Good USian-Restaurant Pad Thai Recipe?

[mystweaver]

Does anyone have a reliable and relatively quick recipe for pad thai? If I can figure out a good recipe, I could easily half my husband's eating out budget. :giggle

We've tried making traditional pad thai before. It turned turned into a mushy disaster...and that was before the sink impersonated Old Faithful and the neighbor's pipes flooded as we cooked. :doh We haven't tried since then.

Anyways, does anyone have a good almost-but-not-quite-authentic Pad Thai recipe for people who like the sweet, saucy restaurant versions? :shifty

[Llee]

Have you used the "pad thai in a box" from the grocery store? That worked well for us. I just subbed in soy sauce for the packet, because I'm not into fish guts on my food. :shifty

[Marrae]

:bump ing as I've no idea. It is not something I make.

[everydaygrace]

I could use the same thing. Ive never tried the boxes, because the serving sizes are small servings and for the price that would buy enough boxes we could practically buy it from the restaurant.

[amyjoy]

Tis one has good reviews. I'd like to try it soon! http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/rachael-ray/pad-thai-with-chicken-and-shrimp-recipe/index.html

[mystweaver]

I could use the same thing. Ive never tried the boxes, because the serving sizes are small servings and for the price that would buy enough boxes we could practically buy it from the restaurant.

Same here. I can be perfectly content with the box for lunch (and :yum), but my husband requires at least 3 of the little boxes to be well-fed, and at that point I'll pay someone else to cook and clean for me, too. ;)

Amyjoy, I might try that one soon. If I do, I shall report back, but right now it is way too hot for any real cooking. Says the pacific nwesterner.

[everydaygrace]

Okay, I finally tried it. I've been intimidated to do it, even though the ingredients list is way shorter / less exotic than most pad thai recipes I've seen. But I've never used rice noodles before, and I'm pregnant, so I'm not exactly Suzy Homemaker in the kitchen these days.

The verdict: I thought it was great! Reminiscent of restaurant pad thai but not exactly like it. But very tasty in its own right. Unfortunately, my picky picky husband didn't love it. So I probably won't be making it again, or at least not very often. I have certain dishes that I make just for me to eat for lunch sometimes, and I might end up craving this one and adding it to that list.

Here were the changes I made:

- I forgot to the add the chili paste. I even went to the Asian store especially to buy it. :-/
- I added 2 eggs, and scrambled them with the chicken once it was done cooking. And tripled the sauce, then ended up only using about 1/2 of it. But its good sauce, so I will end up using it on something else. Next time I would do 1.5 times the sauce.
- And I added about 1 or 2 tsp of fish sauce.
- I also mixed all the "sauce" ingredients together, instead of adding the vinegar and sugar later. It seemed easier to me, and I could get a feel for the what the flavor was going to be.
- Oh, and I skipped the veggies, lettuce, bean sprouts and peanuts. Because at our Thai restaurant, it only comes with bean sprouts and peanuts and dh gets his without. :lol I would have liked to have tried it with all that, but doing without kept my grocery budget intact.

I would definitely recommend it. Looking forward to eating the leftovers this week!

[Turtle Herder]

Yum, I :heart Pad Thai. There's a food cart not far from my house that makes my favorite I've ever had (I know, crazy!) but that's not good for my budget. I think I'll try that recipe soon :yes