Pad Thai | Simple no-wok recipe, cooks in 3 minutes

[@ethanl5527]

As an Asian dude one of the biggest mistakes I see people make when trying to stir fry is giant portion sizes. Stir fry is all about high heat and fast cooking, which keeps everything as flavorful as possible. Great video Adam.

[@mattwilson7443]

isn't that a major benefit of cooking with a wok?

[@mattwilson7443]

@@ethanl5527 thank you for the thorough explanation. I've learn something today. Also that dudes technique is killer!

[@mmummumm]

Just made Adam's Pad Thai and absolutely nailed it except for one thing: the colors. Chicken turned out too white and whitened the rest of the dish. I think it was definitely because of this, a big portion, not so thin chicken chunks and a not so big non-stick pan. Next time I'll keep it tiny, thanks for the input!

[@ethanl5527]

@Stavex Yeah if your portion sizes are too big you end up steaming your dish.

[@diehlr]

One of my friends is half asian. Her idea of stir fry is loading a fry pan with a couple of inches of food and simmering for 20 minutes. Apparently the half asian she is doesn't involve cooking!

[@shinymuuma]

Little tips from a Thai guy. Fry thin slice shallot and add it to the sauce. This is one of the sources of Pad Thai aroma, together with fish sauce and tamarind.

[@TheSlavChef]

Shallot makes wonders with almost anything!

[@supakritpulmanausahakul1650]

หวัดดีคับ

[@miqerman]

Hmm nice

[@IdeaStudioBKK]

And don't add ketchup. 555+

[@tanakitpuriso8737]

หวัดดีครับ

[@Fuuntag]

PSA: if you are trying to make this recipe you should be aware the tamarind concentrate Adam uses is about 2-6 times as strong as every other purée, extract, concentrate on the market. To give you a sense of this it has 31.25 grams of sugar per 100 grams however the next strongest has 11 grams per 100 grams thanks to how much the other brands dilute the mixtures. Please adjust your recipes accordingly e.g. I doubled/tripled up on mine and it worked quite well and my reproduction of this went from “nearly there but missing something” to bang on. 👍🏻

[@GrizzlyHemlock]

I used to own a restaurant in Thailand. Thais don't prep the noodles with hot water at all. They set them in cold water and let them soak for hours. The noodles absorb water, soften, and go into a fried dish soft but slightly firm. The cooking does the rest, and the noodles taste and "mouth" feel right.

[@bocahdongo7769]

It is still normal to soak the noodle in hot water, atleast in SEA. Less glassy, but still fine

[@edcastillo4456]

@@bocahdongo7769, I'm not Thai, but I've been cooking Pad Thai since 1985, before most of America knew about Thai food. I learned by asking the cook, a Thai immigrant, at a local Thai restaurant in the Los Angeles area at the time. Soak noodles in cold water. Hot water will change the texture and make it very different from cold soaked noodles. Sure, it's still edible if soaked in hot water, but the "bite" of the noodle is not the same. I'll trust and stay with a Thai native.

[@dylanw8823]

@@edcastillo4456 How long to soak in cold water?

[@GrizzlyHemlock]

@@dylanw8823 Several hours, you can put them in the night before or in the morning to use at night, and you can do a large quantity and just leave them there for days, ready to go for any fried noodle dish.

[@eldoradocanyonro]

Different types and brands of noodles react differently--follow the directions on the container they came in. Unless you make your own, in which case you probably aren't reading this anyway.

[@tavishn]

Adam, your style of adapting dishes to be cooked realistically in a 'restricted' environment is great. I currently have a very tiny japanese kitchen and it's even more restricted, but this is one of your videos I can follow!

[@Whatwhat3434]

Adam, months ago you gave us a brief glimpse into the depression you experienced while in Rochester. On my bad days, your story sticks with me and gives me strength. It does get better. Thank you.

[@nikosfilipino]

What episode was that?

[@eschlerc]

@@nikosfilipino The episode about him being the Mariah Carey chord guy

[@eristheslayer]

@@eschlerc that's by far my favorite non food video

[@dekudude8888]

@@eristheslayer That one and the Jani Lane video are very good

[@bensoncheung2801]

All I remember from that episode is that he supports Mariah Carey for a pretty good reason.

[@BeedoBimble]

“Smells like feet, tastes like meat” is my new catchphrase.

[@Buhnjj]

I hope you are referring to your fish sauce

[@notoriousb.o.g.9901]

Please don’t make this a fetish.

[@nashsok]

Funnily enough, this catchphrase works for actual feet as well!

[@TheSlavChef]

"wash these things" a wise Slav once said.

[@hampustornros]

Smells like feet, it is my meat.

[@salikraees9690]

“Smells like feet, taste like meat” is also accurate for actual feet.

[@deadfr0g]

I’m glad I’m not the only one who thought this. Makes me feel a little less weird about eating feet.

[@kingjames4886]

KARL!!

[@johnlucas6683]

Oof!

[@cardduz6958]

For my pp aswell

[@DMSProduktions]

Smells like arse more like!

[@jamiehwang3076]

hi adam, i just wanted to say thank you for your recipes! im autistic and i have trouble with food (sensory issues), but ive found that eating healthy amounts is a lot easier when it's food that i've cooked myself, and i've gotten super into cooking thanks to your videos. this pad thai recipe has been a recent fixation of mine, i've found that it's a lot more convenient to soak the noodles in cold water at the beginning so that i can do all my prep while the noodles soak. it's usually perfect timing for getting the noodles to that parboiled level of softness (although i usually only make one portion, i don't think it'd work as well for multiple portions since the noodles would keep getting softer) & i rinse the noodles once in tap water to make them less sticky in the pan. i've tried using different ingredients and veggies like bok choy, enoki mushrooms and thinly sliced carrots and it's helped me start eating more types of ingredients as well, because i like the process of trying out new recipes enough to step out of my comfort zone w/ textures and tastes :) thank you adam!

