Prepare Pad Thai sauce: For 2 servings
2 Big tbsp. of palm sugar
3 tbsp. concentrated tamarind juice
3 tbsp. fish sauce
2 tbsp. oyster sauce
Prepare ingredients to cook the noodle:
2 tbsp. vegetable oil
2 tbsp. minced shallot
1 tbsp. minced garlic
2 tbsp. cut yellow tofu
1 tbsp. sweet radish (minced)
2 handful thin noodle if you can’t find the specific one, just use any noodle, mung bean noodle is also good. (Soak the noodle in regular water for 2 hours)
2 eggs
1 handful of a garlic-like vegetable >>> garlic Chives/ Chinese Chives.
10 big shrimps (peeled, De-veined and cooked)
Final Decoration:
1 handful bean sprouts
1 tsp. dried red chili powder
2 tbsp. roasted peanut (crushed)
1 tsp. sugar
4-5 branches of Uuicnri leaves/ garlic Chives/ Chinese Chives.
1 piece of sliced lime
Cooking Instructions:
1. Heat the pan and add palm sugar, fish sauce, tamarind juice, oyster sauce and a little bit of water. Now used medium or low heat to let the sauce boiled and get thick. Keep stirring. Make sure you don’t burn the sauce. Gold pad Thai is good pad Thai. Be careful, it will be bitter if you put max heat and burn it.
2. Taste the sauce and make it the way you like. Some people love it more sweet and some just love it a little more salty but the trick of Pad Thai sauce is the well-balance of 3 tastes, sweetness, sourness and saltiness. So change it the way you like. If you like it sweet, keep the taste the way it is will be right taste for you. However, my trick is to add some Maggi soy sauce to make it more salty as my husband love it that way.
3. When the sauce get thick enough, remove from the stove.
Next, we will cook the pad Thai noodles.
1. In a different pan, heat the pan and add vegetable oil. When the pan is hot, add garlic and shallot Fry until it has aromatic smell.
2. Next, add tofu and sweet radish.
3. Now, add noodle and 4 tbsp of the sauce we made from earlier. (that’s for 1 serving). You can keep adding the sauce of the amount of the noodle is more than one handful. Make sure you don’t add too much because the noodle will be too wet and overcook. (add it little by little) Then, make a quick stir.
You may want to pick the noodle and taste it to see if your noodle is cooked right.
4. If you like bean sprouts and the sliced garlic Chives/ Chinese Chives to be cooked, add it in this step.
5. Push the noodle aside. Add the egg and cook it until it is half way done then mix it with the noodle. Now add shrimps and mix.
6. Turn off the fire. Arrange the noodle on a plate. Put dried chili pepper, sugar, roasted peanut, fresh bean sprouts, one piece of lemon and the garlic Chives/ Chinese Chives on a side.
Another option for Pad Thai, make an omelet from duck’s eggs. Make it as thin and as big as possible. Put the noodle in the middle of the omelet. Fold four sides then put another plate on top. Turn it upside down. Decorate it with bean sprouts, the genus Allium or scallion, dried chili powder, sugar, peanut, and one piece of lemon.
We called this Pad Thai with omelet in Thai language, “Pad Thai Kai Ho”. Pad Thai is a classic Thai Food dish and one that we eat a lot – a couple times per month. Tourists, when they come to Thailand know “Pad Thai” from the Thai food restaurants in their home country. They always seem to know to order this dish!
Oops, BONUS – Below is a video of me making Pad Thai another time (6/2011) – this was the best Pad Thai my husband ever ate!
This PadThai page has been viewed over 28,000 times on this site! Recently we revised the page to fix the title and reformat the spaces. Look better? This is an amazing Thai food recipe that we must have a couple times per month. Right now as we speak Joy is making some Tom Kha Gai (Spicy and Sour Chicken Soup with mushrooms…) yum, one of my favorites. She just handed me a “Dragon fruit” one of my top 3 favorite Thai fruits! Thai food is the best! – Vern, Joy’s husband.
WOW, can’t believe how many people have viewed this recipe on your site — congratulations!!
Of course I had to check it out after discovering you from the Times’ list of best blogs. Congratulations and thanks for the fabulous resource! I’ve tried a few Pad Thai recipes and nothing quite hit the spot yet. I can’t wait to try this one!
Thank you for writing in Jackie –
My husband says that it’s the peanut, sprouts, scallions and lemon or lime juice that make the whole pad thai delicous. I think you’ll enjoy this recipe, many have written in to tell me they loved it!
Joy
Hi Joy,
Your recipe for pad thai looks great. Just one comment: the “garlic-like vegetable of the genus Allium” that you listed in your ingredient list is called garlic chive (in thai: pak gui-chai).
-Tina
Thank you Jackie!
Help please!
I tried cooking pad thai but though it was delicious, it became very sticky. It stuck to each other and became a big blob after a few minutes! Did I overcook it? I cooked the noodles in the sauce and waited for it to reduce and thicken. Is it the brand of flat noodles? Should I have added more oil? How do I prevent this?
Thank you! I’m so glad I stumbled upon your site!
ummmmm seems kind of a spicy and yummy…will try this one on sunday…
my first try was phenomenal…it’s even better than in restaurants around here…trust me, i’m asian too so my taste bud wouldn’t compromise for anything bland…i was in complete and utter shock when i tried this recipe…
I didn’t have the dried shrimp nor tofu and sprouts and i used brown sugar (whatever i have in the cabinet), I can’t wait to try with the complete ingredients. This recipe deserve that many hit, you really nailed the recipe very well. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR SHARING..
Thanks Nadya!
Joy
JOY!
Thank you for this recipe. I’ve never had authentic Pad Thai before but I’ve had mock versions at restaurants before and this one FAR surpasses anything I’ve ever been served. Thank you again!
Can you use anything besides oyster sauce? I mean, is it really necessary?
Yes!
The main point of the oyster sauce is to make the stir fried dish thick like gravy sauce. Instead of oyster sauce you can use 1 tbsp. corn starch mix with 1/4 cup of water. Then, pour it into the food. Cook until the sauce get thick. 
My search for Pad Thai ends here. Beautiful recipe, Joy. Lovely blog. Love Thai cuisine and I find a lot of similarities between Indian and Thai food. Am going to be a regular at your space.
hi! i made this for my mom & i and we both enjoyed it
it’s even better than all the ones i’ve tried in the restaurants. never going out to eat pad thai again! thank you 
It is so delicious and healthy food.I really enjoyed this recipe.Thank you so much for sharing this recipe
I am glad to know that it works for everybody.
That’s so cool!!!
Thank you to you too for the great feedback. I am so energetic to keep up good work from that. 
Hi Joy,
I was wondering, can I use regular sugar or brown sugar in place of the palm sugar? I don’t have any palm sugar, but want to make this dish tonight!
thank you!
Yes of course!
Regular sugar is fine! 
To thicken padthai all you do is shimmering the sauce a little longer that’s all u need and is best to put crushed peanut stir it in the wok that’s even tasted better…
Great site! I’ve made Pad Thai numerous times and always manage to get the noodles to clump together into a mess. Don’t know what I’m doing wrong. I also either over or under sauce it. I’ll try this recipe out.
The way you presented this recipe is so simple that even college student can make it own their own at home.
I did a cooking class when I was last in Chiang Mai but it was a full on day. Your Pad Thai recipe and cooking style is so simple and I can see where different meats can substitute
Love your style Joy