Northern Style Phad Thai
Phad thai is probably the single most recognizable dish on a Thai restaurant menu, at least for Americans. However, most are unaware that there is more than a single version of this dish. While both northern and southern style phad thai involve rice noodles, stir-fried eggs, bean sprouts, and fried or fresh tofu, along with the requisite sprinkle of ground peanuts, the flavor and experience of the two dishes almost separates them from qualifying for the same name.
Southern style, easier to find in the US, characteristically has an orange sauce coating the noodles with a distinct tamarind flavor in the better varieties, as well as small bits of aged chewy tofu. The garnishes typically sit around the noodles, creating a plate that invites you to dive in and create your own perfect balance of soft noodles to crunchy bean sprouts, pungent cilantro, and sweet carrots.
Northern style can be challenging to track down unless the chefs at a particular restaurant hail from northern Thailand. Northern style phad thai looks almost as though it has no sauce (though it in fact has a generous portion), with flecks of red and green chilies dotting the (often) wider rice noodles, along with a hearty amount of bean sprouts already mixed in and lightly stir-fried along with the noodles. Garnishes are similar to the southern style, with scallions, and a generous portion of coriander, and coarsely rather than finely chopped peanuts being the primary differences I’ve noticed. The whole dish is very fresh and light, even when incorporating fried tofu as the protein of choice. We are slightly obsessed with finding good northern style phad thai (though I admit that I can heartily enjoy a good southern style as well), and often end up just making our own in order to achieve the freshness that we want.
Our favorite recipe comes slightly adapted from Ken Hom’s Foolproof Thai Cooking, and the only change we make is to cook it with fried tofu rather than shrimp, because I don’t like shrimp. This is definitely a recipe where you want to have all of your ingredients prepared ahead of time, as the actual cooking process doesn’t take long once you get started. A wok is very helpful for cooking your noodles evenly during the stir-frying process, but not entirely necessary. We’ve made plenty of tasty phad thai in a deep skillet, albeit with a much messier stove stop at the end.
Northern Style Phad Thai
Prep time: 25-40 minutes (depending on your proficiency) Cooking time: 20 minutes
Serves: 4-6
———————————————————
8 oz. wide dried rice noodles (as you can see, narrow ones also work in a pinch)
2 tbsp. vegetable or peanut oil
1 block tofu, drained, cubed, and fried until golden brown (see note)
3 tbsp. coarsely chopped garlic
3 tbsp. finely sliced shallots
2 large, fresh red or green chilies, seeded and chopped
2 eggs, beaten
2 tbsp. lime juice
3 tbsp. fish sauce
1 tbsp. sweet chili sauce
1 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
6 oz. bean sprouts
Garnish
1 lime, cut into wedges
3 tbsp. coarsely chopped fresh coriander (same thing as cilantro)
3 scallions, sliced
3 tbsp. coarsely chopped roasted peanuts
2 oz bean sprouts
1 tsp. dried chili flakes (optional)
Soak the rice noodles in a bowl of hot water for 25-30 minutes, then drain. Heat the wok until hot, then add garlic, shallot and chilies and stir-fry for 1 minute. Add the drained noodles (I find tongs very helpful in stirring and lifting the noodles during the stir-frying process) and stir-fry for another minute. Then, add the beaten eggs, lime juice, fish sauce, chili sauce, sugar and black pepper and continue to stir-fry for 3 minutes. Finally, add the tofu and bean sprouts and stir-fry for 2 more minutes. Taste and adjust seasonings as needed, (more fish sauce for saltiness, more lime for sour, more sugar for sweet) keeping in mind that Thai cooking assumes that each diner will tweak their serving with the garnishes. Transfer to a platter, garnish, and serve at once.
Notes: While pre-fried tofu is available from Asian grocery stores, we strongly recommend that you fry your own, both for freshness and for flavor. To fry tofu, make sure that you completely drain the tofu, getting as much moisture out as possible before frying. Then heat enough vegetable oil in a wok to submerge your cubes. Make sure to get the oil hot enough–350-375–before beginning to fry, or you’ll have soggy tofu (putting in a dry cube of bread or the end of a bamboo chopstick to see if it’s surrounded by bubbles is a good test if you don’t have a deep-fry or candy thermometer). Work in small batches (it usually takes me 3-4 for a single block of tofu) to keep the temperature up and to minimize splattering. Fry until golden brown, then remove onto a paper towel covered plate.
