Authentic Thai Pad Thai: Traditional and Delicious Recipe

First, let's know a little about the origin of this dish. Now Pad Thai has spread all over the world, but perhaps not many know that the fried noodles and renaming of the country were part of the Thai nationalist movement at the time. Thailand's name changed from Siam to Thailand in 1939. The Thai prime minister at the time worked hard to build nationalism, promoting Thai traditions and customs, and requiring the Chinese to adopt Thai surnames and speak Thai, otherwise they would not they could obtain Thai nationality. Then somehow the noodles got involved too.

Noodles were brought to Thailand by the people of Chaozhou, and have been a long-established ingredient in Chinese food for over a hundred years, but they are also an everyday dish for Thai people. The prime minister wanted to create a version of the noodles without Chinese elements.

The first step was to include "Thai" in the name, thus Pad Thai was born. "Pad" means to fry, and only Pad Thai refers to these fried noodles with a distinctive Thai national character. The second step was to use local ingredients and not add soy sauce, oyster sauce, or other Chinese seasonings. The original version was meatless, because the usual Thai diet is not based on meat; plus it was cheap street food, and it seemed like you had to ask the vendor to add shrimp separately. Later, although versions with chicken and beef appeared, pork Pad Thai is hardly seen, because pork is Chinese food.

Therefore, although there are various types of Thai fried noodles, the home style can be made as desired, but Pad Thai, which is the most representative Thai fried noodle dish, has specific ingredients and flavors, and is also related to its political origin.

Ingredients :

1. 200 g wide rice noodles
2. 200g shrimp, peeled and deveined
3. 2 eggs
4. 100 g bean sprouts
5. 3 spring onions, cut into small pieces
6. 2 garlic cloves, minced
7. 2 tablespoons peanut oil
8. 50g salted tofu, cut into small pieces
9. 50 g radish pickled in sugar
10. 50 g crushed peanuts
11. Slices of fresh green lemon, to decorate and season

Seasoning sauce :

1. 3 tablespoons of fish sauce
2. 3 tablespoons palm sugar
3. 2 tablespoons lemon juice
4. 1 tablespoon white vinegar
5. 1 tablespoon sweet and sour hot sauce
6. 1/2 teaspoon chili powder (adjust to taste)

Preparation steps :

1. Soak the rice noodles in lukewarm water for 30 minutes, then drain. Reserve.
2. Mix the seasoning sauce ingredients together for a spicy sweet and sour sauce. Reserve.
3. In a wok or large skillet, heat the peanut oil and sauté the minced garlic.
4. Add the shrimp and sauté until they change color.
5. Move the shrimp to one side of the wok and add the eggs, stirring quickly to mix.
6. Add pickled radish, salted tofu, and rice noodles to wok, mixing well.
7. Pour in the prepared spicy sweet and sour sauce, continue to stir-fry, making sure that the noodles and other ingredients are well covered with the sauce.
8. Add bean sprouts and scallions, continue to sauté until vegetables are tender.
9. Finally, sprinkle in the crushed peanuts, mix well and turn off the heat.
10. Serve the Pad Thai on a plate, accompanied by lime wedges and additional garnishes of your choice.

This is the way to prepare an authentic Thai Pad Thai. Enjoy and I hope you like this delicious dish!