Pad Thai

“The secret to making the perfect pad thai comes from prepping all the ingredients beforehand and ensuring you balance the hot and sour elements of the dish well,” says Mark Diacono, author of Ferment.

“Why not add a dollop of kimchi to liven the dish up even more?”

Print Recipe

Nutrition Facts

Pad thai

Amount Per Serving

Calories 556 Calories from Fat 90

% Daily Value*

Fat 10g15%

Saturated Fat 2g13%

Trans Fat 1g

Polyunsaturated Fat 2g

Monounsaturated Fat 4g

Cholesterol 130mg43%

Sodium 10883mg473%

Potassium 1628mg47%

Carbohydrates 90g30%

Fiber 17g71%

Sugar 25g28%

Protein 33g66%

Vitamin A 7189IU144%

Vitamin C 187mg227%

Calcium 288mg29%

Iron 6mg33%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Pad thai

Add homemade kimchi to spice up this classic Thai dish.

Cook Time25 minutes mins

Kimchi5 days d 1 hour hr 20 minutes mins

Total Time5 days d 1 hour hr 45 minutes mins

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Thai

Servings: 4 people

Calories: 556kcal

Author: Mark Diacono

Equipment

• Large bowl
• Jar
• Small pan
• Wok

Ingredients

For the kimchi (fills 1 litre jar):

• 90 g fine sea salt
• 2 Chinese cabbages about 1kg, shredded
• 2 garlic cloves finely chopped
• 5 cm fresh ginger peeled and finely chopped
• 2 tbsp Korean chilli flakes
• 2 tbsp fish sauce
• 2 carrots grated
• 5 spring onions thinly sliced

For the pad thai:

• 200 g flat rice noodles (dried weight), or use 600g ready-cooked flat rice noodles
• 1 tbsp tamarind paste
• 3 tbsp fish sauce
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1-2 tsp chilli flakes or use fresh chilli
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil plus extra for the noodles
• 300 g diced chicken or tofu or prawns
• 1 onion thinly sliced
• 2 garlic cloves finely chopped
• 2 eggs lightly beaten
• 40 g cashews or peanuts roughly chopped
• bunch of spring onions thinly sliced
• 150 g kimchi
• 200 g beansprouts

To serve:

• small bunch of mint leaves roughly chopped
• small bunch of basil leaves roughly chopped
• more fish sauce to taste
• more chilli flakes or chilli sauce to taste
• 1 lime cut into wedges

Method

• For the kimchi: In a large bowl, rub the salt thoroughly through the cabbage, and allow it to soften and form a little brine for an hour or so. In a small cup, make a paste by combining the garlic, ginger, chilli flakes and fish sauce. Using a colander, drain the cabbage so that you retain some of the brine in a bowl. Combine the carrots and spring onions with the cabbage, and stir through the hot fishy sauce. Add a little brine if you need to loosen the mix. Spoon the kimchi into a jar, pressing down well to exclude air bubbles. Use a freezer bag part-filled with water to keep the vegetables submerged and seal the jar. Allow the kimchi to ferment for five days at room temperature. The kimchi should have a pleasingly sour taste. Leave to ferment in the fridge for a few days (or weeks) if you prefer it sourer.
• For the pad thai: If using dried noodles, cook them according to the packet instructions, then drain and toss in a few drops of oil so they don’t glue together.
• Make the sauce by combining the tamarind, fish sauce and sugar in a small pan; bring to the boil to dissolve the sugar. Add the chilli flakes or fresh chilli to taste and put to one side.
• In a large pan, ideally a wok, heat the vegetable oil over a high heat. Add the chicken (or prawns/tofu) and the onion and stir-fry for eight minutes, until coloured and just about cooked through. Add the garlic and beaten egg to the pan for the final two minutes of stir-frying time.
• Add the noodles and stir-fry for a further three minutes, making sure that the chicken is cooked through. Add half the nuts, the spring onions, kimchi and beansprouts and fry for a minute to combine.
• Stir through the sauce and cook for a minute longer before removing from the heat.
• To serve, sprinkle with the remaining nuts and all the herbs. Add a splash more fish sauce/chilli if you fancy and serve with the lime wedges. Add a dash of kimchi.

Nutrition

Calories: 556kcal | Carbohydrates: 90g | Protein: 33g | Fat: 10g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 130mg | Sodium: 10883mg | Potassium: 1628mg | Fiber: 17g | Sugar: 25g | Vitamin A: 7189IU | Vitamin C: 187mg | Calcium: 288mg | Iron: 6mg

Ferment by Mark Diacono is published by Quadrille. Photography by Mark Diacono.

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