Okinawan-Style Pad Thai

This is a famous dish popularized in Thailand. Although the recipe varies from cook to cook and region to region, this is a good attempt at recreating what I ate from Thai-owned hole-in-the-wall restaurants in Okinawa, Japan. Key to the flavor are the sugar levels, unsalted peanuts, peanut oil, and either oyster or fish sauce.

• Preparation Time: 10 mins
• Cooking Time: 20 mins
• Total Time: 30 mins
• Calories: 597 Calories

Ingredients

• ½ cup white sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 ½ teaspoons salt
• ½ cup peanut oil
• 2 cups fresh bean sprouts
• 2 tablespoons tamarind pulp
• 1 (12 ounce) package dried rice noodles
• 1 ½ teaspoons minced garlic
• ½ cup chopped fresh chives
• 1 lime, cut into wedges
• ½ cup rice wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon chili powder, or more to taste
• ¼ cup oyster sauce
• 1 ½ tablespoons white sugar, or more to taste
• cold water, as needed
• 12 ounces chicken breast, cut into 1/2-inch strips
• 1 ½ cups dry-roasted, unsalted peanuts
• 1 ½ teaspoons dried ground Asian radish

Recipe Instructions

Step 1

Whisk together rice wine vinegar, 1/2 cup sugar, oyster sauce, and tamarind pulp in a saucepan over medium heat until sugar dissolves, about 5 minutes; remove from heat and set aside.

Step 2

Place rice noodles in a large bowl and pour enough cold water to cover noodles. Allow to soften, about 10 minutes. Drain.

Step 3

Heat peanut oil in a wok or large skillet over medium heat. Cook and stir eggs and garlic in hot oil until eggs are softly cooked, 2 to 3 minutes.

Step 4

Stir chicken and noodles into eggs and cook until chicken is no longer pink in the center and juices run clear, about 5 minutes.

Step 5

Pour rice wine vinegar sauce, 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar, and 1 1/2 teaspoons salt into the noodle mixture.

Step 6

Stir peanuts, ground radish, and chili powder into noodle mixture; cook until peanuts soften slightly, about 5 minutes. Add more sugar or chili powder if desired.

Step 7

Remove from heat and toss chives with noodle mixture. Top with bean sprouts and garnish with lime wedges.