Pad Thai rice noodles are the most popular dish in Thailand!

Pad Thai rice noodles are a daily staple in the Kingdom of Siam and are widely consumed. No matter what province you are visiting, you will find Pad Thai noodles on the menu of any Thai café, as well as in the offerings of street traders, in the so-called makashnitches. It is especially popular with the latter for its simple preparation and consistently high demand. Even foreign tourists prefer to eat it, as it is the least spicy Thai dish of all that is served in Thailand.

The popularity of Pad Thai can probably be compared to Russian mashed potatoes or buckwheat porridge. However, there are much more variations in its preparation. Today we will share with you the easiest recipe, providing step-by-step instructions for cooking. But before we do, here’s a little about this Thai gastronomic phenomenon.

Main types of pad Thai noodles

Pad Thai rice noodles is the common name for a whole family of rice-based dough dishes. If you want to try them at any Thai restaurant, you will definitely be asked which type you prefer. Street macarons traditionally serve Pad Thai with chicken. This option is particularly common in the northern continental provinces, with pork and even rarer beef options available.

Pad Thai rice noodles with chicken

Pad Thai rice noodles with chicken

In coastal areas of the country, a favorite aboriginal dish is Pad Thai with shrimp.

Pad Thai rice noodles with shrimp

Pad Thai rice noodles with shrimp

Any type of rice noodle can be prepared in a myriad of ways, and each chef has their own recipe for making Pad Thai noodles and can rightfully claim to be unique in their work. The Pad Thai dish has many components, and the ingredients are basic and supplementary. The main ingredients are noodles and fillings – meat, chicken or seafood. As well as an egg and a special sauce having the same name and prepared from tamarind pods, which are also called Indian date. The seconds are like the cherry on the cake and can be, for example, soy curd (tofu), vegetables, herbs and lime.

How much does pad thai cost in Thailand

Pad Thai dish is the food of commoners, so its cost is affordable for all who stay in the blessed land of the Kingdom of Siam. The cheapest offer you’ll find at street makashnas, it costs around 60 baht there. In a café or restaurant the price can double to 150 baht. This rule is valid for tourist regions of the country. Somewhere in a remote province, for example in the northeastern Isan area, you will be served Pad Thai for 50 or even 40 baht.

Pad Thai dish in take-out container

Pad Thai Dish in a Takeaway Container

The second question you will be asked after choosing a dish is your preferred method of consumption. That is, do you want to eat Pad Thai here and now or do you want it wrapped to go. For those who want to eat at the cafe, the noodles will be brought on a plate and complemented with a serving fork or chopsticks. They take it with them in a Styrofoam container that serves as a thermos and allows you to take the cooked noodles, for example, to your hotel room in the fully cooked state (warm or moderately hot). The price is not affected by the place of consumption.

Cooking Pad Thai at home is not complicated

Thai Pad Thai noodles are almost addictive, in the sense that you can get used to this simple but tasty dish in just a week’s vacation in Thailand and then suffer for its absence in the historical homeland. Since Thai cuisine restaurants are not in every Russian city, the desire to try flavored fried noodles again becomes literally an obsession. That’s why many people who have returned from the exotic shores of Indochina wonder how to cook Pat Thai.

So, the promised recipe for Pad Thai dish with chicken. It’s pretty simple, and the whole cooking process takes no more than a quarter of an hour. You’ll need the following ingredients for one serving:

  • 150-200 grams of flat rice noodles.
  • A roughly the same amount of chicken fillet (breast).
  • One chicken egg.
  • Bean sprouts, which can be replaced with cabbage – 30 grams.
  • Pad Thai sauce.
  • Large clove of garlic.
  • Some green onion feathers.
  • Crushed peanuts.
  • Half a lemon (or preferably a lime) or lemon juice.

The noodles are cooked in a wide skillet with high walls. In Thailand they are called “Wok”. A regular wide frying pan is fine instead, but it is not very comfortable to cook in.

Pad Thai Sauce

Pad Thai Sauce found in Russian supermarkets

Pad Thai Sauce – this is the only main ingredient worth buying exactly in Thailand (or in online stores with Thai products), because it is made with the rare tamarind fruit, which you can’t find here. It can also be found in our supermarkets in the department of Asian cuisine, but the taste of the sauce may differ from the original Thai. As a last resort, it can be replaced with Tkemali sauce, although the authenticity will be compromised.

Cooking Pad Thai with chicken – step-by-step instructions

  1. Slice chicken fillet (thinner), slices can also be sliced.
  2. Soak rice noodles in warm water. Ten to twelve minutes should be enough.
  3. Soak rice noodles in lukewarm water.
  4. Pour 3 tablespoons of oil into a wok (or regular frying pan) and heat it up.
  5. Add crushed with the flat side of the knife, and then chopped garlic in the heated oil and fry it slightly.
  6. .
  7. Fry the chicken fillet until tender – the degree is determined by taste. It should be done quickly, so we increase the heat to the maximum. As the meat is not removed from the pan until the end of cooking, it is better to undercook it a little.
  8. Shift the meat to one half of the pan, and on the vacant place put the raw egg and fry it with continuous stirring. You should have a crumbly omelet.
  9. Stir the meat with the egg, add the soaked rice noodles. The degree of sogginess of the latter is determined by experience, but we have to act according to the Italian principle: so that it is a little hard. To soak the noodles we recommend to use water heated to 60-70 degrees, although the Thais mostly use only cold water, that’s why their noodles are not so soft.
  10. .
  11. Stir in the Pad Thai sauce and mix well with the rest of the ingredients in the pan.
  12. Add the greens – bean sprouts or thinly sliced cabbage leaves, green onion feathers. If desired, you can add sliced carrots. Mix everything thoroughly. In a couple of minutes the dish is ready.

Peat the Pad Thai on a plate and sprinkle with crushed peanuts. Put half a lemon on top and drizzle with lime juice to taste. Pad Thai noodles are quite democratic so you can replace the lemon with cucumber slices. This variation can be found in Thailand as well. Europeans eat Pad Thai noodles with a fork, but it is better to do it with chopsticks.

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