Time: ~45 minutes prep, ~30 minutes cooking
Complexity: Slightly Complex
Ingredients
- 8-10 oz. thin Thai-style rice noodles – can be done with narrow, wide, XL, whatever you can find
- 1 to 1 1/2 cups raw chicken breast or thigh meat, sliced
- Marinade for chicken:
- 2 tsp. cornstarch dissolved in 2 Tbsp. soy sauce
- oil for stir-frying
- 1/2 cup chicken stock
- 1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 cups fresh bean sprouts (set some aside for garnish)
- Pad Thai Sauce:
- 3/4 Tbsp. tamarind paste dissolved in 1/4 cup warm water (do this for the tamarind that comes in a solid brick)
- OR 4 Tbsp. of tamarind concentrate (do this for the liquid kind that comes in a jar)
- 2 Tbsp. fish sauce
- 1-3 tsp. chili sauce (according to taste)
- 3 Tbsp. brown sugar (not packed)
- Garnishes:
- lime wedges
- more bean sprouts
- fresh coriander (cilantro)
- 1/3 cup crushed or roughly chopped peanuts (I mash them with a rolling pin)
- 3 spring (green) onions, sliced
- Optional:
- 3 baby Bok choy, chopped into 1/2 inch pieces
Directions
- Place noodles in a pot of cold water and place on the stove. Bring almost to a boil, then remove from heat. Allow to sit while you prepare the other ingredients.
- Check the noodles after about 10 minutes. Note that you will be frying the noodles later, so you don’t want to over-soften them at this point. Noodles are ready when they are soft enough to be eaten, but are still firm and chewy. Drain and rinse through with cold water. Set aside.
- Make the Pad Thai Sauce by combining the sauce ingredients together in a bowl. Stir well to dissolve both the tamarind paste and the brown sugar. Taste the sauce and add more tamarind or brown sugar to find your preferred balance of sweet vs. sour, then add the chili sauce. (I like to overdo it a bit with the chili sauce on this step, because it will diffuse somewhat when cooked with the noodles. Slightly too spicy for sauce alone will be perfect in the finished dish.)
- Place chicken slices in a small bowl. Pour the marinade over the chicken. Stir well and set aside.
- Warm up a wok or large frying pan over high heat. (I turn the heat all the way up when using a wok on my gas range.) When the wok is hot, add 1-2 Tbsp. oil plus garlic. Stir-fry until fragrant (30 seconds).
- Add the chicken, together with the marinade, to the wok. Stir-fry until the wok becomes dry (30 seconds to 1 minute). Keep the chicken moving in the wok, and don’t worry if bits get stuck to the sides at this point. The wok should deglaze on the next step.
- Now begin adding some of the chicken stock. Add only a few Tbsp. at a time, enough to keep the chicken frying nicely. Continue until all the chicken stock has been added and chicken pieces are cooked through (about 5-8 minutes).
- OPTIONAL: toss in the bok choy and stir fry just until the greens wilt (about 30 seconds).
- Add the noodles, and pour the Pad Thai sauce over the noodles. Using two spatulas, wooden spoons, or other utensils, quickly stir-fry the noodles. Use a “lift and turn” method (almost as though you were tossing a salad) instead of the usual stir-frying motion, to avoid breaking the noodles.
- Fry the noodles in this way for 1-2 minutes. If you find your wok too dry, push noodles aside and add a little more oil to the bottom (but no more broth, or the noodles will become soggy).
- Add the bean sprouts and sprinkle over the ground black pepper. Continue tossing for 1 more minute, or until noodles are cooked. Noodles are done to perfection when they are no longer “hard” or translucent.
- Taste-test the noodles for seasoning, adding more fish sauce as needed. Toss well to incorporate.
- To serve, lift the Pad Thai onto a serving plate. Top with generous amounts of fresh coriander, green onion, bean sprouts, and peanuts. Add fresh lime wedges to the side, and serve with a bottle of Thai chili sauce.
Notes
As written, this recipe will feed 2-3 adults for one meal. I generally make a double batch (pictured above) for a guaranteed night or two of leftovers, which just fits in my large wok.
Bok choy is not a typical ingredient for Pad Thai, but I like to add it for the increased greens and an extra crunch.