[@jxff2000]

I’m autistic as well; my special interest is food and cooking, and ironically enough, I’m a self professed home cook with gut issues 😅😂

[@voryndagoth404]

yooo same? im autistic and adam ragusea helped teach me better cooking technqiues and generally made me develop a special interest in cooking. my mom now always asks me to make his irish pot roast recipe :]

[@Mukundwa]

Autistics unite!! 💪🏾 Same. I wish every KZbin recipe was as descriptive and literal as Adams

[@NineInchFailz]

you just got the sub from me. No overproduced set, not cheesy royalty free music, no unneeded banter about how it's your great grandmother's favorite recipe. This is how these kind of videos should be done.

[@SilverCymbal]

Sees the title......MMMMMMMMMM - Great topic to accomplish the impossible at home!

[@TheSlavChef]

Adam makes the impossible possible!

[@ee4396]

e e

[@PlanetComputer]

fgjh

[@myerwerl]

Take it from me. Ive used to work at 3 different thai restaurant. Just use this. Chicken stock, fish sauce, pumpkin sauce, chilli sauce. You could add soy sauce for colour and a little bit of lime juice, a little bit of sugar. Thats the base at least. Add your greens, although here in bordering malaysian region, we use bitter, leafy greens and the sprout of mung beans.

[@suedeB05]

I mean there never was nor is there anything impossible about this. What a dumb comment

[@techman5852]

“I know exactly what he's talking about. I sprout mung beans on a damp paper towel in my desk drawer. Very nutritious, but they smell like death.”

[@chillchill2779]

Thanks a lot Creed

[@heyreeen]

That's the distinct old man smell.

[@SiccazHD]

Thought the excact same thing 😂

[@LadyPisces96]

Great quote 👏🏻 👏🏻 😂 😂

[@David-km1wf]

Honestly would recommend a neutral oil or peanut oil for Pad Thai. Adam is Italian so he probably barely notices the strong flavour olive oil has.

[@santouchesantouche2873]

The Thais use a lot of oil in this dish tbh. I am partial to olive oil taste compared to others but I think mostly it's a health thing. Olive oil is healthier than seed oils

[@blackmber]

I find myself editing olive oil out of a lot of recipes. It’s so popular but for the price I’d rather use it where the flavour is part of the dish instead of competing with it.

[@skinnylegend-7330]

i agree, the smoke point is also low which can make it unideal for stir frying but it seems to work well enough in this recipe

[@santouchesantouche2873]

@@skinnylegend-7330 I actually think it's a myth about olive oils smoke point. It's higher than we think. It's high water content is what we see burn off not smoke.

[@eldoradocanyonro]

@@santouchesantouche2873 Depends. Regular Olive Oil is around 350 or higher. Extra Virgin is down in the 200s (Fahrenheit)

[@Rose_Nebula]

What I love the most about Adam’s videos is they don’t just teach you recipes, they teach you techniques and WHY you use them.

[@MrMokey24]

Perfect for single people with not much time to cook, faster than ordering food, for sure. Not too unhealthy, thank you for this recipe!

[@Tacospaceman]

*Dear Adam* Firstly I want to say how much I appreciate that while you cook your meal EXACTLY how YOU want to eat it, all of your known variations of the meal are listed for (vegan, vegetarian, low-fat/carb/sugar/calorie) dieting people. And I think it’s awesome that if you don’t have this not-too-typical ingredient BOOM “Worcestershire sauce.” It’s something I think, that not a lot of people really express, and I’ve seen family members at gatherings have to skip a meal because they weren’t thought about, or simply weren’t able to eat it because (some medical or dietary reason here) And the fact that you say oh if you can’t eat this animal because this animal is sacred, here’s your sweet sweet substitute, and then you’d go on to say that it’s different, but it isn’t worse or better, or why you’d choose this over that. It makes each and every video you make so miuch more entertaining, and enjoyable to watch and listen to, especially when you’ve gone so far out of your way just to provide *QUALITY AUDIO* just to top it all off. You truly are an amazing human, teacher, and father. As a fellow dad I can tell you that your kids, your family, and your students appreciate you and love you as much (and more) as your faithful audience. Have a great weekend Thank you so much Adam. *-Austin, AKA, Tacospaceman* Ps. 😂 “smells like feet, tastes like meat” a very unusual expression for me to hear, Followed by “hear comes the mother and child reunion” tasty, but possibly a distasteful way to put it 😂 still Bravo 10/10 video. I’ll be sure to get all the ingredients and forget to try making it while they spoil in my kitchen ❤️ peace I’ll see you in the next upload lol. Edit: *it’s been 2 months since writing this, and I Did, totally forget to make it. And when I remembered I did get the ingredients, and some did spoil. HERES TO ATTEMPT #2*

[@Nickgurrgta]

Mate how much time did that take to write u

[@phoenixboygaming9981]

That's a whole essay I'm impressed

[@Tinil0]

As far as I know, the mother and child thing is common. I know Japanese has Oyakodon, 親 or "oya" of course meaning "parent" and 子, "ko", meaning "child". It's a chicken and egg rice bowl (Hence the 丼, or bowl at the end)

[@Tacospaceman]

@@phoenixboygaming9981 thanks. It was at most 1 page, but it’s how I feel, and even if he doesn’t see it, I wanted to write him a little letter any way :)

[@Tacospaceman]

@@Nickgurrgta like 20 minutes? Idk. But it’s not about the length of the comment. It’s about sending a message. Literally.

[@arealhuman3677]

“Smells like feat, tastes like meat” It’s either the quarantine or the fan base, it’s getting to him.

[@Serpentrose]

Probably a bit of both.

[@trollinape2697]

sounds like a fetish

[@inlandthempire.6932]

What's really getting me is your spelling of feet

[@trollinape2697]

@@inlandthempire.6932 wtf I just realised

[@alandoane9168]

@@inlandthempire.6932 Yeah WTF?

[@mossy_shell]

"Time for the mother and child reunion!" Me: 😶

[@CultureStress]

Hopefully this means we've got an oyakodon video coming soon....yummy

[@adams3616]

Yeah...

[@vincentbecker7850]

Yep time for all of you to go vegan

[@CultureStress]

@@vincentbecker7850 I tried...does not work for my brain/body system, unfortunately.

[@TheSlavChef]

This what I say when I am making chicken with eggs.

[@earlgreycoffee]

Seeing Adam cook Thai food makes me soooo happy. And the fact that he mentions that the Thai-American version is sweeter is absolutely spot on lol. this is the kind of pad thai you get outside Thailand. It's not 100% authentic but it's pretty good!

[@letschan4162]

I find pad thai in the USA alot less sweet than the one in Thailand lol

[@WeeTheDuck]

@@letschan4162 yeah many Thai streetfood vendors cook super super sweet. A good padthai place wouldn't be that way though. It's just easier and cheaper to cook a sweet padthai rather than a savory one. p.s. As a tip, shrimp fat is the hidden key in making the best padthai. Go wild

[@snowinjuly4872]

I am SO happy you talked about this! People have this horrible misconception that a jet engine and a wok are necessary for wok dishes, and I've been unsuccessfully trying to tell them that you can do ALL of that just as well with small portions, a stove on high, and a little bit of time to let the pan warm up and store a bit of energy.

[@jackkerr6537]

Why does he rhyme everything in this video. It’s amazing.

[@hongdekong]

A nod to chef john?

[@ohdogwow2]

It's like Adam never saw the movie "Mean Girls" because he keeps trying to make Fetch happen...

[@rashoietolan3047]

I called Blockbuster on my blackberry. They are no longer carrying that movie on vhs!!!

[@mattkim96]

@RASHO IE'TOLAN what? Mean girls is a pretty modern movie (2006), neither niche nor old enough to be devoid of a pop culture reference.

[@chandlerbryant6680]

@@mattkim96 it's 17 years old. Back when our parents played us stuff from the 80s. we called them classics. It was the 2000s. This lacks 3 years from being in that category.

[@muhilan8540]

@@chandlerbryant6680 it's still widely referenced today

[@chandlerbryant6680]

@@muhilan8540 not really no

[@seancallahan5030]

This man like 70% of the time posts the exact recipe I'm thinking about trying to make at home. Right on time again!

[@theolindh3263]

I've done variations of this recipe probably 10 times the last 2 weeks and I love it! I can now make pad Thai from thought to fork in less than 15 minutes! Keep it up with the effective recipes!

[@uncaringbear]

Pad Thai is like Carbonara - both dishes are not overly complex but people can have very strong opinions on how it should be made. Also, worcestershire sauce is a real unsung hero in Asian cooking, it's so versatile!

[@taiwandxt6493]

I mean, to be fair he's not claiming it's authentic.

[@user-ks5gh5dn5c]

I remember some years ago I commented on your video asking to make Pad Thai and you said that you’d love to but it’s too difficult. Today marks a happy day in history

[@Tengokujin]

"Mother and child reunion" - so, when's your oyakodon video? :p

[@d-fan]

"Say grace before eating, Timmy." "We thank thee, Lord, for this our food. And the sponsor of this dinner, Fetch Rewards!"

[@wolfgangvolos5425]

I was instantly inspired by this despite not having the right ingredients at home. I used Worcestershire because I wasn't leaving to get something that smells like feet until the weekend. I also added some Red Curry Paste and smoked paprika. The package of noodles said "Stir Fry" but I can't remember what they were exactly. Thick yummy noodle is all my brain can remember. Red bell peppers, loads of green onion whites, a good squeeze of lime juice, along with enough garlic and ginger to make my wife demand I eat in the other room. I literally wept when eating my strange home-made dish because the umami was beyond anything I've ever tasted (thank you natural msg in my tomato paste). Thank you Adam for showing me something that inspired my new favorite at home meal.

[@rw9707]

A mixed a tablespoon of peanut butter with the sauce because I didn’t have peanuts, and it turned out so good!

[@pippywondergirl]

that sounds fire

[@joeyboyer6771]

Hey Adam, great video but I have a few comments/ideas about your recipe as someone who is half Thai, and has also cooked in a Thai restaurant kitchen. Firstly, you don't need to boil your rice noodles, just leave them to soak in room temp water in a bowl before you start prepping other ingredients. When you add them into the pan, the sauce and flavor gets absorbed into the noodles better since they're effectively cooked in sauce, and the excess starch in the water will help the sauce thicken. The noodles will take slightly longer to cook properly but you're making up for it by not boiling, shocking, then cleaning a pan. Secondly, Thai people don't use olive oil, I recommend canola oil since that will make your chicken more crispy, and your eggs more fluffy. Finally, the best strategy for spreading the sauce over the noodles properly is tilting the pan and tossing it. You could even start with half the amount of sauce on one side, then flip and add more sauce. This is a great way to prevent spots in the noodles with less flavour. Overall, great recipe! Consider some de-seeded Thai chilies if you want the most authentic spice though.

[@techstormster]

How long do you need them soaking in room temp water before cooking?

[@aragusea]

Hmm, I tried soaking the noodles in room temperature water and they never cooked tender enough, fwiw. The only think that worked was bringing the water to a boil first, and if I’m gonna do that, I feel like I might as well throw the noodles in. I know Thai people don’t use olive oil, but I do, and using a virgin oil is healthier. I can’t think of a reason why canola would make the eggs fluffier or brown the chicken better, assuming the oil had been preheated to smoking, which this has.

