Cook it Fresh

Homemade pad Thai on left, takeout on right

I first made pad Thai at home several years ago but had never tasted takeout pad Thai until recently.  I am now hooked on both takeout and homemade, so I decided to test the two side by side.  One of our friends has a favorite Thai restaurant where he often orders pad Thai.  He picked up an order and brought it over so we could compare it to my homemade recipe.  I originally found a recipe for pad Thai in a Thai cookbook I checked out from the library, but I have revised it quite a bit to fit the ingredients I normally have on hand and our preferences.  I usually make this a vegetarian dish, but we ordered the chicken pad Thai, so I added half a cup of cooked, cubed chicken to the recipe this time.  You can also add cooked shrimp or cubed tofu if you like.  You can make this recipe kid friendly by substituting red bell pepper for the chilis and omitting the chili sauce.  Then everyone can add chili sauce to their individual portion to make it as hot or mild as they wish.  As usual, one of the benefits of making something fresh is the flexibility to add or subtract any ingredients to fit you or your family’s tastes.

Pad Thai

Makes 3 servings

Ingredients:

• 8 oz. dried, flat rice noodles
• 1 shallot, diced
• 1 small onion, diced
• 4 green onions, cut in 1 inch pieces
• 3 fresh, red chilis, diced (I often can’t find red chilis at our grocery stores, so I substitute half a red bell pepper and add extra Sriracha chili sauce)
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 Tbsp. vegetable oil (I use canola)
• 2 Tbsp. fish sauce
• 1 Tbsp. sherry or mirin
• 1 Tbsp. fresh lime juice
• 1 Tbsp. soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp. sugar
• 1 Tbsp. oyster sauce
• 1/2 Tbsp. Sriracha chili sauce (this makes it pretty spicy so you may want to add less)
• 2 cups fresh beansprouts

Optional garnishes:

• 1 cup cooked chicken, shrimp, or tofu
• 1/4 cup chopped peanuts
• 1 egg, scrambled
• 1 lime, quartered

1.  Place the rice noodles in a large bowl.  Pour enough boiling water into the bowl to cover the noodles.  Set aside to soak for 25 minutes.

2.  While the noodles soak, chop the shallot, onion, green onion, chiles or bell pepper, and garlic.  Also, in a medium bowl or measuring cup, whisk together the fish sauce, sherry or mirin, lime juice, soy sauce, sugar,  oyster sauce and chili sauce.

3.   Once the noodles are soft, pour them into a colander to drain.

4. Heat the oil in a large frying pan or wok at high heat.  When hot, add the vegetables and garlic and cook for 1 minute.  Add the drained rice noodles and fish sauce mixture.  Cook, stirring constantly, for 2 more minutes.  Add the bean sprouts and stir fry for 4 more minutes. You can add any meat you want at this time as well, or serve it on the side as a garnish.

5.   Serve the noodles with the garnishes on the side in small bowls.

When served side by the side, the homemade and take out pad Thai looked and tasted very different.  The take out version was more strident, both in appearance and taste.  It was a brighter color and the sauce had a sweeter, stronger flavor.  The chicken pad Thai our friend ordered was only medium spicy, so a spicier version might taste less sweet.  The homemade was fresher tasting, but more subtle.  The vegetables had more crunch, the noodles were less soft, the lime, garlic and onion flavors came through well but it didn’t have quite the same strong flavor of the takeout.  The noodles and vegetables in the takeout pad Thai were a little on the soft, spongy side and not as fresh tasting.  As far as price and effort the two kind of balanced each other out.  The homemade pad Thai was significantly cheaper, about $8.50 for 3 servings compared to $6.70 for one serving of takeout.  However, the effort involved in homemade is, of course, much greater.  The actually cooking only takes a few minutes, but the chopping and mixing of so many ingredients is quite a task.

Bottom Line:  On the whole, I preferred the homemade pad Thai because of the fresh flavor and texture of the ingredients but I’m not sure if it’s really fair to compare the two since the takeout had such a different flavor.  If you’re looking for a cheap, healthy dinner  with a unique taste then I would recommend trying homemade pad Thai.  Takeout, however, is a great option for a quick, flavorful lunch, but you will pay a bit more.

Homemade Pad Thai                                                Takeout Pad Thai

Cost:  $2.86 (per serving)                                                 Cost:  $6.70 (per serving)

Time:  35 minutes                                                               Time:  none