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Pad Thai

Stir-fried rice noodles with shrimp, tofu, or meat, vegetables, eggs, and a sweet-sour fish sauce mixture.

From the Wikibooks Cookbook · 14 ingredients
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Why it works: Clove and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 17,451 recipes. Both carry ethyl octanoate, which smells fruity, wine. The science ↓

Pad Thai

2–3
Time20 minutes

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Soak the noodles in warm water for about 20 minutes and strain. Alternatively, pour boiling water over the noodles and let them sit for 7 minutes.

  2. Mix the fish sauce with the vinegar, sugar and tamarind juice together in a small bowl.

Stir fry

  1. Heat the vegetable oil in a wok on high, and brown the chopped garlic and chili peppers for a minute.

  2. Cook the meats/tofu in oil, until they are browned (6–8 minutes).

  3. Add assorted veggies and cook until tender.

  4. Add noodles. Crack the eggs over the noodles, allow them to cook, and then mix them up.

  5. Add the fish sauce mix into the wok, mix it all up and turn the heat down to medium.

  6. Add the chopped green onions and bean sprouts, then stir fry for 2 more minutes.

Serve

  1. Serve on a large plate or bowl. Garnish with chopped peanuts and, optionally, chopped cilantro or coriander and a wedge of lime.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

1428Calories
110 gProtein
71 gFat
87 gCarbs

Counts 18 of 21 ingredients. The other 3 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 18 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Beef100g cooked250
Rice1 cup cooked (158g) white206
Chicken100g cooked165
Peanut1 oz (28g)161
Vegetable1 tbsp (14g)120
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Shrimp100g cooked99
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Tofu100g firm76
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Carrot1 medium (61g)25
Soy Sauce1 tbsp (15ml)9
Chili1 tsp (2.7g)8
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Garlic1 clove (3g)4
Vinegar1 tbsp (15ml) distilled3
Tamarindnot in our table0
Squidnot in our table0
Beannot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Wikibooks Cookbook.

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Clove + peppertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together17,451 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

  2. Tamarind + clovetop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together145 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

  3. Rice + tamarindtop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together136 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-methoxy-4-vinylphenol (clove, smoky).

  4. Tamarind + garlictop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together395 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

  5. Garlic + peppertop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,090 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Rice noodles
Form the bulk of the dish, becoming tender and chewy when soaked or softened.
Tamarind juice
Provides the sour acidity that balances the sweetness and saltiness of the sauce.
Palm sugar
Adds sweetness that balances the sourness of the tamarind and vinegar.
Fish sauce
Supplies salty, savory depth that seasons the whole dish.
Eggs
Set when cooked in the wok, adding richness and soft curds that bind the noodles.
Bean sprouts
Stay crisp when added at the end, adding moisture and fresh crunch.

The step that matters

Adding the fish sauce mixture. Sugar and tamarind caramelise and thicken quickly in hot oil, so lowering the heat to medium after adding the sauce helps prevent scorching and keeps the noodles from turning sticky or bitter.

Swap the garlic

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (rice, fish sauce, vinegar, tamarind, sugar, clove, pepper):

  1. Cinnamonfits better
  2. Turmericfits better
  3. Cardamomfits better
  4. Garlicthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against rice, fish sauce, vinegar, tamarind, sugar, clove, pepper. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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