For such a unique, bold dish, it’s ready in under 30 minutes and this version is loaded with veggies, so you get everything you could want in need, in one dish. Similar to many classic stir-fry dishes, it’s ready in just mere moments and oftentimes, you will spend more time chopping and prepping than the cooking itself. Many years ago I discovered it’s beyond easy to whip up at home. I have, for as long as I can remember, always loved Pad Thai. Choose whatever protein you’d like, shrimp, chicken or tofu and definitely don’t skip on the tamarind – if you want the full experience. As for protein, shrimp and tofu are the most common combination, but you could also use chicken, or just another egg.This Zucchini Noodle Pad Thai is a simple rendition of a very classic, traditional recipe, swapping rice noodles out for fresh zucchini noodles. Other ingredients are pretty flexible: bean sprouts are usual and cabbage is nice, but other vegetables are perfectly acceptable. Fish sauce (nam pla) is another important ingredient made from fermented anchovies (and much like the garum of ancient Rome), it has an unappealing smell and a fabulous taste. The paste, made from the pulp of the tamarind pod, is very sour, but more complex than citrus.

Meanwhile, make a sauce from tamarind paste, easily found these days. Unlike semolina pasta, rice stick noodles don’t need to be boiled instead, you soak them in hot water until they’re tender. The first are the noodles themselves: rice stick noodles, which are pale, translucent, flat and range from very thin to more than a quarter-inch wide. It requires little more than chopping and stirring, and comes together in less than a half-hour.Ī couple of components might be unfamiliar to you. But it’s difficult to understand why more people don’t make it at home, since pad Thai is essentially a stir-fry (in Thailand they refer to it as a Chinese noodle dish). It’s easy to see why: the tangy, crunchy, slightly sweet noodles are irresistible. IN the last 20 years or so, pad Thai has gone from being virtually unknown in this country to being a restaurant and takeout staple.

Mark bittman pad thai