Thailand is one of the most sought after tourist destinations nowadays. If you talk to people who travel, they talk about various different aspects of the country. What comes in conversations is its traditional temples, beautiful beaches and obviously Thai cuisine. Being a food lover I wonder what and how of different cuisines, talking about Thai, we all know it uses aromatic sauces in the preparations such as fish sauce, Thai chili sauce, soy sauce, vinegar etc. They also use rice and noodles extensively while their spices such as kafir lime and lemongrass are famous the world over. No wonder with such delicious ingredients Thai restaurants become famous and sought after international cuisine.
Today I tried to make one of the most famous dishes from this country and in fact voted as one of the most famous in the world, Pad Thai is also sometimes written as Phat Thai. This has been served the world over for more than a century now, it can be found in nearly all Thai restaurants and local eateries. As is common in Thailand, this is made with flat rice noodles with a lot of vegetables and prawns stir fried with the aromatic sauces. Although if you visit Thailand, you can get pre-packaged bags with sauces and ingredients to make this dish, they have no comparison to what you can make with fresh vegetables and authentic sauces. It is served topped with peanuts and lemon wedges and gives a delicious appearance. The taste is absolutely delectable and hard to explain in words. These ingredients are available in most international markets and you can make it yourself fairly easily with the Pad Thai Recipe below and serve for a main course.
Ingredients (serves 4)
- Flat Rice Noodles – 200 gms
- Eggs – 2
- Vegetable oil – 2 tbsp
- Garlic – 10 to 12 cloves (chopped)
- Prawns – 12 to 14
- Onion – 1 (cut in squares)
- Red bell pepper – 1/4 cup (cut in thin stripes)
- Yellow bell pepper – 1/4 cup (cut in thin stripes)
- Green bell pepper – 1/4 cup (cut in thin stripes)
- Broccoli – 1 cup (chopped)
- Bean sprouts – 1/2 cup
- Spring onion – 1/2 cup (chopped)
- Peanuts – 1/4 cup + 2 tsp
- Salt to taste + 1 tsp
- Fresh coriander to garnish
- Lime wedges to garnish
For Sauce
- Tomato sauce – 3 tbsp
- Red chili sauce – 3 tbsp
- Soy sauce – 1 & 1/2 tbsp
- Fish sauce – 1 & 1/2 tsp
- Lime juice – 2 tbsp
- Rice wine vinegar – 2 tbsp
- Paprika powder – 1/2 tsp
- Palm sugar – 1 tbsp
How to Make Pad Thai
- Boil Noodles with water and 1 tsp salt until they are soft, drain in a colander, apply a little oil on noodles and keep aside.
- Add all sauce ingredients in a pan and bring to a boil. Keep aside.
- In a wok, heat the oil, add garlic and saute for 20-30 sec.
- Add prawns and saute for about a min.
- Add onion, red, yellow & green bell peppers, broccoli, bean sprouts and spring onions and saute for a min.
- Add eggs and cook for a min with regular stirring.
- Add 1/4 cup peanuts, sauce, salt and noodles and mix well.
- Take out in a serving bowl, garnish with fresh coriander, 1 tsp peanuts and lime wedges.
- Serve hot.