How To Make Pad Thai | Authentic Pad Thai Sauce

You guys, welcome back. The hidden pond has developed an icy armor. The billowing reed flowers moving in sync with the frosty wind. This weather's got me craving a guilty noodle dish right now. Today I'll be making Pad Thai, the most iconic noodle dish of Thailand. First, I'll show you how to make the sauce in bulk so it's ready for you. And secondly, how to make Pad Thai noodles the classic way. Let's get started. Classic Pad Thai sauce uses three main ingredients. Palm sugar, tamarind, and fish sauce. This is palm sugar. Shave it down like this so it dissolves easier. We'll be using the entire block. This is tamarind, a tropical sour fruit, and we'll need its liquid. Add the tamarind pulp to a bowl and add boiling hot water. Cover and soak for about 30 minutes to soften up the pulp. After 30 minutes, the tamarind pulp has softened. Let's mash it up and dissolve the pulp well until we have a thick liquid. Strain this liquid and discard the solids. This tamarind liquid is fruity and sour like a super sour green apple. It'll make your lips pucker. On medium heat, in goes the palm sugar. Let's dissolve it. Allow it to develop a bit of color like this. In goes the tamarind liquid we made. And fish sauce. Roasted chili flakes are optional but I think it adds a nice kick. Taste and adjust the flavors to your liking. Lightly boil for 5 minutes, allowing the flavors to become one. This sauce has a balance of sweet, sour, and savory. In a sterilized glass jar, in goes this delicious pad thai sauce. Seal it and store it in the fridge. As it cools down, it'll thicken a bit. Use your favorite brand of medium-sized flat rice stick noodles. I like this brand. Allow them to soak in room temperature water for an hour and a half. They'll become white, opaque, and flexible like this. Pad thai is super quick to make once all of the ingredients are prepped. That's why it's important to prep everything ahead before we begin stir frying the noodles. Asian garlic chives for herbal greenery. Bean sprouts for a refreshing crisp. We'll need additional aromatics like shallots and garlic. Mince it well. In addition, we'll need some grounded roasted peanuts for nuttiness. Sweetened radish, which can be found in the pickled section of your local Asian grocery store. Chopped finely. Pressed tofu or the firmest tofu that you can find. Cut them small like this. It'll add a nice bouncy bite. Dried shrimp to disperse chewy textures and umami flavors. An egg. For the main protein, I'm using jumbo shrimp, cleaned and patted dry. Let's make pad thai. This amount makes one large serving. I recommend making one serving, the most two servings at a time, so that you can control the texture of the noodles better. Heat up some oil on medium heat in a non-stick or seasoned pan or wok. Fully cook the shrimp. It'll only take a couple of minutes on each side. Remove them to prevent overcooking and set aside. We'll use the same oil, which now has a nice shrimpy flavor. On medium-high heat, in goes the shallots and garlic. Followed by dried shrimp, pressed tofu, and sweetened radish. It smells incredible. Once the garlic starts to develop the slightest color and release its fragrance, in goes the soaked noodles. Add water. This water will work with the oil to cook the noodles to a nice, soft, and bouncy texture with a slight chew. After a few minutes stir-frying, the noodles will become slightly translucent. In goes the pad thai sauce. Once the sauce has moved into the noodles, push them to one side of the pan. In goes a bit of oil and add the egg. Lightly marble the eggs up like this and lay the noodles right on top. Give it a minute for the eggs to sear a bit and develop color. A bit of peanuts. Now stir everything up. Taste to see if the noodles are cooked. They should be soft, bouncy, and chewy. If you need more time, lower the heat and cook further. Mine are just right, so in goes the bean sprouts, Asian garlic chives. After about 10 seconds of mixing, shut off the heat and allow the residual heat to cook the bean sprouts and Asian garlic chives. This prevents them from wilting too much and preserves their freshness and crisp. Plate up the pad thai. On goes the bouncy shrimp. Pad thai is garnished with more grounded roasted peanuts, roasted chili flakes, bean sprouts, Asian garlic chives, and most importantly, a wedge of lime. There are many modern variations of pad thai, but here is the traditional version. Squeeze a bit of lime juice all over. It'll bring all the flavors together. Mix everything together and enjoy. A nice balance of sweet, sour, and savory. I hope you enjoyed this video. Please give it a thumbs up and I'll see you all in the next video. Be safe everyone.