[@letschan4162]

@@aragusea that's the texture of a authentic pad thai. I can understand why it wouldn't be compatible to the western palette since what a thai and westerner want in the texture of the food is completely different. Btw great video 👍

[@Kskillz2]

Hey Adam! Can you do a video on making soft pretzels? 🥨

[@ruslansdoor6486]

That is a very good idea

[@speedygod4446]

Nice idea!

[@jakewilliams5744]

And cheese sauce

[@dpofahl]

Yes!!!! I second this!!

[@katelensworld]

When he was saying "and grab the water... " around 8:52, I thought he was being sarcastic and was gonna add white wine XD

[@HavenarcBlogspotJcK]

Im thai and i was like : "oh no dont even fkn think about it" when that happen

[@TIMTalksCooking]

Really great demonstration! I've completely failed at Pad Thai every time I've tried to make it. Making one portion at a time as you do here makes a lot of sense. Since each is so quick, unless you're feeding a crowd, it shouldn't be a problem. I can't wait to try this!

[@sid6645]

So how did it go? I'm planning on trying this myself, so I wonder how the recipe is.

[@evilbull8995]

The non-sped-up 3 minutes of the pad thai, with the awkward pauses, reminds me so much of the pizza and lasagna video and the other really old videos. It's nice to see how much you have grown over the last couple of years, keep it up :)

[@acommenter4252]

I made this and it turned out AMAZING! One key is definitely to do it your own way! Add as many mung bean sprouts as you want. My dad likes a lot. Probably even more than Adam. And for sauce, make it taste how you want. Adam mentioned this-- just play around with different things until you like it! For me, I wanted a lot more soy sauce and you gotta be careful with the fish sauce, its a lot stronger once you cook it. Add peanuts-- or not. I loved them, my sister hated it. Just do what you like. We did tofu, fried it off the same way he did chicken. It was great. Great recipe again Adam

[@mrbeef3528]

This video is a goldmine for all the Adam Ragusea YTPs floating around youtube rn

[@mrbeef3528]

Really loved the real-time cooking there, would love to see it in future videos as well!

[@Activated_Complex]

Right on! Using half bean sprouts half noodles really is one of those tricks that, once you try it, you’ll wonder why you weren’t doing it years ago. It helps keep the noodles from clumping up into the tangled brick shape you get in some takeout orders. Which is a texture and aesthetic some people like more than others, but for me, that’s easy to get somewhere else. I’m generally looking for a less clumpy finished product.

[@calissecestquoila]

Thanks Adam, I followed approximately 30% of the instructions and used about 30% of the ingredients and it still turned out great!

[@SW4GK1NG]

Seeing the food of my country being represent is always flattering, also about the sauce part, if I were you I would just skip the tamarind thingy and go full ketchup, and personally I think the defining taste of Pad Thai is from the sugar and crushed peanut

[@nikosfilipino]

Interesting, ive never heard of a pad thai recipe that didnt have either tamarind or pickled ginger in it

[@letschan4162]

Could also just use peanut butter as the sauce

[@SW4GK1NG]

@@nikosfilipino I mean, if you are not trying to be authentic then you could have just skip the tamarind in my opinion, flavor-wise it should still be similar

[@dusscode]

@@SW4GK1NG highly doubt it would be similar.

[@raerohan4241]

@@dusscode Ketchup (and tomatoes in general) aren't ingredients traditionally added to pad Thai. Ketchup is used in American pad Thai recipes as a substitute for tamarind, because it used to be much harder to obtain in America. If you want to try as best you can for authenticity, use the tamarind and skip the ketchup entirely. I have no idea why the original commenter suggested the opposite - if you can get the tamarind, that should be the ingredient you opt for, unless you prefer the American-style version. Also, you can skip the ginger, as it's also not part of traditional pad Thai. Don't boil the rice noodles either - soak them in water for about 15-20 minutes and they're good to fry. You can leave them longer if you need to, it can vary by brand.

[@EXkurodaigo666]

Adam : traditional way of cooking pad thai noodle is to let them seep in boiled water from kettle. Me as a Thai : *straight away throw the raw noodle in the pan*

[@dasungeheuer3873]

Cold Water = Firm Noodles Warm Water = Soft Noodles

[@IMJwhoRU]

Do you just add more water to cook the noodles?

[@EXkurodaigo666]

@@IMJwhoRU Yeah but not so much water, just about 1-2 cup of it

[@EXkurodaigo666]

@ཏྦཱལ་ག་པོ། some people here would actually soak it too but only in room temp. water.

[@randodox8375]

We be doing it like that, u just straight up put that shit into the wok xD

[@yoshitheshibainu8898]

Hey Adam, could you do more Indian food recipes?

[@chidambaranathans1975]

Indians speak English ( I am an Indian ) I think Adam makes great recipes but if not you can definitely get Indian recipes from micillien star chefs. Check out "herbas kitchen"

[@vaibhavjain5227]

You should check out Ethan chlebowski! He has number of Indian food dishes.

[@Granger744]

@@vaibhavjain5227 +1 for Ethan. Great breakdown of technique and theory for Indian/Pakistani recipes.

[@yoshitheshibainu8898]

@@vaibhavjain5227 Yeah, he has a lot of good Indian recipes (I’m Indian myself haha)

[@yoshitheshibainu8898]

@@chidambaranathans1975 @bongeats also has a number of awesome recipes (imo)

[@johntitor1054]

“Mother and child reunion, one chicken breast” I was not expecting that

[@InvaderAlex22]

You should look up the Japanese ricebowl dish oyakodon

[@smingjr]

This was a delicious meal. I would highly recommend it. It's quick and easy for my family of 3 and everyone can be ready to eat in about 5 minutes

[@eltiolavara9]

thanks for the easy substitute ingredients actually, most other cooking channels would list 400 fancy ingredients and provide absolutely no substitutes and go like "no you CANNOT replace this. the WORLD WILL LITERALLY EXPLODE if you replace this"

[@fromnaras]

From a Thai person...this is somewhat accurate for Americanized, mall pad Thai especially for quick restaurants who don’t want to import ingredients. But not traditional, authentic pad Thai.

[@emmamemma4162]

What would be some (easy) changes to make it better/ more authentic, in your opinion?

[@seobinmoon1575]

@@emmamemma4162 I would not use ketchup at all. Not sure about mall pad thai but at least here -Thailand - I haven’t ever had ketchupy pad thai. Well I have it just wasn’t that great. Instead of cooking the chilies with the other ingredients I would opt for chili powder after you finish cooking as a topping alongside with the crushed peanuts. Pad thai goong or pad Thai with prawns is my favorite but obviously you can change the proteins out to whatever you want. Almost forgot, but dehydrated/ fried cubes of tofu is amazing in pad Thai. Adam did say you can substitute it as the main protein but imo it’s something that you should keep in any variation. You want to go overboard with the oil when you’re frying up those eggs. The savory flavors come from this so it’s very important. Try imagining that you’re coating the ingredients with egg instead of them being separated. You can put in dry rice noodles straight into the wok/pan, just add a lil more water to compensate. If you really want to go full on authentic add a pinch of msg, nothing too extravagant you should be able to find pure msg at your Asian grocery store. Just makes everything taste better idk. Also adding extra sugar, chili powder, peanuts and fish sauce to your liking is normal. Hope this helped! Ps. My username doesn’t indicate that I’m Thai and you’re very correct in assuming so. But I have lived in Thailand for the past 13 years so I know some stuff :>

[@emmamemma4162]

@@seobinmoon1575 Thank you for the in-dept answer! I already made a first attempt at this dish. The ingredients came from the corner store, so I had to make do with their selection. I used the following ingredients: Shallot onions (as suggested in another post) Garlic Ginger A dried chilli fruit (ours are really strong, it overpowered the tamarind and the fish sauce) Sugar (I went with two tablespoons, next time I'll use less since the dish was a bit too sweet for our liking) Tomato paste (I had an opened tube I needed to use, but I might not use tomato anything next time) Soy sauce (in lieu of MSG) Vinegar (I'll leave it out next time) Fish sauce (could have used more!) Tamarind sauce (should have used more of this as well!) Chicken breast Egg Salted and roasted peanuts Mung beans Plenty of rapeseed oil (it's readily available here and has a neutral flavour) A touch of cilantro (it's nor my favourite herb) Lime Unfortunately the store didn't carry rice noodles, so I used Thai style wheat noodles. It was OK, but I'm gonna get me some rice noodles next time I go to the super market. All in all this tasted good, but it was more like an improved version of your generic "Westerner makes Asian style stir-fry" and less Pad Thai than I would have liked. The secret is probably in the sauce. I'll make a new attempt once I get a hold of some rice noodles.

[@seobinmoon1575]

​@@emmamemma4162 You'll only improve from here! I think you should go heavy on the tamarind sauce when you're making pad thai. The best way to get that pad thai taste is if you have the balance between the tamarind and oil :> Hope that helped!

[@emmamemma4162]

@@seobinmoon1575 Thank you! That confirms my suspicion I didn't use enough tamarind. Now that I know it's not that strong, I will use it more liberally.

[@AndromedaCripps]

Made this for the first time tonight Adam, and family was very impressed. I followed your directions extra carefully and made sure to do all my prep before, and let me tell you, cooking that fast and that hot is SCARY (not like that I’m in danger but that my poor food is 😂) but I managed to pull it off first try and it came out DELICIOUS!!! The best part of this recipe is that you can use entirely Western kitchen staple ingredients for the sauce and have it still taste different from everything else you cook! The only things you have to buy special are really the rice noodles, which are shelf stable! Often with Asian recipes, I find myself buying all sorts of sauce ingredients and/or vegetables that I would never use in my day-to-day kitchen, and those types of foods go bad before I get around to using them sometimes. This recipe, if I keep around sone noodles, I could whip up even on a night when I don’t have much in the pantry (minus the bean sprouts perhaps)!! Anyway, I will DEFINITELY be making this again, I’m already craving it after having dinner earlier tonight 😂😂😂 Thank you!!!

[@ivanspinelli7768]

Hey Adam, think you could make a video about what's up with microwaves and why people like Ramsay seem to hate them? Or maybe a look into the history of them could be pretty interesting. Keep up the good work!

[@carsonagar3987]

They were invented to humanely heat up hamsters 👍

[@carsonagar3987]

@moon butter yeah, in the 1950’s scientists were experimenting with freezing something to death and heating back up again to see what would happen

[@PMein1990]

Cooking pad Thai in individual small portions was one of the most important aspects of cooking it at home that I ever discovered. I was quite pleased with myself to see you started the video with the same finding.

[@TooMuchGinger]

Maybe now I understand how the Italians felt on the carbonara video 😆 I honestly recommend Hot Thai Kitchens recipe for Pad Thai instead. Chopped dried shrimp and thinly chopped shallots are so important for the flavor and aromatics!

[@hhoi8225]

Yes this makes me depressed

[@Becky0494]

Is there a comparable replacement for people allergic to shellfish?

[@poom323]

@@Becky0494 I don't know what can be replaced, but it's still fine and delicious even it doesn't has any shrimp.

[@TooMuchGinger]

@@Becky0494 The dried shrimp is there to provide a lot of umami flavor. MSG is a good way to introduce some umami into a dish. Not sure what the substitute would be exactly but you could play around with it! Maybe start with 1/8 a teaspoon of MSG and increase it if it's not enough. Another way could be to add some dried mushrooms, as they also provide some umami, but they could add a mushroomy flavor as well that might not be welcome to some.

[@wendy1022]

Thanks for the recommendation! I'm watching her video now. Looks great.

