Growing up, many a Christmas Eve was spent at our favorite Thai food restaurant in L.A., Sanamloung. While others ate turkey, ham, and potatoes on Christmas Eve we feasted on pad wood sen, pad see ew, pork satay, big bowls of general noodle soup, and Thai iced teas. Not much else was open on that day, but we knew Sanamloung was always there and always open until 3 am. After a while, it kind of became our nontraditional tradition.
Sanamloung isn’t anything fancy either. It’s tucked away in a strip mall in North Hollywood, surrounded by other Thai businesses and glowing with tons of neon lights. There’s always a Thai parking lot attendant using his whistle to direct traffic in the parking lot because no matter the time of day or night, it’s always packed. Its popularity is no coincidence. It’s not just good, it’s the best. The best peanut sauce. The best pad see ew with wide fat noodles, Chinese broccoli, and tender pork. The best, most flavorful satay. And the best pad Thai I’ve ever had. It was always Sanamloung, nowhere else. Nothing else was worth our time. And Thai food quickly became one of my favorites, one of the things I craved the most, one of the things that always reminded me of home in L.A.
When I went to Indiana for college and had Thai food for the first time there, I was confused. What was I eating?! This wasn’t the pad Thai that I knew and loved. It tasted like peanut butter had been spread on noodles and then fried up in a wok. GROSS! And the pad see ew, WHY DOES IT HAVE NORMAL chunks of traditional broccoli in it!? Where is the leafy, silky, Chinese broccoli that I love!?! I had become a Thai food snob and not even realized it. I went from telling people that Thai food was my favorite food, to telling people that GOOD Thai food was my favorite food.
When I moved to Chicago after College, I was more hopeful. Surely there would be good Thai food in Chicago. I tried and tried and tried and finally found a place that was good, it wasn’t Sanamloung, but it was still good. They had the best Thai basil chicken ever. And then it closed. And my mission to find good Thai food started all over again. When we order Thai in Chicago now we usually get Star of Siam or JJ Thai Street food. Both of which satisfy my Thai food cravings but still leave me feeling like something is missing. They aren’t Sanamloung. So I decided to master some Thai cooking myself. How hard could it be to perfect my favorite Thai dishes at home?
My mom gave me a Thai cook book a few years ago called Nong’s Thai Kitchen written by a woman named Nongkran Daks who was the only chef to beat Bobby Flay in Food Network’s Pad Thai Throwdown. She is a master chef of Thai Cuisine and the book has some amazing recipes that I’ve been making my way through. After scouring the internet and reading lots of recipes that people claimed made very authentic tasting Pad Thai, I decided to use her basic formula as the basis for my recipe. I modified it in the areas that I thought needed some enhancing and truly knocked it out of the park. The results were the best pad Thai I’ve ever had.
I challenge you to make this. Sure, it might seem like it’s going to be complicated, but I promise it’s actually really easy. You will be amazed with the results. If you don’t have easy access to an Asian grocery store, you can order everything you need on Amazon. Fill up your cart and let’s give it a Thai!
Let’s get started.
Step 1: Thai Thai-m. If you don’t have access to an Asian grocery store, it couldn’t be easier to order your Thai ingredients on Amazon. You will need Palm Sugar, Thai Rice Noodles, Tamarind Concentrate, and Thai Fish Sauce. Everything else you should be able to find at a normal grocery store. I use fresh rice noodles from my Asian grocery store to make this, but the noodles I have listed should work just as well. Additionally if you don’t have a large wok yet, that is very helpful in making this dish. I’ve linked the one I love.
Step 2: Sauce. Let’s make the sauce that gives this dish so much flavor. Combine all the sauce ingredients in a sauce pan and cook over medium-low heat for about 60 minutes, until syrupy. Stir occasionally to prevent burning. Allow to cool.
Step 3: Velveting. I chose to use chicken and shrimp in this recipe and velvet the chicken so that it would be soft and silky. In order to velvet the chicken combine corn starch and egg white and whisk together with a fork. Add chicken and marinate in the fridge for 30 minutes. Then remove from the fridge and drain when you’re ready to stir fry.
Step 4: Noodles. Prepare your rice noodles according to the instructions on the box. They should be soft but firm prior to hitting your wok to be stir fried. Some rice noodles need to be soaked for an hour in cold water prior to being stir fried. Follow the directions on whichever noodles you purchased.
