Giangi's Kitchen

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Pad Thai is so versatile. Nothing is more comforting than a big bowl of warm soup on a cold winter day.

I love soup, and turning to my favorite easy-to-make soups is precisely what this pad Thai soup is all about.

During one of our visits to Thailand, one of my favorite places, I may add, we took a cooking class and learned how to make pad Thai.

As soon as we got home, I could not wait to make my version.

What is Pad Thai?

Pad Thai, or Thai stir-fry, is a popular Thai dish that combines stir-fried rice noodle dishes commonly served as street food in Thailand as part of the country’s cuisine.

Typically made with rice noodles, shrimp, peanuts, bean sprouts, and scrambled eggs.

There are so many versions; you will also find added tofu and dried shrimp in most places.

The whole dish is prepared in a wok.

I almost forgot red chili pepper is added to this dish giving it that excellent Thai kick that bursts into your mouth and allows you to enjoy every flavor.

What kind of noodles are Pad Thai made with?

Pad thai noodles are rice noodles that have been subdivided by size.

Sen yai is wide and flat noodles frequently used in soup. They shine when stir-fried and can stick to the wok and quickly pick up flavor.

What is so special about Pad Thai?

Stir-fried noodles are a type of Chinese food. The Pad Thai noodles dish contains one additional ingredient – chilies.

Furthermore, Pad Thai is a dish where you can savor 5 different flavors: Salty, sweet, bitter soup, and spicy.

It is one of those dishes that you can even have enough of it.

Red curry paste?

With the red curry paste, it is up to you. It is spicy. Therefore, you can control the heat you enjoy by adding less than I did at the beginning and adding it as you go along while you taste it.

I love it because the flavor bursts into your mouth while you are eating, and with each bite, the heat diminishes.

A quick splash of lemon or lime, if that is what you have on hand, at the last minute brings all the flavors together.

Here are a few helpful tips for the ingredients needed

You can find the printable recipe with all the correct ingredient amounts at the bottom of this post. Please read the full recipe instructions.

Sodium-free chicken stock: Always my choice as I do not like my food too salty, and I want to control the amount of salt used.

Garlic: mashed into a paste, adds such a savor flavor to this dish, yet, it does not overpower it.

Shallot: not as strong as the onion, yet packed with flavor.

Carrots: Brings a sweet balance to the spicy garlic and ginger.

Red curry paste: Brings on the spicy shot flavor of this dish. You control how hot you want this dish by adding more or like me, keeping it light on the heat.

Bok choy: A small, tasty green vegetable, also known as Chinese cabbage, adds a subtle flavor with a crunch to the bite.

Mushrooms: White caps or baby Bella mushrooms. Remove the stem, clean it, and slice it thinly. The thinner, the faster they will cook in the stock.

Pad Thai noodles: flat and wide, they will take minutes to cook. They absorb all the beautiful flavors of this dish. Easily accessible to all local grocery stores.

Shrimps: Medium size, will work best with this pad Thai soup recipe. Buy them fresh, peel them and devein them before adding them to the soup.

Fresh ginger: Who does not like the savory, spicy ginger flavor of Asian food? Ginger always adds such a depth of flavor to all cooking. And, of course, perfect here with this dish. When buying fresh ginger, look for an even shape piece that is not bruised, is hard to the touch, and has soft skin. Remove the outer skin and grate. Use the grated portion as well as the juices rendered.

Toppings

Lemon juice: A squeeze of lemon uplifts this beautiful dish and gives it a great counterbalance to the curry

Scallions: always as an additional on most Asian dishes. Use the scallion’s white part and ensure it is sliced thinly.

Equipment needed 

I only recommend what I use and love. To achieve this recipe, I used the following:

Large heavy bottom pot

Cutting board

Knife

Cooking utensils

Ladle

Soup bowls

Cooking tips and step by step to make this fabulous Pad Thai soup recipe:

Easy to prepare; therefore, ensure all your ingredients are ready before cooking.

I also did something a bit different, I crushed the garlic with sea salt and made it into a paste, a great technique that allows the garlic to give out the maximum of their natural oil.

• The taste was terrific, and as you know, my cooking does not have too much garlic, so by making a paste, the garlic flavor infused itself with the flavors, and the garlic cooked faster.
• Slicing the carrots very thinly accelerates the cooking process same as the mushrooms.
• Start with a large, heavy bottom pan with the chicken stock and shallot diced, grated ginger, sugar, and carrots.  Simmer to let all the flavor infuse.
• Add the garlic paste to the chicken stock.
• Add the curry paste and finely sliced mushrooms.
• Once all the vegetables are tender, add the pad Thai noodles and cook for a couple of minutes.
• Add the cleaned shrimp and bok choy and stir well.
• Stir well, serve in large bowls, and garnish with scallions and red chili peppers if you wish.
• Sprinkle also some lemon juice over it

Substitutions

Instead of shrimp, you can use pork or beef or all of them together. I had some shrimp in the freezer, which made my choice simple.

Making it vegetarian by replacing the chicken stock with vegetable stock.

Storage and reheating

Because if the noodles, this soup does not store well as it absorbs all the broth overnight.

Tasty needless to say. However, you will have to add more broth.

Therefore I would recommend eating all in one sitting.

If you enjoyed this Pad Thai Soup, look at some of my other recipes:

Chicken Spatchcocked – A Quick Way To Roast Your Chicken

Italian Wedding Soup

Creamy Watercress Soup

Equipment and ingredients used to make this Pad Thais soup recipe

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Originally published on October 18, 2016. Edited on January 2, 2023.