[@RockTheCage55]

I made this tonight. I was a little hesitant on the ketchup in the sauce but, you know what, it works!! It just made a single portion so i cut it in 1/2 and 2oz of noodles didn't seem like a whole lot. I was wrong. It made a rather large portion that i am sure would fill up anyone. That being said i would go with Adam's recommendation & cook 1 portion at a time. I used a large cast iron skillet & i think if i would have doubled the recipe and cooked it the same time it wouldn't have worked as well. I wanted to use the chile in the recipe that is optional but i couldn't find it in the 2 different grocery stores i went to. It looks like it was a fresno chile and i've seen them before but i think they might be a seasonal thing. So i could either use the 2 hot chiles that are always available: Jalapenos & Serranos. In the end I decided to just use a red bell pepper (ya i know no heat). I also don't boil rice noodles. Just soak them in tap water for 1 hour and perfect. No need to boil. Anyways I recommend this to anyone and for Thai food its is really easy (Thai food can be involved sometimes).

[@connerpoppke6780]

Made this tonight, it was absolutely amazing and super quick for a weeknight meal

[@susansmith7415]

I didn't have tamarind so used 2 tblsp worchetershire, juice of half a lime, shrimp instead of chicken, added thinly sliced sweet red pepper, and sirracha instead of the hot red pepper. Oh, was too lazy to do it twice so made the double size serving in one 'go' using a large frying pan. Turned out great! Will definitely make again. Thank you.

[@edenrome2245]

made this with your tricks & substitutions tonight, made my whole family very happy! thanks Adam

[@WitheredSpellBook]

I love the real-time section. It actually puts some confidence in me

[@fedechiossone9932]

Chicken plus eggs: "Mother and Child reunion". That was a nice one.

[@chrisfournier6144]

I agree with your portion sized cooking for stir fry! I've never had Pad Thai with ginger and think it would make it too Chinese tasting. I've always had Pad Thai with fried tofu and shrimp. My trick which I figured out from may favourite Pad Thai ever (From The Bamboo Club in Toronto - chef Wandi Young) was of course to have the noodles in cold water for at least an hour prior to the meal. Once it was go time I drain the noodles and add a tablespoon of Thai Chili sauce. Stir it in and it gives the noodles a fresh red colour and some heat. Tweak the heat with roasted chilis as garnish. Pad Thai is a top ten dish for me, it's not hard to make you just have to be a mise en place kinda cook! I enjoyed your tweaks, thanks for the great video!

[@TheXxxeeelll]

The best pad Thai recipe for home cooking on the planet 👏🏻

[@fiveminutezen]

Adam, I’ve been doing my stir frys recently in a cast iron Dutch oven. I can charge it up with a ton of heat, the thing will pretty much cook the whole meal with the burner off (I’m exaggerating) I then slide everything under the broiler for 4 minutes at the end to get a little extra char. I’ve never cooked with tamarind, next tine I’m at the Asian market I’ll probably grab some. P.s. Lad Nar is my go to Thai dish. Thanks for all the great content, you keep making it I’ll keep watching it.

[@alberttantivit9474]

I think this recipe is fine (as a Thai person), sure it’s not completely authentic but what really is authentic given how every place in Thailand has their own recipe and preference at the end of the day. Also I’m not mad at Adam using ketchup or Worcestershire sauce especially he’s not claiming that these recipes are authentic (this video is just giving people an easy recipe on how to make Pad Thai at home), heck I also agree with Adam that most places that makes Pad Thai make it too sweet (they use a lot of palm sugar, way too much! But apart from that almost all of the ingredients would’ve been used in a Pad Thai (any protein can work and chicken breast is a easy protein to work with) and it might come be very useful for me when I’m abroad making this when I don’t have all the recipes in hand so nice job there Adam!

[@CJKeene06]

“The mother child reunion” is the most I’ve laughed at a cooking video in a long time. Probably since the Babish 4/20 video.

[@bobthomas8342]

It's a Paul Simon song. Allegedly saw it on the menu in a chinese restaurant.

[@hbfdfgjcyk555]

It's the name of a Japanese dish, oyakodon

[@blakfloyd]

Adam either intentionally or unintentionally just smoked out Uncle Roger with the no-wok approach and will probably get at least 100k new subs in the next month.

[@bocahdongo7769]

We all know the no-work approach is the best approach in home kitchen

[@thegoodgeneral]

Chinese Cooking Demystified also stands by no-wok for a variety of Chinese cooking and they are a 100% more reliable Chinese cooking resource than Uncle Roger. Roger, to me, represents a sort of on-purpose ignorance, the kind of intentional obtuse adherence that I think Adam aims to dispel with his exploratory attitude.

[@valhallakombi7239]

@@thegoodgeneral Just so you know, his primary job is that of a comedian. I know people take it too far but I hate it when people consider him a chef. Chinese cooking demystified is obviously better than a comedian when it comes to food.

[@thegoodgeneral]

@@valhallakombi7239 yeah, that hasn’t gone over my head or anything. Nevertheless people cite him as a reliable resource, and like you I think that’s a little disheartening.

[@brainwashingdetergent4322]

He fak up

[@beriukay]

@7:45 just watch that seed jumping around like it's the star of the show!

[@lambsaucefinder7407]

You know your pan is perfectly hot when the small things starts jumping! Learning from my experience.

[@evalu3395]

Tried this recipe out and it was so good! I replaced the tamarind with lime and the sauce still tasted amazing, I'm not that skilled in the kitchen but this was pretty easy to follow

[@justacat2318]

There's a variation of this is Thailand called 'Pad Thai Gung Sod' which is basically Pad Thai with river prawns 🍤 To Adam: You did really well with the noodles despite craking them 🍜

[@samueld92]

“Time for the mother and child reunion” hahahahaha! 😂

[@hongdekong]

You are awesome Adam. I love pad thai and I am happy to see that you have found some of the same things that I have experienced (such as boiling the noodles instead of soaking). Will definitly try the addition of ketchup. I've used sweet chili sauce as well, which (unsurprisingly) works well too. I was a bit emotional tonight, but your enthusiasm always cheers me up. :)

[@hufflepuffwannabe]

this is one of the best instructional videos I've ever seen! everything is so clear!

[@alexanderscherer4537]

This is one of my absolutely favorite recipes that you've made. So fun to make and nearly everything in here I can pull out of my garden!

[@workdaygourmet]

Did not know Worcestershire sauce contains tamarind! You can also try Jarritos soda cooked down, sweet tamarind sauce ready to go, doesn't even need the sugar.

[@allenlutins]

It also contains anchovies. Bit of Worcestershire sauce trivia: Lea & Perrins used to be made in the town where I grew up; the folks they sold their plant to sued them, because they couldn't get the fish smell out of the concrete walls!

[@Narusauce]

Thank you Adam for showing vegan alternatives and methods! It's usually really hard to learn from cooking videos while being vegan

[@ollyfirth4641]

cept for the advice for vegans didnt include telling them fish and worchester sauce is not vegan

[@jonoc5]

@@ollyfirth4641 you think vegans can’t grasp that a sauce made out of fish isn’t vegan?

[@fruitylerlups530]

U can get very excellent vegan fish sauces actually!!

[@Orynae]

@@ollyfirth4641 he mentioned the option of soy sauce instead of fish sauce "to make it meatless".

[@jpaxonreyes]

@@Orynae - It wouldn't be pad thai with soy sauce instead of fish sauce.

[@jonsnow6631]

Tofu is a really good addition too!

[@sqqqrly7750]

WARNING: Made this and the second batch was good. The first had way too much sugar. My grandmother would have liked it, lol. I will use 2-3 teaspoons of sugar, not tablespoons. Do I want to eat a 1 to 1.5 tablespoons of sugar for dinner? God No! Needs more heat. Adding sriracha to the sauce helped. Reduce ketchup equally. Ketchup is more sugar! I do like the methodology. Very nice. Just need to make it my own.

[@sqqqrly7750]

Also be lazy and consider using left over rotisserie chicken. These are often a cheap loss leader. Add at the end with the noodles.

[@alexderus7480]

Just tried this recipe, turned out so good! The technique is everything. I can see this being a weekly thing. Thank you!

[@Ninchun]

I am Thai and this looks sooo good :D I don't believe in that authentic food tast better. I believe good food tast good :D

[@theadamfriedlandshow4668]

Me:can we get Eminem Mom: we have Eminem at home Eminem at home: 1:25

[@Ricecooka]

Everyone out there, don't be afraid to check out other channels like Hot Thai Kitchen, Cooking With Dog, and Maangchi if you're interested in Asian recipes. I promise, we can also speak good English and won't scare you away with "wild, foreign" ingredients.

[@TooMuchGinger]

yes, Hot Thai Kitchen is my favorite! I've learned so many good Thai recipes from her channel and all of her recipes are super easy to follow! I'm honestly sad Adam missed out on the dried shrimp for the pad thai. I know it's not a common ingredient but while people are already going to an Asian market for tamarind concentrate, might as well get some dried shrimp! it's made all the difference in my pad thai

[@Becky0494]

Chinese Cooking Demystified is great too-but there really are ingredients that can be inaccessible to people, especially in rural/homogenous areas. I live in Pittsburgh (lots of Asian markets! Love it!) but only one in a very inconvenient location has bonito flakes. Sure, I could order online, but that can still be a barrier to people. I’m Greek, and the Greek store here has myzithra but it’s $12/pound. Still too expensive to order online... so I use ricotta 🤷‍♀️ Adam just brings a different angle to home cooking that a lot of “fancier” chefs don’t. That being said, people absolutely should check out those other channels because they’re amazing cooks and can learn a lot about other cuisines!

[@prathification]

I’m from Southeast Asia, lemme say, even in professional kitchens with large woks, and high BTU stoves, chefs cook noodle dishes like pad Thai or mi goreng maybe 2-4 portions at a time, tops. So if you’re at home, even with a wok, and ‘powerful’ stove, cook 1 portion at a time.

[@AureyT.]

Freeze your chicken for abt 20-30 mins to make it easier to cut thin. Ik from personal experience, as someone who doesnt sharpen their knives often, it makes it much easier

[@Pavme]

Adam and Joshua keep reading my mind with their recipes

[@bkim7000]

Omgaawwd just tried it and it was sooooooo good!! I'm so freaking excited!! The only thing I did differently was I used Thai chili tips which made it spicy and delicious thank youuuuuu!!!!🤸‍♀️🎉🙌❤️😋

[@kritdikornwongswangpanich4683]