Step 5: Wok it out. Heat the oil in a wok. Add the garlic and stir fry until golden brown. Add the chicken. Stir fry for 2-3 minutes stirring constantly. Remove the chicken from the wok to a plate. Add the shrimp. Stir fry for about 2 minutes. Remove the shrimp to prevent overcooking and set aside. Add the noodles. Stir them to prevent from sticking together. Add a little water stirring a few times. Gradually add 3/4 cup of the pad thai sauce and continue stirring until all the ingredients are thoroughly mixed. Return the chicken and shrimp to wok. You may need additional sauce. If your noodles seem a little dry, continue to add the pad Thai sauce one tablespoon at a time until the noodles, shrimp, and chicken seem to have a decent amount of sauce.
Step 6: Eggs. Push the contents of the wok around to make room to scramble the eggs. I use four eggs in this recipe because I really like the texture and flavor it gives. If you want less eggs, only use two. Add 1 tablespoon of oil to the pan. Scramble the eggs in a bowl. Then add them to the empty space in the wok you’ve created. When the eggs are cooked, stir them into the noodles until everything is well mixed. This should result in egg mixed throughout all of the noodles.
Step 7: Top it off. Add the peanuts, green onion, and bean sprouts to your wok. Cook for and additional 30 seconds as you toss everything to combine. Transfer to a serving platter. Serve with additional raw bean sprouts, a sprinkle of crushed peanuts, lime wedges, cilantro and a few squeezes of lime juice.
Thai-m after Thai-m {Mastering Perfect Pad Thai}
Ingredients
Pad Thai Sauce:
- 1 cup tamarind concentrate
- 1 cup palm sugar
- 1 cup water
- 1/2 cup fish sauce
- 2 teaspoons salt
Chicken, Shrimp, and Noodle Mixture:
- 5 tablespoons vegetable oil or more as needed
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1 cup minced chicken breast (cut this into very small thin strips)
- 1 egg white (for velveting chicken)
- 1 tablespoon corn starch (for velveting chicken)
- 3/4 pound clean deshelled deveined shrimp (I used my favorite Trader Joe's wild red Argentenian shrimp)
- 1 pound rice noodles (the pack of rice noodles I posted is 14 oz, that is fine to use)
- 3/4 cup pad thai sauce to start (if you think the noodle mixture needs more sauce continue to add it one tablespoon at a time)
- 4 large eggs
- 4 tablespoons ground roasted peanuts (I use my food processor to crush the peanuts)
- 5 green onion greens chopped into 1 inch sections
- 2 cups bean sprouts, rinsed, plus more for garnish
- 1 lime cut into wedges
Instructions
- Step 1: Let's make the sauce that gives this dish so much flavor. Combine all the sauce ingredients in a sauce pan and cook over medium-low heat for about 60 minutes, until syrupy. Stir occasionally to prevent burning. Allow to cool.
- Step 2: Velveting. I chose to use chicken and shrimp in this recipe and velvet the chicken so that it would be soft and silky. In order to velvet the chicken combine corn starch and egg white and whisk together with a fork. Add chicken and marinate in the fridge for 30 minutes. Then remove from the fridge and drain when you're ready to stir fry.
- Step 3: Noodles. Prepare your rice noodles according to the instructions on the box. They should be soft but firm prior to hitting your wok to be stir fried. Some rice noodles need to be soaked for an hour in cold water prior to being stir fried. Follow the directions on whichever noodles you purchased.
- Step 4: Wok it out. Heat the oil in a wok. Add the garlic and stir fry until golden brown. Add the chicken. Stir fry for 2-3 minutes stirring constantly. Remove the chicken from the wok to a plate. Add the shrimp. Stir fry for about 2 minutes. Remove the shrimp to prevent overcooking and set aside. Add the noodles. Stir them to prevent from sticking together. Add a little water stirring a few times. Add the 1/2 cup of the pad Thai sauce and continue stirring until all the ingredients are thoroughly mixed. Return the chicken and shrimp to wok.
- Step 5: Eggs. Push the contents of the wok around to make room to scramble the eggs. I use four eggs in this recipe because I really like the texture and flavor it gives. If you want less eggs, only use two. Add 1 tablespoon of oil to the pan. Scramble the eggs in a bowl. Then add them to the empty space in the wok you've created. When the eggs are cooked, stir them into the noodles until everything is well mixed. This should result in egg mixed throughout all of the noodles.
- Step 6: Top it off. Add the peanuts, green onion, and bean sprouts to your wok. Cook for and additional 30 seconds as you toss everything to combine. Transfer to a serving platter. Serve with additional raw bean sprouts, a sprinkle of crushed peanuts, lime wedges, cilantro and a few squeezes of lime juice.
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