Here's The Trick To Making A Perfect Pad Thai At Home

Pad thai is a comfort food for many people, a hangover cure for others, and a common order from those think that other menu items on the menu at a Thai restaurant would be too spicy for them to handle. Once you master the tricks and build your pantry to include the necessary items, it's also possible to make at home.

In Thailand, pad thai is a common street food, made on a huge skillet (via YouTube). While you don't need one quite that big, the first thing you'll need for a pad thai at home is a large skillet — something with a big enough surface area to ensure that all of the noodles get properly seasoned (via The Guardian).

The second necessary thing is to be sure you have all of the ingredients. Depending on the recipe that you use, as well as how often you cook Thai food, among the ingredients that you might not have in your kitchen are fish sauce, tamarind, chili powder, and beansprouts. 

The noodles are the key players in pad thai and the kind to keep your eyes peeled for are called sen lek, rice noodles about 3 to 5 millimeters wide. They have to be soaked before use and preferably in cold water. Meanwhile, a Bangkok-born chef "guarantees" that trying to make two or more servings of pad Thai at once will result in the noodles stuck together and too oily to eat. So, go for small batches.

While some recipes call for the main elements of the sauce — which are tamarind, fish sauce, and palm sugar — to be added to the pan separately, it's best to mix them together beforehand, taste them, and adjust accordingly. If you're dumping multiple bowls into your pan, and scraping them out to get the last remnants of sauce, you're wasting time and your noodles will have turned rubbery, and whatever protein you're using will have turned chewy. Speaking of protein, this is where you can customize your dish. Prawns and firm tofu are popular options.

Finally, it's time for garnishes. Adding peanuts and Chinese chives will help you serve up an authentic pad thai, right in your own kitchen.