook the noodles for a few mins less than the packet instructions so they don’t get too well done.
Waffles
The Pad Thai was delicious! Definitely restaurant quality/flavour. I always get pad thai at a restaurant so I'm so happy I don't have to spend $18-22 for it anymore!
I used tamarind paste as per your other recipe. I took the extra step to caramelize the sugar and added a bit more sugar and fish sauce to the pad thai sauce. I like my pad thai saucy but not soggy, so I doubled the sauce for about 1.5x everything else - I did have a bit of extra sauce.
I couldn't find the sweet radish so I bought the salty stuff. I rinsed it, soaked in warm water for a bit, drained, then covered it in sugar as I prepared all the other ingredients. When I was ready to cook, I rinsed off all the sugar then chopped into small pieces.
Can't wait to make this again!
★★★★
Vi
Serious recipe! Love the sour/sugary taste of the sauce. Will definitely keep this one. Thanks for sharing!
★★★★★
Ian
Really delicious - roommates loved it! Definitely a lot of prep, and had to run to the store for a few things not already in my pantry, but was able to crank it out on a weeknight and still eat before 9pm.
★★★★★
Lola
I made this recipe for the first time today and it's some of the best pad thai I've ever had. Luckily, I live in an area where thai groceries are readily available so I was able to make it without any substitutions. This pad thai is a lot less sweet than any pad thai I've had in a restaurant and the flavors are a lot more complex. I'll definitely be making this again soon!
★★★★★
Elly
Thank you for sharing this amazing recipe! We made it tonight and it was superb. I added, tofu, chicken, and shrimp and it was great.
★★★★★
Anna Natalia
I've made pad thai using this recipe at least 5 times. This recipe is the best so far. The result tastes very similar to the one from my favorite Thai restaurant. Thank you.
★★★★★
Mandy
Thank you SO much for this recipe. It was seriously the best Pad Thai I’ve ever made and totally on par with anything I’d enjoyed at a resto.
I had to sub in dashi for the dried shrimp so I was a little worried at first- there was a serious “funky” smell. But after the first bite, my man and I were giving you a slow clap. So darn good.
Your tamarind paste recipe came out great for us here too!
★★★★★
Jill
I'm only ever going to cook pad Thai at home (unless I visit Thailand). Thanks for amazing recipes!!! <3
★★★★★
Stephen Chan
Being a big fan of HKT, Pad Thai is for sure one of my favourites, and I'm not surprised of how many reviews there are already, given the function is only available for days, as this is so good! Really, you may not be able to tell it's not directly from Thailand.
★★★★★
Wendy
5 years of trying to find the perfect pad thai recipe... hands down best one out there!
★★★★★
LayChin Nicholson
I have made this recipe countless times. Believe it or not, I once made it while camping in a trailer. We had friends visiting and they requested for Asian food! They declared it was the best Pad Thai they've ever had and it's way better than any restaurants'. Thank you Palin for sharing all your wonderful recipes!
★★★★★
Michael
Best authentic Thai recipe of a very famous Thai dish.
Very delcious!!
★★★★★
Michael
This recipe was my first encounter with HTK. Family council requested to put it on "heavy rotation" 🙂 Just delicious.
★★★★★
Tim
Lets face it, loads of us came to Thai food through this dish. I’ve tried many recipes over the years, but this is the only one I’ll need from now on, not least because Pailin actually TEACHES me how to cook in her videos. She doesn’t just walk through it. Pai is right, though, the main difficulty with this classic is the many ingredients in it which need to be obtained and prepared. That means I probably won’t make it every night, but when I absolutely have to eat Pad Thai I’ll know how to do it.
★★★★★
Bonnie Miller Donaldson
I've made this recipe a few times now and LOVE it! I haven't taken a photo because I was only thinking about eating it. Pad Thai is hit or miss at restaurants. I've had more bad (usually too sweet) Pad Thai than good. This recipe is excellent. If you like Pad Thai, this is worth the learning curve - like searching the Asian market for all of the ingredients. But, now when I need them - I know what they look like and where they are.
I am so impressed with the balance of flavors in Pailin's recipes and the clarity her videos provide. I've tried five recipes so far and keep making them over and over because they are that good.
★★★★★
Olivia
So good
★★★★★
Horseface
Seriously, best pad Thai ever.
★★★★★
Jennifer
Perfect. Just like in Thailand.
★★★★★