Perfect Pad Thai

Name: Perfect Pad Thai
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 35 min
Yield: Serves: 4
Cuisine: Vietnamese
Ingredients: 2 eggs; 300 g (10½ oz) raw prawns (shrimp), peeled and deveined; 2 tablespoons vegetable oil; 250 g (9 oz) dried rice stick noodles; 90 g (3 oz) tamarind purée mixed with 50 ml (1¾ fl oz) water; 2½ tablespoons grated palm sugar (jaggery) or soft brown sugar; 3 bird’s eye chillies (or 1 thumb-size red chilli), stems removed, finely chopped; 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped; 1 tablespoon vegetable oil; Lime wedges, roasted and coarsely ground peanuts and coriander (cilantro) leaves, to serve; small handful of chives or garlic chives, snipped into 2.5 cm (1 inch) pieces; 2 tablespoons finely chopped pickled turnip (optional); 115 g (4 oz/1 cup) bean sprouts; 2 teaspoons light soy sauce; 50 ml (1¾ fl oz) fish sauce

Preparation info

Serves:
4

Difficulty
Easy
Ready in
35 min

Appears in

My Street Food Kitchen

By Jennifer Joyce

Published 2015

About

Until recently, making the perfect pad Thai had eluded me. I tried numerous renditions but it never had the wow factor. A talented chef called Alima, from Krabi, showed me how it was done. Two important light bulb moments happened: firstly, you can’t make a big batch in one wok, because it goes soggy (most Thais cook individual portions); secondly, the noodles should be firm when they go into the wok. The high heat and smaller quantity of noodles finish the cooking and create the ultimate t