Recipe
Pad thai with chicken
Thailand's most famous noodle dish made properly at home: soaked rice noodles, chicken, egg pushed to the side of the pan, and the sweet-sour-salty balance of tamarind, fish sauce and sugar, finished with peanuts and lime.
Pad thai with chicken takes about 52 minutes and makes 2 servings. Each serving has 1050 kcal.
- Preparation
- 40 minutes
- Cooking
- 12 minutes
- Total time
- 52 minutes
- Servings
- 2
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 1050 kcal
- Protein
- 52 g
- Carbohydrates
- 105 g
- Fat
- 46 g
Ingredients
- Flat rice noodles200 g
- Chicken thighs300 g
- Tamarind paste2 tbsp
- Fish sauce3 tbsp
- Sugar2 tbsp
- Eggs2 pcs
- Bean sprouts150 g
- Green onions3 pcs
- Garlic2 cloves
- Roasted peanuts50 g
- Lime1 pc
- Sunflower oil3 tbsp
Instructions
- 1
Soak the rice noodles in cold water for 30 minutes. They should be flexible but still firm - they finish cooking in the pan.
Tip: Cold soaking, not boiling, is the secret to noodles that do not fall apart. Boiled noodles turn to mush in the wok.
- 2
Stir the tamarind paste, fish sauce and sugar in a small bowl until the sugar dissolves. Taste: sour, salty and sweet should wrestle but none should win.
Tip: Tamarind brands vary wildly in strength - always adjust by taste, adding sugar or fish sauce a little at a time.
- 3
Cut the chicken into thin strips, chop the garlic, slice the green onions into 3 cm pieces and roughly crush the peanuts.
- 4
Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a wok over the highest heat. Stir-fry the chicken until golden and cooked through, about 4 minutes, then add the garlic for the last 30 seconds.
- 5
Push everything to one side of the pan. Pour the remaining oil into the empty half, crack in the eggs and scramble them right there until just set, then chop through them with the spatula.
- 6
Add the drained noodles and the sauce. Toss and fold constantly - the noodles drink the sauce as they soften and everything should stay over the fiercest heat.
Tip: If the noodles are still stiff when the sauce is gone, add a splash of water - never more sauce.
- 7
Throw in the bean sprouts and green onions and toss for another minute - they should stay crunchy.
- 8
Serve topped with crushed peanuts and a lime wedge to squeeze over.
Cooking methods
On the stove
Pad thai forgives nothing but high heat: the biggest burner, a wok or wide pan, and everything prepped before the pan gets hot. On gas, keep the flame licking the sides; the whole stir-fry takes under ten minutes.
On induction
Power 9 from start to finish, dropping to 7 only if the garlic threatens to burn. Induction holds high heat steadily under a flat wok - the noodle step especially benefits from it.
Over an open fire
Street vendors in Bangkok cook pad thai over roaring charcoal, so a wok on strong embers is completely authentic. Soak the noodles and mix the sauce in advance; over fire you only get one uninterrupted run.
Recipe questions
- How long does this recipe take?
- Plan for about 52 minutes from start to finish.
- How many servings does this recipe make?
- This recipe makes 2 servings.
- Can I cook this recipe on induction?
- Yes. Power 9 from start to finish, dropping to 7 only if the garlic threatens to burn. Induction holds high heat steadily under a flat wok - the noodle step especially benefits from it.
- Can I cook this recipe over an open fire?
- Yes. Street vendors in Bangkok cook pad thai over roaring charcoal, so a wok on strong embers is completely authentic. Soak the noodles and mix the sauce in advance; over fire you only get one uninterrupted run.
In the app
Cooking the way it should feel
One step on screen, a timer that keeps going, and clear progress until the dish is done.
