I have loved Pad Thai forever, but realized I haven’t made it in a long time. Chicken Pad Thai is a classic Thai street food dish. It is known for its perfect balance of sweet, savory, tangy, and spicy flavors. Tender chicken is stir-fried with rice noodles, peppers, carrots and scrambled eggs. The flavorful sauce is made from fish sauce, soy sauce, brown sugar, rice vinegar and lime juice. Crunchy bean sprouts, green onions, and crushed peanuts add texture. A sprinkle of fresh cilantro and a squeeze of lime add brightness.
Serve it with extra chili flakes for heat or customize it with shrimp or tofu. It is best to use medium thickness rice noodles for this dish, not the very fine one or the very wide ones. The last step of stir frying the noodles in the sauce really help them absorb sauce and flavor.
This is another recipe that is great to make in a wok, but if you don’t have one, you can use a deep skillet instead for stir frying the ingredients. If you’d like to try some of my other Thai recipes, check out Thai Beef Salad, Thai Tofu Burritos, or Thai Red Curry Mussels.
Chicken Pad Thai
Ingredients
For the sauce:
- 1/2 cup soy sauce
- 1/4 cup rice vinegar
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 2 tbsp fish sauce
- 2 tbsp lime juice
- 2 garlic cloves minced
For the Pad Thai:
- 10 oz medium thickness rice noodles
- 1.5 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breast cut into bite sized pieces
- 1 red bell pepper cut into thin strips
- 1 carrot shredded
- 2 eggs whisked
- 4 scallions thinly sliced
- 1/2 cup cilantro chopped
- 2 cups bean sprouts
- 1/2 cup chopped peanuts
- red pepper flakes optional
Instructions
- Whisk the sauce ingredients well and set aside.
- In a large wok or skillet, heat 2 tbsp oil over high heat. When pan is very hot, add the peppers and let them cook without moving until charred black spots start to form. Stir them once or twice then move to a plate. Heat a pot of water to boiling and cook the rice noodles according to package. Drain under cold water and toss with sesame oil so they don't stick, then set aside.
- Add another tbsp or two of oil and let the pan get hot again. Add the chicken and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Stir fry the chicken, letting it brown, until cooked through. Reduce heat to medium low, push the chicken to the side (or move to a plate) and add the eggs.
- Stir fry gently until just cooked, then add in the chicken, peppers, carrots, bean sprouts, Add the sauce and noodles, and toss together while stirring and cooking until the noodles absorb some sauce and everything is hot.
- Serve in bowls topped with cilantro, scallions and chopped peanuts.