HOW TO COOK PAD THAI

Looking for Pad Thai?

You've certainly landed in the right place! Scroll down for a basic recipe, but first, please read about my new eBook for a choice of Pad Thai dishes.

I'm Oi Cheepchaiissara. I teach Thai cooking and I've written lots of cook books on Thai cuisine. I've made an intensive study of Pad Thai and I'd like to tell you about my new Amazon Kindle eBook: "Oi's Ultimate Guide to Pad Thai," the most comprehensive guide on the Internet to this wonderful dish.

Not just one dish

Pad Thai is not just a single dish. It's an entire way of cooking: a uniquely Thai way of preparing food that's closely linked to the development of modern Thailand. If you were to learn just one way of doing it, you'd be missing the point. There are many ways, six of which I describe - step-by-step - in my Ultimate Guide.

A new concept in cook books
When I say "step-by-step" I really mean it. I describe EVERY step, and I illustrate each one with a picture so you can flick through the recipes while you cook without ever losing your place.

It's like being in a class
I think you'll agree that this radically new approach to cookery teaching is almost as good as attending a hands-on cooking class.

Better than video!
It's even better than video! Don't you find it's a pain to replay videos when you're cooking? I do. You have to wind them back to the right place (if you can find it) and it's all so time consuming when you're under pressure to prepare a meal.

Support at every stage

During the prepping and cooking processes my Ultimate Guide also gives you so much more support than you can get from conventional cook books with their cryptic recipes and instructions.

My Ulimate Guide has 285 pages - yes! - 285 pages, each one of which (in the prepping and cooking sections) has an illustration. The most complex Pad Thai recipe runs to 56 pages, while the simplest is just 26 pages. You can read each page at a glance, then flick to the next step..

Precise measurements
I provide accurate measurements and I've adjusted these measurements over the many years I've been cooking Pad Thai until I can safely say: "That tastes exactly right!"

The magic ingredient

Not only are there SIX versions of Pad Thai in my eBook "Oi's Ultimate Guide to Pad Thai," there's more!

For a start, you need to know all about what I call the "Magic Ingredient." This is the one ingredient you'll need to make for all the Pad Thai dishes..

Chapter One tells you in detail how to make the magic ingredient. It will give your dishes the characteristic Pad Thai "signature" taste which connoisseurs of Thai cooking have come to know and love.

For those who are interested, I've added a entire section of additional information on these topics:

1. Why Pad Thai is Good for Health
In this part of the eBook I list the main ingredients of each dish and note their health benefits.

2. Pad Thai's Curious History
In the historical section I explain how noodles came from China during the Ayutthaya Period, and, in more recent times, how one of our prime ministers promoted a new way of preparing them in order to improve the nation's health and nutrition.

3. The Thai Style of Cooking
These are my observations on the uniqueness of Thai cuisine. For me it's been a lifelong adventure!

That all sounds great, doesn't it? So what's the deal?

How much do publishers normally charge for a book with 263 full colour illustrations? US$12.99? UK£10.99? Or more?

By comparison my 285-page book is much, much, MUCH less!

Pad Thai Noodles with Prawns

This is a quick, no frills, recipe for the most popular version of Pad Thai.

Preparation time: 30 minutes
Soaking time: 2-3 minutes
Cooking time: 25 minutes
Serves: 2 as a main dish for a generous helping, or add another 10 prawns to serve 4.

The recipe uses the easy version of Pad Thai Sauce, made with lemon or lime rather than tamarind. Make this first.

You'll need most of ingredients I show in the book, but NOT the Banana Blossom or Tamarind Purée. See my Ultimate Guide for using these "dinner party special" ingredients!

Pad Thai Sauce (mix: 5 tbsps lime or lemon juice, 2 tbsps fish sauce, 30 g coconut, palm or brown sugar)
10 prepared medium-sized raw prawns
3 tbsps rice bran oil; 4 garlic cloves, peeled
2 tbsps dried baby salted shrimps
4 tbsps roasted peanuts, chopped
2 tbsps preserved turnip, finely chopped (chi-po)
55 g (2 oz) deep-fried bean curd
2 large fresh eggs
175 g (6 oz) fresh bean sprouts
4 chives or spring onions, cut into 2.5 cm (1 inch) lengths
fresh coriander leaves; fresh red chilli; chilli powder (depending on taste)
2 lime or lemon wedges
140 g (5 oz) dried white noodles (sen lek) about 5 mm (¼ inch) wide