Allow me to make this correction comment as your Thai fan - if you find this comment offensive in any way, then, my apologies in advance. Unlike many dishes that authenticity is at best debatable, Pad Thai is a rather new dish 'intentionally' created by the Thai government after the great war when the country was so poor and the rice's price tag increased, a dish that centered around the rice noodle - an influence of Chinese Guanxi province located just north of Thailand, Laos, and Vietnam - which uses less rice to produce was developed and introduced. That was Pad Thai. So, its authentic recipe could be easily traced. But I don't mean that other variations, adaptations, twists, or hacks are not allowed; they are all welcomed. I actually do love your Worcestershire sauce trick and your hack in general. Anyhow, the ketchup is a bit off the point for me - and this comes from someone who enjoys ketchup a lot as well. Allow me to continue this lengthy explanation. The basis of Pad Thai is in its sauce, as you have nailed the ingredients: sugar (preferably palm or coconut sugar - it does smell better), tamarind concentrate, and fish sauce (the brand that could be easily found internationally and I personally recommend is "Thiparos"). But the main idea here is not simply 'mixing them' but caramelized the sugar with the other two liquids; the generally preferable taste profile is sweet-sour that followed by saltiness. So, heat them up until they become a sticky and dark brown liquid substance. That is the Pad Thai sauce. So, originally Pad Thai is brown-ish and only stir-fried the soaked but uncooked rice noodle in oil (preferably pork lard) with garlic, shallot, dried shrimp, sweet pickle Chinese radish, crispy tofu, egg (preferably duck egg since it is richer), beansprout, and garlic chives. Some of these ingredients should be fried until aromatic before the arrival of rice noodles like garlic and shallot. It usually comes with toasted crushed peanuts, a wedge of lime, and a spoonful of dried chili flakes on the side; also some weird accompaniment like banana blossom which tastes so "unconventional" and I could never understand its tastiness in my lifetime. Later on, more protein was added to the mix and one of the most popular choices is "Southeast Asian River Prawn" since Thailand used to be extremely abundant with this creature, but like many other cases, we eat it to the point that it has become rather rare these days and the wildly caught one is so expensive. This river prawn's selling point is its "butterhead" (a diplomatic term for its "hepatopancreas"), once this beloved butterhead touches with heat, it turns bright orange (sometimes yellow but sometimes almost red). Once it is mixed into the stir-fried, it reddens the dish. From this point on, the illustration of Pad Thai has become more red-ish or orange-ish rather than the OG brown-ish one. The ketchup, therefore, is used in the western hemisphere to replicate this coloring, not the taste or anything. Hence, my claim that the ketchup here is a bit off. I would recommend "butter+heavy cream+a seafood stock powder" to roughly replicate the taste on this part rather than the ketchup, a drop of red food coloring into the said mixture might be okay if you really want it. Lastly, this color is actually for the Pad Thai with shrimp, but for chicken or pork, a brown-ish one is more than okay and quite general in Thailand. Hope you find this comment inoffensive and constructive. Cheers.

[@nrad6949]

Kudos.

[@zengara11]

Honestly, I have no idea why people watch any other show than this......This is an actual real good food channel that you can do, and not abnormal "I show you how to cook with these million $ products, but you can subtitute them and get the same end results"..kind of channel

[@vires-et-honore]

Nicely done! I make Beef Chow Fun in an electric wok which takes about 2 1/2 minutes. The prep can take 30 minutes but the stir fry is done in a flash.

[@ehsan_kia]

"It helps to have a freshly sharpened knife for this", smooth, though surprised he didn't wink and link to his previous video!

[@HoldYourSeahorses]

That's some *rad* Thai.

[@MrGrass06]

These rhymes are making me *mad* Thai

[@fifski]

I've been breaking my pasta (any type of long pasta/noodles) before it was(n't) cool. Regardless of what some purists might try to convince you, there is no change in taste, texture, or anything. And it makes mixing and eating it much easier.

[@bocahdongo7769]

They usually concern about "fork"ability (which long noodle could get more in fork easily than shorter one) But I mean cmon, as long as you don't concern with that, it's absolutely no difference

[@utkarshchaturvedi9542]

This recipe RULES! I have no clue how to cook but i made this and it was soo good

[@lupo.420]

This is what is love about this channel, quick, informative and easy to follow cocking videos

[@JoeBob-rc3cp]

"It helps to have a freshly sharpened knife" I wish I could just shoot a whetstone episode any time my knife was dull

[@enfjftw]

The real-time part was so fun haha!

[@thaiisfood]

Finally, I won’t have to spend forever making pad Thai!

[@CatnamedMittens]

Crazy that pad thai is so beloved yet isn't strictly traditional.

[@somniloguy12]

I feel compelled to say that you can easily peel ginger by scraping the skin off with a teaspoon. Comes off clean and it means not wasting ginger that would have otherwise been cut off.

[@eldizzledog468]

'Smells like feet, tastes like meat'.....I'm still laughing 😅🤣😂

[@simonandersson9179]

Are you ok?

[@roballen7937]

Showed your Pad Thai video to my Burmese Wife. When she saw the lime she told me to tell you here in Thailand those are lemons. True...and the yellow things aka lemons are called limes. 😂😂 She said "Not bad for a farang." That is a compliment for sure!! (Farang here means foreigner.😊) Rob in Thailand

[@alcuinai]

If you want more of an authentic caramel flavor profile actually use that sugar to make a caramel and then dump the fish sauce and tamarind paste into it with some water and that’s your sauce done, then combine as in the video - makes a huge difference in flavor complexity! Would also recommend using dry chilies instead of fresh and fry some thinly sliced shallots as part of your garnish along with the toasted peanuts, cilantro and bean sprouts 👹

[@dmereel]

I appreciate that you give advice to plant based foodies also. Love the channel!

[@dipu94321]

Indian here but someone who loves to cook and has recreated a recipe from the Pad Thai he had in Phuket and Pattaya. Thai people, feel free to correct me if i get anything wrong as you are the authority on this dish, not me. 1. If you can, use raw unpeeled peanuts and slowly toast them in the oven. Rub them when cool and discard the skins and just mildly blitz in a food processor. Tastes great instead of pre-roasted poeanuts. 2. Use duck eggs if you can find. Adds another dimension of flavor. Richer, sweeter and has a meatier flavor to chicken eggs. 3. Have a set of the few accoutrements on the table instead of it directly going into the pan (except for the few mentioned in point 4). The peanuts from point 1, some lightly stir fried sprouts, dried red chillies toasted in a pan and roughly ground up, garlic and chillies in fish sauce, chopped coriander and some shredded raw papaya. The ability to customize really helps to alter the flavors and spiciness as per tastebuds. 4. Sprouts, Coriander, chillies and garlic while cooking and also as accoutrements really help elevate the dish. All being said, this is a great way to make the dish with ingredients readily available. It's no secret that the ingredients we take for granted in places like India, Thailand, China are like finding gold in the West. Also if Adam if you are reading this, do satay sticks in peanut sauce next. It's a beautiful dish and it tastes amazing.