Take it from a Thai person, it's hard to find a really good, authentic pad thai outside of Thailand. I've searched high and low, and concluded that the best option is to master cooking it at home. This recipe is the real deal with all the ingredients of a traditional pad thai—no compromise.

I'll share all the tips and tricks for success, and also a substitution guide for ingredients you may not have. Make sure you also watch the video tutorial because this is a dish that's better learned visually.

Pro Tip: Pad thai is easy to make, but it isn't quick if you make everything from scratch. So to prep it for a weeknight meal, check out my post on How to Make Authentic Pad Thai in 5 Minutes!

You've probably had pad thai in your local restaurant, but what you had may not be anything like the authentic version. First, it should not have ketchup or any tomato product in it. Second, it should not be syrupy sweet. And finally, it shouldn't be just a heavy, soggy clump of noodles with bits of green onions.

Real pad thai should be:

Cooking pad thai is actually quite easy ; after all it's a stir-fry! But the fully-loaded, traditional version has a lot of ingredients, not all of which are easy to find. For many restaurants some ingredients may not be available, the many prep may be too complex for their simple operation, or they need to keep the cost of such a staple item low. So things get left out and substituted.

But each ingredient in pad thai contributes a flavour . Nothing in there is added just for "fluff" - so the more you take away, the less complex the flavour becomes. Sure, you can omit or substitute a few things without much harm, but past a certain point, the flavour suffers significantly.

(Of course we can't always get all the ingredients we need; hence my pad thai substitutions guide below.)

The hardest part of pad thai is in prepping all the ingredients. Here's everything you'll need; with more details on a few, plus the substitutions guide.

Pad thai sauce is deceptively simple: there are only 3 ingredients. This means you should try to use the best quality of ingredients you possibly can. You can make the sauce fresh as I showed in the video tutorial, or make it in bulk in advance and keep it in the fridge for months! Check out this large-batch recipe for pad thai sauce.

The noodles you want are dry rice noodles, size medium. This is the size used traditionally in Thailand. A lot of people mistakenly choose the large size, and though it won't really harm the dish, it's not quite the real deal.

I use Erawan Brand rice noodles which I find to be the best one with the right chewiness. Some brands, such as Thai Kitchen , make thinner noodles that are not as chewy. If using thinner noodles, you will not need to soak them as long, and you may need a little less water in the sauce.

EMERGENCY NOODLE SOAKING :

Medium size dry rice noodles take about 1 hour to soak in room temperature water . Brands that are thinner will take less time and vice versa. If you're short on time, you can use warm water and it'll take less time. Keep an eye on them and remove them once they become opaque white and completely pliable (don't resist your bending at all.) Don't over-soak.

If you're about to cook and forgot to soak them, don't panic! They can be soaked in 3 minutes in hot off-the-boil water , but it's a bit risky so I try to avoid it. Too long in hot water and they will become too soft, so you MUST time it and place them in cold water immediately after.

Chai po is Thai preserved daikon radish , and it comes in 2 varieties: sweet ( chai po waan) and salty ( chai po kem). You want the sweet one for this - however it is not critical that you have it, so don't sweat it if you can't find it.

You'll likely need to go to a specifically Thai grocery store to find these. Sometimes they come whole, and sometimes pre-chopped. I usually get the pre-chopped one if I can find it to make life easier.

Japanese sweet preserved daikon, takuan, makes for a decent substitute.

Pressed tofu is exactly what it sounds like.. .tofu that has been pressed to drive off most of the water , leaving only the firm bean curd behind. It is the firmest of all the tofus you can buy—firmer than extra firm!

Sometimes this is labeled "bean curd, " which I think might be slightly different because in my experience it tends to be slightly firmer, but it tastes about the same and can also be used in pad thai.

Pressed tofu and bean curds are great for stir fries because they do not fall apart. Extra firm tofu can be used instead , but if you're concerned about them breaking you might want to pan-fry them first until golden to firm up the exterior.

There is a substitute for just about everything, but please remember that the more you alter it, the less it tastes authentic. If I didn't include an ingredient below, it means there is no good substitute.

I highly recommend watching the full video tutorial to ensure success, but here's a bird's eye view of what you need to do:

To make the pad thai sauce:

Pad thai made from scratch isn't exactly weeknight-friendly because there's so much prep to do. But good news: the prep can be done days in advance so you can have pad thai on a Tuesday night in minutes, just like at a restaurant!

There are "4 levels of preparedness" when it comes to pad thai prep, but even doing level 1 will save you lots of time. If you've got all 4 levels done, you can cook pad thai in 5 minutes - watch me do it in real time in this video!

Having pad thai sauce done is the most time-saving, especially because you can make it in bulk, and then it will last indefinitely in the fridge. Check out the recipe for the large-batch pad thai sauce here .

If you only have the sauce done, you will have pad thai on the table in 30 minutes (with the emergency noodle-soaking trick below.)

This is arguably as important as the sauce, because it takes a while. Dry noodles will take about 1 hour to soak in room temp water before they're ready to be cooked, so it is best to do this ahead of time. Drain them well and store in a well-sealed container for up to 3 days.

*This timing is for medium size Erawan Brand dry rice noodles; if you're using a different size or brand, you may need to adjust.

This is an incredibly useful tip not only for pad thai but for all sorts of dishes, especially stir-fries. Whether you're using seafood, meat, or tofu, you can cook them all in advance! Once in the fridge, they should last you the whole week.

If using seafood, there is no need to season them. But for chicken, pork or beef, it is a good idea to marinate or season them with fish sauce or soy sauce since they will not get a chance to absorb much flavour from the dish.

My super tasty, all-purpose meat marinade for stir fries:
For 8 oz (225 g) of thinly sliced pork, chicken or beef, add 2 tsp (10 ml) soy sauce, ¼ tsp (1.25 ml) sugar and 1 Tbsp (15 ml) water. Mix well and let it sit for at least 15 minutes.

You better believe restaurant chefs are not cutting your vegetables to order. They may not have een cut them today ... or yesterday. Washed and cut veggies will last in the fridge for several days, depending on how sturdy the veggies are.

In pad thai, you can pre-chop the garlic chives, pressed tofu, and peanuts. If using the preserved radish (and they're not the pre-chopped kind), you can chop them too.

Tofu storage tip: If cutting tofu in advance and not using the next day, I recommend keeping them submerged in water to extend their shelf life. Change this water out every few days.

All my recipes come with step-by-step video tutorials with extra tips not mentioned in the blog post, so make sure you watch the video below to ensure success - and if you enjoy the show, please consider subscribing to my YouTube channel. Thank you!

*If you prefer, you can also watch the video on YouTube.

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