Pad Thai with tiger prawns, like they prepare it in Thailand
The history of pad Thai
In Thailand, noodles are eaten almost daily. Noodle dishes originally came from China and were eaten as street food, lunch, dinner or just as a snack. In markets, vendors cook noodles made from rice or wheat and eggs on the spot. Then they scoop the noodles into a bowl and top them with a steaming broth. The noodles are finished with spicy meat or fish, vegetables, sauces and chili-based sambals. Delicious!
National dish in Thailand
But pad Thai is not only very tasty, there is also great emotional value attached to it.
In 1930, when the country became a constitutional monarchy, the Thai government declared pad Thai as a national dish. The government wanted to make the country and its cuisine known worldwide. In addition, eating pad Thai became a sign of patriotism. For pad Thai, you use Thai rice noodles, and not the Chinese wheat variety. That helped the country become more independent from China. No wonder, today, they still serve the dish with a smile.
Recipe for pad Thai
Ingredients for pad Thai with tiger prawns for 4 people
- 250 g dry medium rice noodles
- 3 tablespoons tamarind puree
- 3 tablespoons water
- 2 tablespoons palm sugar
- 2 tablespoons fish sauce
- 400 g peeled tiger prawns
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 4 cloves chopped garlic
- 1 beaten egg
- 200 g soybean sprouts
- 125 g firm tofu, diced
- ½ teaspoon chili powder
- 2 green onions, sliced
- 50 g unsalted peanuts, roasted and finely chopped
- 4 sprigs cilantro
- 1 lime
- chili flakes according to taste
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Prepare the rice noodles
Soak the rice noodles in warm water for 10 minutes until soft. Then, drain the noodles and set them aside. Next, mix the tamarind puree with the water, palm sugar and fish sauce. Set aside as well.
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Clean the shrimp
Devein the tiger shrimp. If they are large in size, cut them in half lengthwise.
Next, coarsely chop the cilantro and cut the lime into 4 wedges.
![SG 11 reuzengarnalen]()
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Prepare the Pad thai in a wok
Heat the oil in a wok and briefly sauté the chopped garlic. Add the tiger shrimp and stir-fry until almost fully cooked. Pour the egg into the wok and continue stirring. Then mix in the tofu and soybean sprouts. Continue stir-frying for 1 minute.
Add the rice noodles, tamarind sauce and chili powder to the wok and mix everything thoroughly. At the end, add the green onions and toasted peanuts.
Be careful not to get the noodles too wet in the wok. They should absorb the sauce nicely while the excess liquid evaporates from the heat. If you can’t get enough heat into your wok, use a wide cast iron pan instead. That will hold the heat well and evenly.
Finally, serve the pad Thai with lime, chili flakes and the cilantro leaves.
Not a fan of tiger shrimp? Then add chicken, pork or tofu. By the way, the taste of the peanuts really adds value in pad Thai. Unless you are allergic to peanuts, I recommend not substituting them with other nuts.
![SG 62 pad thai]()
