I am a cultural mutt. But neither of my ethnicities have anything to do with Thai. But I know good food when I see it, smell it, and eat it.

I am horrified at the many attempts out there to recreate Pad Thai that have nothing to do with the original, whose flavor depends on a mixture of tamarind juice, palm sugar and fish sauce.

Yes, I am aware we live in a Western centric society and that our diet is starting to harm those that partake in it in the East. However, that is no reason to disrespect by calling Pad Thai any rice noodle mushy grossness that contains ingredients never heard of in the dish.

Although some of the ingredients may be challenging to assemble, if you have an Asian market nearby, you will have no trouble locating them.

Part of the inspiration from this recipe came from Bobby Flay’s Pad Thai Throwdown, where he lost. I took most from Nongkran Daks recipe, a Thai lady who kicked his foodie butt. I did add a couple of things from his, just so he would no feel left out.

You want some now

Special ingredients and equipment you will need:

• Traditional Wok (no all clad modernized crap)
• Preserved Radishes
• Fermented Bean Curb
• Nori sheets or dried seaweed
• Palm Sugar
• Tamarind juice concentrate
• Ponzu Soy Sauce (has citrus notes)
• Medium dried rice noodles (Banh Pho)

The rest of the ingredients should be easily available.

Make the sauces ahead of time, you can store them and use them and use them at your leisure. I started with this recipe, but then made some alternations to reach a balanced taste that would satisfy my palate. Having not tasted fish sauce by itself, I am not certain of how close I get to recreating it. But I’ll happily live with that.

Make the Sans Fish Sauce:

• 1 cup shredded dried seaweed or  5 nori sheets
• water
• 3 very large cloves garlic, crushed but not peeled.
• 1 1/2 tbsp. black peppercorns
• 1 tablespoon fermented bean curd
• 1/2 cup Ponzu soy sauce

Boil the seaweed fiercely in the water for about 20 minutes. The liquid will be reduced to about half. Then add the rest of the ingredients along with 2 cups of water, and boil for about 30 minutes until you have 2 cups left.

Boiling the sans fish sauce

The sauce should be strong, and quite salty. Strain through a cheese cloth or fine sieve to remove any impurities.

Straining the fish sauce

Make the Pad Thai Sauce:

• 1/2 cup tamarind juice concentrate
• 1 cup palm sugar
• 1 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup sans fish sauce
• 2 teaspoons sea salt

Coming all ingredients in a saucepan, boil and simmer for 45 minutes to one hour until it forms a medium syrup.

Pad Thai sauce should have a syrup-like consistency

• 4 tablespoons vegetable oil, plus extra as needed
• 2 cloves chopped garlic
• 1 tablespoon preserved radish, chopped
• 1/2 cup thinly sliced hard dry tofu
• 1/4 pound medium-size dried rice noodles, soaked in cold water for one hour
• 4 tablespoons Pad Thai sauce
• 1 dried hot Thai chiles, ground
• 2 tablespoons ground roasted peanuts
• 1/2 cup sliced garlic chives or green onion
• 2 cups bean sprouts

The noodles will be still a little chewy and feel raw. These will finish as we stir fry.

Heat the wok ad add 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil. Stir fry the shallots and garlic until the garlic is slightly brown. Then add in the preserved radish  stir for a minute. Add the tofu, brown and remove all ingredients from the pan and set aside.

Sautéing the shallots, garlic, and preserved radishes

Add in the noodles and stir quickly as they have a habit of sticking. Stir fry until the noodles are cooked about 5 minutes adding a little water and oil as needed. Add the tofu and shallot mixture back into the wok. Then add the Pad Thai sauce and stir until all the noodles are coated. If the pan dries out, it is ok to add a little more vegetable oil as needed.

Adding the rice noodles

Add in the peanuts, green onions, ground chiles, bean sprouts, and mix all the ingredients together, cook for a couple of minutes.

Serve in an oversized platter squeeze a little lemon juice, and garnish with raw bean sprouts, lemon wedges, and green onions.

Smile and eat. Serves two. If you want to double the recipe, prepare your ingredients and follow the procedure twice so you do not crowd your wok and the noodles cook properly.

Related posts: