We're taking you to the streets of Bangkok with the recipe for Thailand’s most famous, and beloved, dish: phat thai (pad thai).
What is it?
Phat thai is the most famous Thai dish in the world, and understandably so: you can’t go wrong with gooey strands of noodles, crunchy peanuts, tart lime and singed egg.
Ingredients (serves 4)
4 tbs tamarind concentrate
6 tbs palm sugar
2 tbs fish sauce
5 tbs peanut (groundnut) or vegetable oil
8 red shallots, peeled and coarsely chopped
3 duck eggs
320g (11oz) fresh rice noodles; or 260g (9oz) dried rice noodles, blanched in boiling water
50g (2oz) firm tofu, cut into cubes
2 tbs dried prawns (shrimp), rinsed and dried
1 tsp salted radish, rinsed, dried and finely chopped
2 tbs roasted peanuts, coarsely chopped
2 handfuls of beanshoots, trimmed
1 handful of Chinese chives, sliced into 2.5cm (1in) lengths
1 portion of extra beanshoots and roasted peanuts, fresh chillies and lime wedges, to serve
How to cook
Step 1: Mix the tamarind concentrate with the palm sugar and fish sauce until the sugar dissolves. Set aside.
Step 2: Heat the oil in a wok over medium heat.
Step 3: Fry the shallots until they begin to colour.
Step 4: Crack in the eggs and stir them until they resemble scrambled eggs.
Step 5: Turn up the heat and add the blanched noodles. Add the tamarind mixture and let it simmer for a few minutes.
Step 6: Stir in the tofu, dried prawns, radish and peanuts and continue stirring until most of the sauce is absorbed.
Step 7: Add the beanshoots and chives and stir for a few minutes.
Step 8: Transfer to a bowl, top with more beanshoots and roasted peanuts and serve immediately with fresh chillies and lime wedges on the side.
Top tip: Have all the ingredients prepared and ready to go next to your wok as the dish takes very little time to cook. The duck eggs may be substituted with chicken eggs, and the red shallots with French shallots or brown onions but the rest of the ingredients are key to the dish’s salty, sweet and sour taste, and should be readily available from Asian supermarkets.
Tasting notes
Although nowadays phat thai is sold in restaurants, it’s still an important part of the street food repertoire. Stalls selling the noodles also tend to serve hoy thot, a mussel omelette. Both are generally fried on the same flat, round surface, but some vendors choose to fry phat thai in a wok.
Phat thai is among the milder Thai street dishes and diners are expected to boost the flavour with a personalised mixture of fish sauce, sugar, dried chili and ground peanuts. Served with sides that possess a slightly bitter taste, including banana flower and garlic chives, true phat thai is a largely vegetarian dish containing only dried shrimp and fish sauce, although modern versions sometimes include fresh prawns or shrimp.
Other recipes to try:
Sarawak laksa
Bosnian burek
Goan vindaloo
This article was originally published in March 2020 and updated in October 2020.
Have you recreated any of the dishes featured in this series so far? Share your pictures with us on Instagram by tagging @lonelyplanet. For more great recipes, check out Lonely Planet’s book The World’s Best Street Food.
